BILL ANALYSIS Ķ SB 578 Page A Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Julia Brownley, Chair SB 578 (Negrete McLeod) - As Amended: June 29, 2011 SENATE VOTE : 39-0 SUBJECT : Pupils in foster care: course credit SUMMARY : Requires a school district and county office of Education (COE) to accept coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil in foster care while attending another school and to award full or partial credit for such coursework, as specified. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires a school district and COE to accept coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil in foster care while attending another public school, a juvenile court school, or a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency (NPS/A) even if the pupil did not complete the entire course and to issue that pupil full or partial credit for the coursework completed. 2)Requires the credits accepted pursuant to this bill to be applied to the same or equivalent course, if applicable, as the coursework completed in the prior public school, juvenile court school, or NPS/A. 3)Prohibits a school district or COE from requiring a pupil in foster care to retake a course if the pupil has satisfactorily completed the entire course in a public school, a juvenile court school, or a NPS/A. 4)Prohibits, if a pupil does not complete an entire course, a school district or COE from requiring a pupil to retake the portions of the course completed, unless the school district or COE in consultation with the holder of educational rights for the pupil, finds that the pupil is reasonably able to complete the requirements in time to graduate from high school. 5)Specifies that when partial credit is awarded in a particular course, a pupil in foster care shall be enrolled in the same or equivalent coursework, if applicable, so that the pupil may continue and complete the entire course. SB 578 Page B 6)Specifies a pupil in foster care shall not be prevented from retaking or taking a course to meet the eligibility requirements for admission to the California State University and the University of California (known as the A-G requirements). 7)Defines "pupil in foster care" as a child who has been removed from his or her home pursuant to specified sections of the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC), is the subject of a petition filed under specified sections of the WIC, or has been removed from his or her home and is the subject of a petition filed under those sections of the WIC. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires each public school district and COE to accept for credit full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil while attending a public school, juvenile court school, or nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency, and requires the coursework be transferred by means of the standard state transcript. 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 high school graduation 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 benefits. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, minor general fund costs, if any, unlikely reimbursable. COMMENTS : Current law requires each public school district and COE to accept for credit full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil while attending a public school, juvenile court school, or NPS/A. While this provision is in the juvenile court school article of the Education Code, it is interpreted to apply to all pupils, as indicated in a June 2007 communication from the Superintendent of Public Instruction SB 578 Page C (SPI) to county and district superintendents. Children in foster care experience academic loses and deficits due to the multiple changes in residential placement that unfortunately result in school changes. The Legislature has previously passed legislation to create more stable educational placements for pupils in foster care by allowing them to remain in their school of origin for the duration of the court's jurisdiction, if it is in the best interest of the pupil. Research suggests that students who change schools frequently are affected psychologically, socially and academically from changing schools, and that mobile students also face greater risk of declines in academic achievement. Every time a child is moved to a new school, he or she loses four to six months of educational attainment.<1> The Legislature has encouraged child welfare and education entities to work together to ensure educational stability and to reduce the number of school transfers experienced by pupils in foster care. This bill tries to address situations in which pupils in foster care are unable to remain in their schools of origin and have to transfer to a new school. This bill requires partial credit awarded to foster care pupils to be applied to the same or equivalent course as the coursework was completed in the prior school. This part of the bill tries to address a concern that has been raised alleging that some districts do not apply partial credits to the subject area in which a pupil earned partial course credit, and instead apply the credits to other subject areas or elective credit. Under the provisions of this bill, if a foster pupil earned partial credit in an English class, the new district is required to accept and apply the partial credit towards English credit and not elective credit. The bill also prohibits a district from requiring a pupil to retake a course if the pupil completed the entire course in a prior school. If the pupil did not complete the entire course, the bill prohibits a district from requiring the pupil to retake portions of the course already completed, unless the district or county office, in consultation with the holder of educational rights, finds that the pupil is reasonably able to complete the requirements in time to graduate from high school and requires the pupil to be enrolled in the same or equivalent coursework, --------------------------- <1> Homeless in America: A Children's Story- Part One. Homes for the Homeless and Institute for Children and Poverty. 1999. SB 578 Page D as applicable, to ensure that the pupil completes the entire course. According to the sponsor of this bill, this provision tries to ensure that when pupils in foster care enter a new school with partial credit in certain courses, they are not required to retake the portions of the course already completed and instead ensure that the pupil completes the remainder of the course in order to obtain full credit for the course. The purpose is to try to avoid duplication of coursework so as to maximize school time as much as possible to ensure pupils in foster care are able to meet all the requirements for high school graduation. This bill additionally includes a provision stating that no pupil shall be prevented from retaking or taking a course that meets the A-G requirements. This provision is intended to ensure that if a pupil in foster care wants to retake an entire course to obtain a higher grade to meet the A-G requirements, he or she is not prevented from doing so. The author states, "There is nothing in statute requiring that schools issue partial credits or apply the accepted credits towards the core curriculum and graduation requirements. Often the transferred credits are applied towards elective requirements rather than to the core curriculum, i.e. partial Algebra 1 credits are applied as credits toward the elective requirement, instead of being applied towards the core math requirement. This practice often means that these 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. Additionally, this can lead to the youth choosing to drop out of high school rather than complete additional courses for work already completed. In order to ensure that these youth continue to advance academically, it is vital that school districts provide opportunities for them to earn the credits they are missing." Previous legislation : AB 1933 (Brownley), Chapter 563, Statutes of 2010 requires a local educational agency (LEA) to allow a child in foster care to remain in his or her school of origin for the duration of the court's jurisdiction, if it is in the child's best interest. AB 167 (Adams), Chapter 224, Statutes of 2009, 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 SB 578 Page E addition to the statewide high school graduation 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 benefits AB 490 (Steinberg), Chapter 862, Statutes of 2003, creates new duties and rights related to the education of dependents and wards in foster care, including giving foster youth the right to remain in their school of origin for the duration of the school year when their residential placement changes and remaining in the same school is in the child's best interest. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support County of San Bernardino (Sponsor) Association of California School Administrators California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance California State Association of Counties County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors County Welfare Directors Association of California Disability Rights California Los Angeles County Office of Education The Advancement Project Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Aviņa / ED. / (916) 319-2087