BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 361|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 361
Author: Berryhill (R), et al
Amended: 5/31/11
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 3/23/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Runner, Alquist, Huff, Liu, Price,
Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Hancock, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 5/26/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley,
Price, Runner, Steinberg
SUBJECT : School funding: minimum schoolday: Center for
Advanced Research and Technology
SOURCE : Clovis Unified School District
Fresno Unified School District
DIGEST : This bill extends to July 1, 2017, the
provisions regarding the ineligibility of the Center for
Advanced Research and Technology for charter school funding
and the computation of attendance for pupils concurrently
reenrolled in regular secondary school classes and classes
operating pursuant to a joint powers agreement that became
effective prior to January 1, 2008.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, as it specifically relates to
the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART):
CONTINUED
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1.Provides, commencing in 2008-09, the minimum schoolday
for a pupil concurrently enrolled in regular secondary
school classes and classes operated pursuant to a joint
powers agreement (JPA) that became effective prior to
January 1, 2008, is 180 minutes and provides further that
a pupil must attend the full 180 minutes of class to
generate a "day of attendance" for purposes of funding.
2.Provides that the 180 minute schoolday described above
will generate only three-quarters (75 percent) of a day
of attendance for the purpose of calculating average
daily attendance (ADA) but that the ADA generated by the
pupil's attendance may be claimed as part of a school
districts' ADA.
3.Requires, beginning in 2008-09, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) shall compute funding for each
pupil, enrolled in classes pursuant to the JPA, by
multiplying the pupil's annual clock hours of attendance,
up to a maximum of three clock hours per schoolday, by an
hourly rate that is computed to represent an hourly
equivalent of the pupil's home district revenue limit.
4.Requires the SPI to add the funding computed (in #3
above) to the revenue limit of the school district of
attendance of the pupil.
5.Deems, for the purposes of computing attendance, that a
pupil in classes operated pursuant to the JPA, satisfies
the requirement that the pupil be under the immediate
supervision and control of a district employed teacher.
6.Requires, as part of a school district's annual audit to
insure attendance funding is in compliance with
conditions specified for each school district that is a
party to the JPA and funding reduced for noncompliance
when applicable.
7.Sunsets the above provisions July 1, 2012.
8.Prohibits, commencing with the 2008-09 fiscal year, CART,
operating pursuant to a JPA between the Clovis Unified
School District (CUSD) and the Fresno Unified School
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District (FUSD), from being eligible for funding under
charter school funding laws. The prohibition sunsets
July 1, 2012.
This bill extends to July 1, 2017, the provisions regarding
the ineligibility of the Center for Advanced Research and
Technology for charter school funding and the computation
of attendance for pupils concurrently reenrolled in regular
secondary school classes and classes operating pursuant to
a joint powers agreement that became effective prior to
January 1, 2008.
Comments
CART is a highly recognized linked-learning career
technical education center that is a partnership between
CUSD and FUSD. CART provides instruction to 11th and 12th
grade pupils from both districts, with the pupils spending
half of their instructional day at CART and the other half
in their regular district high school. The CART model
combines rigorous academies with career clusters including
professional sciences, engineering, advanced communications
and global dynamics.
Preliminary findings, recently released (January 2011) by
the Irvine Foundation, shows that from 2002 through 2008
students who participated n CART had higher percentage of
enrollments in community colleges after completing grade 12
and one year after high school. After grade 12, 71 percent
of students who participated in CART attended a community
college, while 60 percent of a demographically similar
group of non-CART students attended community college. The
same percentage difference holds true one year after high
school.
The genesis of current statute was due to funding
irregularities that were deemed inappropriate. CART was
established as a charter school in 1997 by a joint powers
agreement established between CUSD and FUSD.
CART ran afoul of the law in that (1) the pupils were in
charter school classrooms only 50 percent of the day,
although they attended regular high school classes during
the other 50 percent (statute requires charter schools to
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enroll pupils in classroom instruction for at least 80
percent of the school day), and (2) teachers from both
districts taught at CART so pupils were not always being
instructed by employees of their home district or the CART
charter school (statute also provides that school
districts, and charter schools, may not claim general
purpose funding for the attendance of pupils in classes
that are not under the supervision and control of a teacher
that is an employee of the district or charter school).
In 2006, the State Controller's auditors determined that
the charter school could not claim any funding for that
year, or any later year until the charter school either
complied with the law or was granted an exception. The
school's funding for 2006-07 was authorized by SB 345
(Aanestad), Chapter 524, Statutes of 2007. The 2006 audit
was settled without penalty, but a long term solution was
still needed.
In 2008, AB 2246 (Villines), Chapter 762, Statutes of 2008,
codified the current funding formula for the CART program.
CART no longer is a charter school and AB 2246 contained a
provision specifying CART is not eligible to receive
funding over charter school funding provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13
2013-14 Fund
CART funding $1,000 $1,000
$1,000 General*
*Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/31/11)
Clovis Unified School District (co-source)
Fresno Unified School District (co-source)
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"The purpose of SB, 361 is to update existing law as it
pertains to a school funding mechanism to ensure that the
Center for Advanced Research and Technology is able to
continue preparing high school students for the
postsecondary education and career path of each student's
choosing."
In support, one of the sponsors, the Clovis Unified School
District, states, "The future of the Central Valley rests
heavily on our ability to train and retain tomorrow's
workforce, and it is our responsibility to create education
solutions that do exact that: raise up young people
prepared for tomorrow's economy. CART is a proven solution
for this challenge and since its start in 1997 has become
an international model of successful linked learning career
technical education."
CPM:cm 5/31/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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