BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 802 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 27, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 802 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: May 9, 2011 Policy Committee: Education Vote:10-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill, commencing with the 2013-14 fiscal year (FY), authorizes a school district, county office of education (COE), or charter school to claim attendance toward average daily attendance (ADA) for the purposes of calculating revenue limit funding for an online class, as specified. 1)Requires all of the following conditions to apply in order for a school district, COE, or charter school to claim ADA for online classes: (a) the pupil is enrolled in any of grades 9-12; (b) the pupil is enrolled in classes that include courses in a classroom-based setting, courses that are offered through an online program, or both; (c) the pupil meets minimum instructional time requirements, as specified; and (d) each online course is high-quality. 2)Defines "high-quality online course" as meeting all requirements related to the following: ratio of full-time equivalent certificated teachers teaching the course; experience of the teacher (including credential requirements); subject-matter content of the course; student teacher ratio; the pupil elects to participate in the course; no charge to take the course; course examinations are administered by a proctor; and records regarding the amount of time the pupil is online are maintained by the district, COE, or charter school. AB 802 Page 2 3)Defines "asynchronous online course" as a course where the teacher and pupil are online at different times and are not able to interact simultaneously. 4)Defines "synchronous online course" as a course where the teacher and pupil are online at the same time and able to interact. FISCAL EFFECT 1)Beginning in the 2013-14 FY, potential on-going GF/98 revenue limit costs, likely between $3.2 million and $6.4 million, for increased claims of ADA for providing online instruction to pupils in grades 9-12. 2)One-time GF/98 cost pressure, of approximately $250,000, to local education agencies (LEAs) to purchase equipment to provide online courses, as specified. There are 1,264 high schools in the state. 3)This bill authorizes LEAs to claim ADA for asynchronous online learning courses once the SPI adopts regulations for this purpose. To the extent the amount of time a pupil spends online in this course cannot be verified, there is an increased risk the state will provide GF/98 revenue limit funding to LEAs for attendance that cannot be validated. Consequently, there is also the potential for LEAs to have increased audit costs to the extent that ADA attendance cannot be verified as part of the regular audit process. 4)One-time GF administrative costs to the SPI, likely less than $125,000, to develop regulations pursuant to this measure. AB 802 Page 3 SUMMARY , CONTINUED 1)Requires a "high-quality online course" to have either: (a) the teacher online at the same time as each pupil, accessible to each pupil attending the synchronous online course, and able to make a visual connection with each pupil for the purposes of verifying attendance or providing immediate supervision, or (b) the teacher is online at a different time as each pupil, is accessible to each pupil attending the asynchronous course, and for the purposes of verifying attendance is able to do at least one of the following: a) Periodic proctored examinations. b) Biometric verification. c) A line-of-sight visual connection, including, but not limited to, Internet webcam. 2)Prohibits a pupil from being credited with more than five days of online course attendance per calendar week that regular classes are maintained and requires attendance accounted under these provisions to be subject to statutory audited requirements. 3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in consultation with the Director of Finance (DOF), on or before December 31, 2012, to do all of the following: (a) make revisions to any attendance accounting manual necessary to clarify attendance procedures for online courses, including asynchronous courses and (b) make recommendations to the Legislature and the governor regarding statutory changes necessary to allow attendance in asynchronous online courses to be included in ADA calculations. 4)Requires the SPI to adopt rules and regulations for the purpose of implementing this measure, as specified. This measure further prohibits pupil attendance in asynchronous AB 802 Page 4 online courses from being included in the calculation of ADA until the SPI has adopted rules and regulations. 5)Deems a pupil in an online course to be under the immediate supervision of an employee of the school district, COE, or charter schools for the purposes of calculating ADA and meeting instructional minute requirements, as specified. 6)Sunsets these provisions on July 1, 2017. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . In March 2010, the United States Department of Education released Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology, a draft of the nation's educational technology plan. The plan states ""Just as technology is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work, we must leverage it to provide engaging and powerful learning experiences, content, and resources and assessments that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways. Technology-based learning and assessment systems will be pivotal in improving student learning and generating data that can be used to continuously improve the education system at all levels." According 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." AB 802 Page 5 This bill allows a school district, county office of education (COE), or charter school to claim attendance toward ADA for the purposes of calculating revenue limit funding for an online class 2)Existing law requires the majority of the state's revenue limit funding (general purpose) allocated to LEAs (i.e., districts, COEs, etc.) be based on ADA. ADA is the average amount of time a pupil attends class under the immediate supervision of a certificated employee. As a result, the more the pupil attends class the more ADA the LEA receives, which leads to increased revenue limit funding. Within the current ADA requirements, LEAs are able to provide online courses to pupils in the following ways: a) Pupils are receiving online instruction in a classroom setting under the immediate supervision of a certificated employee. b) Pupils are enrolled in a part-time or full-time independent study (IS) program (i.e., the pupil may be taking regular classroom courses and one or two IS program courses online). If a pupil is enrolled full-time in an IS program, he or she is required to produce a work product, which is assessed by a certificated employee of the district. c) Pupils who have met the minimum instructional requirement and are taking an online course. Under this scenario, the pupil is generating full ADA for meeting the minimum instructional requirement and the pupil is taking the online course in addition to meeting minimum requirements. d) Pupils are enrolled in a charter school, which has less strict accounting and attendance requirements for its pupils. AB 802 Page 6 3)Fiscal concerns with asynchronous online learning . The fundamental principal for allocation of funding under California's school finance system is the value of instructional time. The state measures this principal through the ADA attendance system, including the ability of the pupil to be under the direct supervision (via a line of sight) of a certificated employee. This bill requires pupils who enroll in an asynchronous online class to meet minimum instructional day and minute requirements in order to generate ADA, which is the basis for calculating revenue limit funding. It also prohibits LEAs from claiming ADA for asynchronous online classes until the SPI has adopted rules and regulations governing this issue. There are fiscal questions related to claiming ADA for an asynchronous online course. For example, how does the state, for accounting and audit purposes, ensure that the pupil meets the minimum instructional time and day requirements? This includes basic issues as how attendance is taken in these courses. Also, what type of mechanisms will be provided to verify is the pupil is participating in the asynchronous online course? Currently, the bill requires only one of three verifications to be used, as specified. The committee may wish to consider these issues. 4)Should there be an evaluation or report ? Pursuant to this measure, the authorization to claim ADA for an online class sunsets in July 2017. This bill, however, does not contain a requirement to report minimal information on the number of LEAs that offered online classes; the types of classes offered (synchronous or asynchronous); and the amount of ADA claimed. This information would be helpful as the Legislature considers extend authorization of these provisions. AB 802 Page 7 5)Previous legislation . AB 2027 (Blumenfield), similar to this bill, was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense file in August 2010. Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081