BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 578| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: SB 578 Author: Negrete McLeod (D) Amended: 4/14/11 Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 3/23/11 AYES: Lowenthal, Runner, Alquist, Liu, Price, Simitian, Vargas NOES: Huff NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Hancock, Vacancy SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/11/11 AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Pavley, Price, Runner, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Lieu SUBJECT : Foster youth: course credit SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill applies an existing requirement regarding the provision of course credit specifically to foster youth, requires the credit to be applied to the same subject matter in which the coursework was taken by a foster youth, and prohibits a school district from requiring a foster youth to retake a course for which full or partial credit was awarded. ANALYSIS : CONTINUED SB 578 Page 2 Existing Law 1.Requires each public school district and county office of education to accept for credit full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil while attending a public school, juvenile court school, or non-public non-sectarian school or agency. 2.Requires a school district to exempt a pupil in foster care from all coursework and other requirements adopted by a school district that are in addition to the statewide coursework requirements if the pupil, while he or she is in grade 11 or 12, transfers into the district from another district or between high schools within the district, unless the district makes a finding that the pupil is reasonably able to complete the additional requirements in time to graduate from high school while he or she remains eligible for foster care. This bill requires that course credit be applied to the same subject matter in which the coursework was taken by a foster youth, and prohibits a school district from requiring a foster youth to retake a course for which full or partial credit was awarded. Specifically, this bill: 1.Applies to foster youth the existing requirement that full or partial credit be provided for coursework satisfactorily completed while attending another school district, a juvenile court school, or a nonpublic non-sectarian school or agency even if the pupil did not complete the entire course. 2.Requires the credit to be applied to the same subject matter as the coursework completed in the prior school. 3.Prohibits a school district from requiring a pupil in foster care to retake a course or portions of a course for which the district has provided full or partial credit. 4.Defines "foster youth" to mean any child who has been removed from his or her home pursuant to certain sections of the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC), is the subject of a petition filed under certain sections of the CONTINUED SB 578 Page 3 WIC, or has been removed from his or her home and is the subject of a petition filed under certain sections of the WIC. Related Legislation SB 699 (Runner), 2011-12 Session, caps the age at which foster youth who transfer schools in the 11th or 12th grade may be exempt from local graduation requirements that exceed state graduation requirements. (In Senate Education Committee) FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund Coursework credit Minor costs, if any; unlikely reimbursable General restrictions Credit recovery Potentially significant cost pressure General programs SUPPORT : (Per Senate Education Committee analysis) County of San Bernardino County Welfare Directors Association of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, "Current law requires schools to award students full or partial credits for coursework satisfactorily completed while attending a public school, juvenile court school, or non-public, non-sectarian school. While statute requires that these credits must be accepted, there is nothing in statute requiring schools to apply the accepted credits toward the core curriculum and graduation requirements. Often the transferred credits are applied toward elective requirements rather than to the core curriculum. This CONTINUED SB 578 Page 4 practice often means that foster youth will lag behind their peers, essentially losing months of academic progress with each change in school placement due to no fault of their own." CPM:cm 4/14/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED