BILL NUMBER: AB 1249 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Davis
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 307 to amend Section
54026 of the Education Code, relating to standard
English learners.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1249, as amended, Davis. Pupils: standard
English learners.
Existing law provides various programs and services for the
purposes of assisting English learner pupils
learners. Existing law provides economic impact aid funding to school
districts based on the number of economically disadvantaged pupils
and English learners enrolled in the school district. Existing law
requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to perform
specified calculations to determine the amount of economic impact aid
a school district receives for a fiscal year. Existing law defines
"English learners" for purposes of economic impact aid funding as (a)
children who do not speak English or whose native language is not
English and who are not currently able to perform ordinary classroom
work in English and (b) pupils of limited English proficiency.
Existing law defines "pupils of limited English
proficiency" as those who do not have the clearly developed English
language skills of comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing
necessary to receive instruction only in English at a level
substantially equivalent to pupils of the same age or grade whose
primary language is English .
This bill would define a standard English learner as a
pupil whose primary language is English, but who is performing behind
the average California pupil due to his or her lack of proficiency
in speaking or writing English. The bill would encourage each school
district maintaining a school that has been ranked in deciles 1 to 3,
inclusive, of the prior year's base Academic Performance Index, to
develop a comprehensive plan with identifiable goals for the purpose
of increasing the academic performance of standard English learners.
The bill would require any plan developed pursuant to these
provisions to contain specified components, and to be submitted to
the Governor, the Superintendent, the district superintendent,
members of the governing board of the school district, the Senate
Committee on Education, and the Assembly Committee on Education, and
to be posted on the school district's Internet Web site
expand the definition of "English learner
" to include pupils whose native language is English and whose
mastery of the standard English language or academic English is
limited due to their use of nonstandard English .
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. Section 54026 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
54026. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Economically disadvantaged pupils" means either of the
following, whichever is applicable:
(1) Pupils described in Section 101 of Title I of the federal No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6333(c)(1)(A)(B)).
Counts of the pupils described in this paragraph shall be the counts
used in the current year apportionment calculations for purposes of
Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.).
(2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for a small school district
and for a juvenile court school operated by a county superintendent
of schools, the product of the number of pupils eligible for
participation in the free meals program for the prior fiscal year, as
defined in subdivision (d), and the free meals adjustment factor.
The free meals adjustment factor is the quotient, rounded to two
decimal places, resulting from dividing the statewide total of
economically disadvantaged pupils as defined in paragraph (1) by the
statewide total of pupils eligible for participation in the free
meals program for the prior fiscal year, as defined in subdivision
(d).
(B) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or subparagraph (A), for charter
schools that are funded through the block grant funding model
pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 47633) of Chapter 6 of
Part 26.8 in the 2006-07 fiscal year, the department shall use
counts as of October 2006 of pupils 5 to 17 years of age, inclusive,
who are living with families whose annual income is at or below the
federal poverty guideline, as collected through the first principal
apportionment data collection process, as defined in Section 41601.
Commencing in the 2007-08 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall use
counts as of October of the prior year of pupils 5 to 17 years of
age, inclusive, who are living with families whose annual income is
at or below the federal poverty guideline, as collected through the
first principal apportionment data collection process, as defined in
Section 41601. For purposes of this subdivision, the department may
use in the first year of operation of a charter school that is
established on or after July 1, 2007, the current year counts of
pupils 5 to 17 years of age, inclusive, who are living with families
whose annual income is at or below the federal poverty guideline.
(C) The Superintendent may expand upon an existing process of
collecting free or reduced price meal data in order to collect from
small districts, as defined in subdivision (c), counts of pupils
living with families whose annual income is at or below the federal
poverty guideline.
(b) (1) "English learner" means a pupil
described who is one of the following:
(A) A pupil described in
subdivision (a) of Section 306 or identified
.
(B) A pupil identified as a pupil
of limited English proficiency, as that term is defined in
subdivision (m) of Section 52163. Counts
(C) A pupil of limited English proficiency whose native language
is English and whose mastery of the standard English language or
academic English is limited due to the pupil's use of nonstandard
English.
(2) Counts of the pupils
described in this subdivision subparagraphs
(A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall be the counts
reported in the prior year language census.
(c) "Small school district" means a school district that has an
annual enrollment of less than 600 pupils based on prior school year
CBEDS data and is , for the
purposes of this section, is designated a rural school by
the Superintendent based on the appropriate school locale codes, as
used by the National Center for Education Statistics of the United
States Department of Education.
(d) "Free meals" means the aggregate number of pupils meeting the
income eligibility guidelines established by the federal government
for free meals as reported for all schools for which the district is
the authorizing agency.
(e) For purposes of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a), the count of economically disadvantaged pupils for a
charter school that is operated pursuant to Section 47612.1 shall be
calculated without regard to the age of the pupil. A pupil who
resides in program housing shall be considered a family of one.
SECTION. 1. Section 307 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
307. (a) For purposes of this section, a "standard English
learner" means a pupil whose primary language is English, but who is
performing behind the average California pupil due to his or her lack
of proficiency in speaking or writing English.
(b) Each school district maintaining a school that ranks in
deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, of the prior year's base Academic
Performance Index, is encouraged to develop a comprehensive plan with
identifiable goals for the purpose of increasing the academic
performance of standard English learners.
(c) If a school district develops a plan pursuant to these
provisions, the plan shall be developed according to the following
criteria:
(1) The school district shall consult parents, teachers,
counselors, pupils, and other appropriate stakeholders in developing
the plan.
(2) The plan shall detail benchmarks, as well as performance
objectives, and, in order to achieve academic success, shall provide
information on how to utilize extracurricular activities, including,
but not limited to, after school programs, field trips,
apprenticeships, and other projects demonstrating excellence.
(3) The plan shall be submitted to the Governor, the
Superintendent, the district superintendent, members of the governing
board of the school district, the Senate Committee on Education, and
the Assembly Committee on Education. The plan shall also be posted
on the school district's Internet Web site.