BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 149
Author: Weber (D), et al.
Amended: 8/7/14 in Assembly
Vote: 21
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Read and adopted, 8/7/14
SUBJECT : School Attendance Awareness Month
SOURCE : Children Now
DIGEST : This resolution designates the month of September
2014 as School Attendance Awareness Month, and encourages public
officials, educators, and communities in California to observe
the month with appropriate activities and programs.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1.The Legislature and the Governor enacted a local control
funding formula and clearly established school attendance as a
matter of great state interest by explicitly identifying pupil
engagement, as measured by school attendance and chronic
absenteeism rates, as a state priority. Also, SB 1357
(Steinberg, Chapter 704, Statutes of 2010) was enacted to
establish the definition of a "chronic absentee" as a pupil
who misses 10% or more of school for any reason, making no
distinction between excused and unexcused absences.
2.The impact of chronic absenteeism hits low-income pupils and
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children of color particularly hard if they do not have the
resources to make up for lost time in the classroom; and these
pupils are likely to face systemic barriers in getting to
school, including unreliable transportation, lack of access to
health care, unstable or unaffordable housing, and even unfair
discipline policies.
3.When schools, parents, and communities work together to
monitor and promote good attendance and address those hurdles
that keep children from getting to school, pupil attendance
improves, and chronic absenteeism is significantly reduced.
4.Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, Attorney
General Kamala D. Harris, Secretary of California Health and
Human Services Diane Dooley, Chief Justice Tani G.
Cantil-Sakauye, and others have joined efforts to combat
chronic absenteeism to encourage state and local action to
improve the overall health, safety, and well-being of our
children by promoting public awareness and reforms that
improve school attendance.
This resolution designates the month of September 2014 as School
Attendance Awareness Month, and encourages public officials,
educators, and communities in California to observe the month
with appropriate activities and programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/12/14)
Children Now (source)
Bay Area Council
ACLU
Fight Crime Invest in Kids California
Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
Partnership for Children and Youth
Education Trust West
California School Based Health Alliance
PQ:e 8/12/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
ACR 149
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