BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 644
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 644 (Blumenfield and Atkins)
As Amended August 24, 2012
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 23, 2011) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 29, |
| | | | | |2012) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY : Authorizes a school district or county office of
education (COE) to claim, for revenue limit funding purposes,
the attendance for pupils in grades 9-12 who are participating
in synchronous, online courses, commencing with the 2014-15
school year. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the pupil to be under the immediate supervision and
control of a certificated employee of the district or COE in
order to be counted toward average daily attendance (ADA) for
the purpose of calculating revenue limit funding.
2)Requires the synchronous, online class to have a regularly
scheduled starting and ending time, and requires the pupil to
be scheduled to attend the entire class period.
3)Requires the certificated employee providing the instruction
to confirm pupil attendance through visual recognition during
the class period.
4)Authorizes an individual with exceptional needs to participate
in synchronous, online instruction only if his or her
individualized education program provides for it.
5)Prohibits a school district or COE from denying enrollment in
a synchronous, online course based solely on the pupil's lack
of access to computer hardware or software necessary to
participate in the course, and requires the school district or
COE to provide necessary access to computer hardware and
software for each pupil who chooses to enroll in a
synchronous, online course.
6)Prohibits the pupil-teacher ratio in synchronous, online
classes, for pupils who are 18 years of age or younger, from
AB 644
Page 2
exceeding the equivalent ratio for all other educational
programs offered by the school district or COE, unless
otherwise negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
Requires the computation of the pupil-teacher ratio to be
performed annually and reported with the second principal
apportionment report to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI).
7)Requires the SPI to establish rules and regulations to
implement the bill's requirements that address, at a minimum:
a) The method for computing ADA of pupils enrolled in
synchronous, online courses;
b) The method for ensuring the pupils meet statutory
minimum instructional time requirements;
c) The requirement to report statewide testing results for
online pupils and assigning them to the pupil's school and
the school district or COE within which the school's scores
are aggregated; and,
d) The requirement to subject synchronous, online course
enrollment to existing audit requirements.
8)Authorizes the SPI to provide guidance regarding the ability
of a school district or county office of education to provide
synchronous, online instruction.
9)Defines synchronous, online instruction to mean a class or
course in which the pupil and the certificated employee who is
providing instruction are online at the same time and use
real-time, Internet-based collaborative software that combines
audio, video, file sharing, and other forms of interaction.
10)Provides a sunset date of July 1, 2019.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill
and instead add the provisions described above.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required the California
Energy Commission (CEC) to: 1) establish criteria for
identifying closed disposal sites, brownfields, and degraded
agricultural lands that have high potential for use as sites for
renewable generation facilities; and, 2) prepare a list of lands
that meet these criteria.
AB 644
Page 3
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time General Fund costs of $90,000 to $120,000 to develop
the implementation regulations and guidelines.
2)Annual General Fund costs of approximately $25,000 to provide
local assistance.
3)Potentially substantial ongoing increase in General Fund
Proposition 98 funding for increased ADA, depending on how
online attendance is calculated per the new regulations.
COMMENTS : In California, schools are funded on the basis of
ADA, which-with the exception of independent study-is generally
measured as "seat time," which is the amount of time a pupil
spends in a classroom with a teacher. Therefore, ADA is not
only a measure of workload-for which schools get funded-but also
a reflection of the value placed on classroom attendance, in
which instruction and learning are enhanced by direct
pupil-to-pupil and teacher-to-pupil interaction. A synchronous,
online course creates a virtual classroom by allowing for
direct, real-time interactions between pupils and teachers.
According to the author, "the state's classrooms remain stuck in
the 20th century and have failed to embrace a changed world full
of innovation and technology-despite California being the cradle
of the technological revolution. If California aspires to
compete with other states and nations as an economic engine, it
must make dramatic changes in its classrooms to usher in a
meaningful 21st century education and it must make them soon.
One clear example is the virtual classroom. Technology and the
internet provide educators with new tools and students with
better options to break down barriers created by geography,
poverty, language and other conditions."
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN:
0005673
AB 644
Page 4