BILL NUMBER: AB 719	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 25, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Block and Lara
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Fletcher)
   (Coauthors: Senators Padilla and Vargas)

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act  to amend Section 56836.155 of the Education Code,
  relating to special education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 719, as amended, Block. Special education: funding.
   Existing law  , until July 1, 2011,  requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to make prescribed computations
each fiscal year to determine  the amount of funding
  an adjusted entitlement  to be apportioned to
each special education local plan area  for each incidence of
disability  .
    This bill would instead provide that these provisions would
remain in effect indefinitely by deleting the repeal date. The bill
would provide that the   Superintendent shall perform the
prescribed calculations to determine the adjusted entitlement of each
special education local plan area for the incidence of disabilities
for the 2011-12 to 2014-15 fiscal years, inclusive, as speci 
 fied.  This bill would state the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would update the severity service
multiplier that will be used in the special disabilities adjustment
formula and that this change use data  from the special
education incidence study results that the State Department of
Education will submit to the Legislature on or before April 1, 2011
  collected in, or after, 2008 to identify high-need
special education local plan areas eligible to receive an adjusted
  apportionment. This bill would state the intent of the
Legislature to provide that the calculation performed by the
Superintendent, to determine an adjusted entitlement for each special
education local plan area, increasingly be based upon a severity
service concentration factor in the 2011-12 to 2015-16 fiscal years,
inclusive, as specified  .
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Since the establishment of the Poochigian and Davis Special
Education Reform Act (Ch. 854, Stats. 1997 (A.B.  602),
  602)),  which changed California's special
education funding structure from a resource-based to a primarily
census-based approach, the state has always set aside sufficient
funds to account for differing incidences of pupils with severe 
and high-cost  disabilities across special education local plan
areas.
   (b) The Legislature continues to recognize the importance of
distributing special education funding with a formula that takes into
account the differing incidences of severe  and high-cost 
disabilities. For this reason, it has been, and remains, the intent
of the Legislature to provide a severity service concentration factor
to each special education local plan area in order to mitigate the
extraordinary costs for schools with particularly high concentrations
of pupils with severe and high-cost disabilities.
   (c) The Legislature is committed to ensuring that the severity
service concentration factor is based on sound data. To this end, it
is the intent of the Legislature that the severity service
concentration factor for each special education local plan area be
 updated using data from the special education incidence
study results that the State Department of Education will submit to
the Legislature on or before April 1, 2011. 
    SEC. 2.     It is the
intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would update the
severity service multiplier that will be used in the special
disabilities adjustment formula starting on July 1, 2011. It is
further the intent of the Legislature that this change use data from
the special education incidence study results that the State
Department of Education will submit to the Legislature on or before
April 1, 2011.   updated using data from recent years.
 
