BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           651 (Romero)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/28/2009           Amended: 05/06/2009
          Consultant:  Dan Troy           Policy Vote: ED 9-0 
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   SB 651 would require the Superintendent of  
          Public Instruction to prepare a report called the Annual Report  
          on Dropouts in California and to submit the report to the  
          Governor, Legislature, and the State Board of Education on or  
          before August 1, 2011, and annually thereafter.  The bill would  
          require the report to include, among other items, specified data  
          on dropout rates, graduation rates, pupil promotion rates, and  
          information on school climate and pupil engagement.  
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
                                                                  
          Dropout Report                               $175, annually,      
          General
                                              commencing in 2011
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.  AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
          
          Current law requires each K-12 student to be assigned a  
          non-personally identifiable Statewide Student Identifier (SSID),  
          and requires the establishment of the California Longitudinal  
          Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) that includes statewide  
          assessment data, enrollment data, teacher assignment data, and  
          other elements required to meet federal No Child Left Behind  
          reporting requirements. 

          The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is a confidential  
          student and school staff report of attitudes, health risk  
          behaviors, and protective factors. The survey gathers  
          information on behaviors such as physical activity and  
          nutritional habits; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; school  
          safety; and environmental and individual strengths. The CHKS is  
          a requirement of funding for districts that accept federal Title  










          IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities funds or state  
          Tobacco-Use Prevention Education funds.

          Commencing in August of 2011, this bill would require the SPI to  
          submit an annual report a report that would include specified  
          data concerning graduation rates, course enrollment patterns,  
          nonpromotional school movement among pupils, and dropout rates  
          for high school and middle school pupils, including pupils in  
          alternative education.  The report would also include behavioral  
          data such as suspensions and expulsions and school climate  
          information.  Data, where possible, would be broken down to the  
          state, county, district, and school levels.  The bill further  
          specifies that, if possible, the report shall also include key  
          subgroup data.  The report would include data for the most  
          current year and, at a minimum, the two prior years.  


          Page 2
          SB 651 (Romero)

          The bill states legislative intent that the required report be  
          usable by schools, policymakers, parents and others for purposes  
          of identifying and understanding trends, causal relations, early  
          warning indicators, and potential points of intervention to  
          address the state's dropout rate. 

          CALPADS includes student demographic, program participation,  
          grade level enrollment, course enrollment and completion,  
          discipline, and statewide assessment data.  Most of the data  
          required by this bill would come from this system.  Currently,  
          it is not possible to estimate a precise dropout rate as the  
          state's data systems do not include enough years of longitudinal  
          data to track the progress of individual students from 9th to  
          through 12th grade.  Depending on the method uses, estimates of  
          California's rate of on-time graduation range from approximately  
          65 percent to 75 percent.  By the date of the 2011 report,  
          CALPADS will have enough years of longitudinal data by which to  
          determine an accurate dropout rate.  Much of the data concerning  
          behavior and school climate required in the bill would come from  
          the CHKS.  

          In order to compile appropriate data and complete an annual  
          report, the Department of Education (CDE) would need two  
          positions and assorted other costs for printing and posting.  
          These costs are estimated at between $300,000 and $400,000 per  
          year.











          Author's amendments would make certain reporting requirements  
          permissive or operative only when relevant data becomes  
          available.  Also, an amendment would delete a conditional  
          operative date in existing law relating to adjustments of the  
          Academic Performance Index.