BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Alan Lowenthal, Chair 2011-2012 Regular Session BILL NO: AB 2202 AUTHOR: Block AMENDED: June 12, 2012 FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 27, 2012 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez NOTE : This bill has been amended to replace its contents and this is the first time the bill is being heard in its current form. SUBJECT : Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children: task force. SUMMARY This bill extends the sunset from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2016, for provisions related to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) reconvening a task force to review the impact of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children on California, its school districts and its pupils, as specified, and issue a final report to the Legislature by December 1, 2012. BACKGROUND AB 343, Statutes of 2009 (Chapter 237, Saldana) enacted the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The Compact provides for the uniform treatment of military children transferring between school districts and states. Among other things, the Compact is meant to address issues related to: 1) Records, enrollment, placement and attendance, including the transfer of unofficial and official records, and placement in comparable courses, programs, and the same grade level regardless of age. 2) Granting of additional excused absences to a pupil AB 2202 Page 2 whose parent has been called to or returned from active duty. 3) Eligibility for enrollment and participation in extracurricular activities, including allowing military dependents to attend the same school and participation in programs and extracurricular activities with the consent of a non-custodial parent or other person who is caring for that child (standing in loco parentis). 4) Graduation, including the use of best efforts to waive required courses for pupils who successfully completed similar coursework, and consider granting a diploma from the sending school for pupils who transfer in their senior year of high school. 5) Binding effect of the Compact, whereby all member states' laws conflicting with the Compact are superseded by the Compact and all rules and bylaws developed by the commission are binding upon member states. (Education Code § 49700 et. seq.) In addition, AB 343 required the Superintendent of Public instruction (SPI) to convene a task force, as specified, to review and make recommendations about the Compact and report to the Legislature by December 1, 2012. ANALYSIS This bill extends the sunset from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2016, for provisions related to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) reconvening a taskforce to review the impact of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children on California, its school districts and its pupils, as specified, and issue a final report to the Legislature by December 1, 2012. STAFF COMMENTS AB 2202 Page 3 1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office, '"The Compact has some state requirements, including selection of a State Commissioner and establishing a State Council. This state coordination is necessary in order to assist school districts in implementing the provisions of the Compact to facilitate student transition and ensure compliance. For several reasons, these fundamental state requirements have just been recently met. Some school districts are unaware that the Compact even exists. Existing law requires the SPI to initiate the reconvening of a task force for the purposes of issuing a final report of findings and conclusions on prescribed topics to the Legislature no later than December 1, 2012. The Compact also has some state requirements, including naming a State Commissioner and establishing a State Council. The appointment by the SPI of a State Commissioner has just recently occurred, as well as the formation of a State Council, and there is little to report at this time. This bill would extend the effective date of provisions regarding the reconvening of the task force and its duties to January 1, 2016, in order to allow time for adequate implementation of the Compact." 2) The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children provides guidance as to how local school districts address the transition needs of military children. With the passage of AB 343, California ratified its participation in the Compact. According to the Military Interstate Compact Commission as of March 2012, 43 states have ratified the Compact. Individual states are free to adopt or decline to adopt any compact; states ratifying compacts are bound to observe the terms of the agreement until the compact is formally renounced by the state. Compact provisions take precedence over conflicting state laws. AB 343 required a prior task force to reconvene to review and make recommendations regarding the implementation of the compact in California, including conflicts with state law, costs to schools, and any unintended consequences. The Compact is only applicable to the children of active duty members of the uniformed services, AB 2202 Page 4 including members of the National Guard and reserve on active duty orders, members or veterans of the uniformed services who are severely injured and medically discharged or retired for a period of one year after medical discharge or retirement, and members of the uniformed services who die on active duty or as a result of injuries sustained on active duty for a period of one year after death. Once ratified by a state, the provisions of the Compact shall continue in force and remain binding upon each and every member state; provided that a member state may withdraw from the Compact by specifically repealing the statute which enacted the Compact into law. 3) According to the State Department of Education's task force report "Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children," the State of California hosts the third largest contingent of military children in the United States. A significant element of the state's economy remains related to military expenditures. In San Diego County alone, the economic impact is $24.6 billion and 375,000 jobs. The number of school-aged military children statewide ages 5-18 is 67,300 as of 2012. The approximate length of assignment to a military installation, slightly different for each branch of the service, is two to three years. Therefore, every year a significant number of these families are transferred into or arrive from another state or overseas, to fulfill military obligations. Although our civilian workforce is increasingly mobile, military families are unique in that they do not generally choose when or where they will move next in serving the nation. School transition issues that result from this dynamic movement are well known. The specific transition issues encountered by military school children are addressed in the policy components of the Compact, in an effort to ameliorate the issues and to improve the military family quality of life. 4) Additional time for the required reporting seems reasonable , given that a State Commissioner and a State Council are in their formative stages. However AB 2202 Page 5 this bill provides a three-year extension for the provision of reconvening a task force that would provide guidance for a report that originally was envisioned to be completed by December 1, 2012. Therefore staff recommends amendments that would require the report to the Legislature no later than December 1, 2013, and sunset the provisions relating to reporting and the reconvening of the task force to January 1, 2014, rather than 2016. 5) This measure as it passed the Assembly required the Legislative Analyst Office to conduct a study and make recommendations regarding access to higher education in underserved areas, as specified. 6) Prior legislation . In 2009, AB 343 (Chapter 237, Saldana) enacted the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. AB 2049, Saldana, Chapter 589, Statutes of 2008) required the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene a task force to review and make recommendations regarding the compact. The task force completed this review and released recommendations, all of which were incorporated into AB 343. SUPPORT None on file. OPPOSITION None on file.