   (d) The Legislature is committed to providing a steady transition
between service concentration factors so that changes in severity
status do not create devastating funding instabilities for impacted
school districts. A severe reduction in state-funded services from
just one year to the next has a negative effect on pupils. To this
end, it is the intent of the Legislature that the transition to a new
disbursement of severity service funds take place over a five-year
period beginning in the 2011-12 fiscal year. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 56836.155 of the   
 Education Code   is amended to read: 
   56836.155.  (a) On or before November 2, 1998, the department, in
conjunction with the Legislative Analyst's Office, shall do the
following:
   (1) Calculate an "incidence multiplier" for each special education
local plan area using the definition, methodology, and data provided
in the final report submitted by the American Institutes for
Research pursuant to Section 67 of Chapter 854 of the Statutes of
1997.
   (2) Submit the incidence multiplier for each special education
local plan area and supporting data to the Department of Finance.
   (b) The Department of Finance shall review the incidence
multiplier for each special education local plan area and the
supporting data, and report any errors to the department and the
Legislative Analyst's Office for correction.
   (c) The Department of Finance shall approve the final incidence
multiplier for each special education local plan area by November 23,
1998.
   (d) For the 1998-99 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter to
and including the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall
perform the following calculation to determine the adjusted
entitlement of each special education local plan area for the
incidence of disabilities:
   (1) The incidence multiplier for the special education local plan
area shall be multiplied by the statewide target amount per unit of
average daily attendance for special education local plan areas
determined pursuant to Section 56836.11 for the fiscal year in which
the computation is made.
   (2) The amount determined pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be added
to the statewide target amount per unit of average daily attendance
for special education local plan area determined pursuant to Section
56836.11 for the fiscal year in which the computation is made.
   (3) Subtract the amount of funding for the special education local
plan area determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 56836.08, as appropriate
for the fiscal year in which the computation is made, or the
statewide target amount per unit of average daily attendance for
special education local plan areas determined pursuant to Section
56836.11 for the fiscal year in which the computation is made,
whichever is greater, from the amount determined pursuant to
paragraph (2). For the purposes of this paragraph for the 2002-03,
2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, and
2010-11 fiscal years, the amount, if any, received pursuant to
Section 56836.159 shall be excluded from the funding level per unit
of average daily attendance for a special education local plan area.
If the result is less than zero, the special education local plan
area shall not receive an adjusted entitlement for the incidence of
disabilities.
   (4) Multiply the amount determined in paragraph (3) by either the
average daily attendance reported for the special education local
plan area for the fiscal year in which the computation is made, as
adjusted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 56836.15, or the
average daily attendance reported for the special education local
plan area for the prior fiscal year, as adjusted pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section  56826.15   56836.15
 , whichever is less.
   (5) If there are insufficient funds appropriated in the fiscal
year for which the computation is made for the purposes of this
section, the amount received by each special education local plan
area shall be prorated.
   (e) For the 1997-98 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall perform
the calculation in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of paragraph (d)
only for the purposes of making the computation in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) of Section 56836.08, but the special education local
plan area shall not receive an adjusted entitlement for the incidence
of disabilities pursuant to this section for the 1997-98 fiscal
year. 
   (f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2011, and, as
of January 1, 2012, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2012, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
 
   (f) It is the intent of the Legislature to amend this section to
provide that the calculation performed by the Superintendent to
determine an adjusted entitlement for each special education local
plan area, pursuant to this section, take into account data collected
in, or after, 2008, to identify high-need special education local
plan areas eligible to receive an adjusted apportionment based upon a
severity service concentration factor in the 2011-12 to 2015-16
fiscal years, inclusive. It is the intent of the Legislature that the
transition between use of the current calculation pursuant to
subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, and the updated calculation,
using a severity service concentration factor, shall take place over
a five-year period in order to mitigate the effect on pupils in
special education local plan areas that suffer a severe reduction in
services from one year to the next.  
   (g) For the 2011-12 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall
allocate 90 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of
this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive. It is
the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 10 percent of the
funds appropriated for the purposes of this section be allocated
pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration
factor pursuant to subdivision (f).  
   (h) For the 2012-13 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall
allocate 75 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of
this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive. It is
the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 25 percent of the
funds appropriated for the purposes of this section be allocated
pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration
factor pursuant to subdivision (f).  
   (i) For the 2013-14 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall
allocate 50 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of
this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive. It is
the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 50 percent of the
funds appropriated for the purposes of this section be allocated
pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration
factor pursuant to subdivision (f).  
   (j) For the 2014-15 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall
allocate 25 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of
this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive. It is
the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 75 percent of the
funds appropriated for the purposes of this section be allocated
pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration
factor pursuant to subdivision (f).  
   (k) It is the intent of the Legislature, that for the 2015-16
fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall allocate 100 percent of
the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section pursuant to a
calculation using a severity service concentration factor pursuant
to subdivision (f).  
   (l) Funding for the purposes of subdivisions (g) to (k),
inclusive, shall be contingent upon an appropriation made in the
annual Budget Act or an appropriation contained in another measure.