BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
SB 754
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 754 (Padilla)
As Amended August 6, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
EDUCATION 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Eng, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Grove, Halderman, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Williams | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires as a condition of the receipt of economic
impact aid (EIA) funds, a school district to post in an easily
accessible location on its Internet Web site data related to EIA
funding for purposes of budget transparency. Specifically, this
bill requires posting the amounts of EIA funds:
1)Allocated to the school district in that fiscal year.
2)Used by the school district for administrative costs in that
fiscal year.
3)Expended for limited-English-proficient pupils in that fiscal
year and the prior fiscal year by the school district and by
each school within the district.
4)Expended for state compensatory education in that fiscal year
and the prior fiscal year by the school district and by each
school within the district.
5)Unexpended and an explanation of why these funds have not been
expended.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides economic impact aid funding to school districts based
SB 754
Page 2
on the number of economically disadvantaged pupils and English
learners (ELs) enrolled in the school district.
2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to perform
(SPI) specified calculations to determine the amount of EIA a
school district receives for a fiscal year and requires each
school district to expend these funds for specified programs
and activities.
3)Requires a school district to expend EIA funds to serve and
assist ELs and economically disadvantaged pupils and prohibits
expending those funds at schoolsites that do not have ELs or
economically disadvantaged pupils.
4)Requires a school to use EIA funds to support programs and
activities designed to assist ELs achieve proficiency in the
English language as rapidly as practicable and to support
programs and activities designed to improve the academic
achievement of ELs and economically disadvantaged pupils.
5)Requires EIA funds received by school districts to supplement,
and not supplant, existing resources at the schoolsite.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, annual General Fund/Proposition 98 costs, likely
between $200,000 and $400,000, to local education agencies
(LEAs) to meet the requirements of this bill. There were 1,015
LEAs that received EIA funding in the 2011-12 Fiscal Year.
Actual costs will depend on the number of schools within each
district that receive EIA funding.
COMMENTS : EIA is a state categorical program that provides
supplemental funds to support additional programs and services
for ELs/limited English proficient (LEP) pupils and compensatory
education services for educationally disadvantaged students.
The EIA/LEP support programs and activities to assist ELs
achieve proficiency in the English language as rapidly as
practicable and to support programs and activities to improve
the academic achievement of English learners. EIA/State
Compensatory Education (EIA/SCE) support programs and activities
designed to assist educationally disadvantaged students achieve
state standard proficiency.
The author states, "Current law lacks transparency in school
SB 754
Page 3
budgets that would allow policymakers, students, parents,
teachers and communities to understand how schools and districts
provide services to English Learners."
This bill requires as a condition of the receipt of EIA funds,
school districts to post in an easily accessible location the
information about EIA allocations and expenditures at the school
district and school site level.
Pursuant to Title 5 Regulations, school districts receiving EIA
funds are required to maintain separate accounting records that
document the total amount of EIA funds spent. It shall be noted
that the purpose of EIA funds is to provide supplementary
services to ELs and economically disadvantaged students.
Without also having information about the main budget and/or
other sources of funding for the student populations that EIA is
designed for, it is unclear whether the EIA budget in isolation
will provide useful information to parents and the public.
Furthermore, the information may not necessarily be presented in
a manner that is easily comprehensible. However, others may
argue that this bill takes a step towards increasing budget
transparency, which in turn will lead to a greater level of
understanding on how education dollars are spent.
There appears to be a level of parent and public involvement and
input in the development of an expenditure plan for EIA funds.
Current law requires the school site council (SSC) to develop a
Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) for consolidated
application programs, including EIA, operated at the school or
in which the school participates. The SSC must approve the
plan, recommend it to the local governing board for approval,
monitor implementation of the SPSA, and evaluate the results. At
least annually, the SSC must revise the SPSA, including proposed
expenditures of funds allocated to the school through the
consolidated application, and recommend it to the local
governing board for approval.
EIA reporting requirement on court schools: Starting with the
2010-11 fiscal year, juvenile court schools (JCS) are also
eligible for EIA funds, and the Budget Act requires, as a
condition of receipt of funds, JCSs to report on the use of
funds and the number of pupils served no later than September 30
of each year. However, this existing requirement applies only
to court schools.
SB 754
Page 4
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Aviņa / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0005011