BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 631|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 631
Author: Fox (D), et al.
Amended: 7/2/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/12/13
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Huff,
Monning, Torres
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Pupils: juvenile court schools
SOURCE : Los Angeles County Office of Education
DIGEST : This bill authorizes a county board of education to
adopt and enforce a course of study that enhances instruction in
mathematics and English language arts (ELA) for pupils attending
a juvenile court school.
Senate Floor Amendments of 7/2/13 add a co-author and make a
non-substantive technical change.
ANALYSIS : Juvenile court schools, administered by the county
board of education, provide public education for youth who are
incarcerated in juvenile hall, juvenile home, day center,
juvenile ranch and juvenile camp, regional youth educational
facility or in any group home housing 25 or more children.
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AB 631
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Existing law:
1.Establishes the minimum school day for juvenile court schools
to be 240 minutes, and requires the minimum schooldays to be
calculated on the basis of the average number of minutes of
attendance during up to 10 consecutive days in which classes
are conducted. The minimum school day for pupils in
attendance in approved vocational education programs, work
programs prescribed by the probation department, and work
experience programs is 180 minutes.
2.Requires the county board of education to adopt and enforce a
course of study and evaluate its program, as specified.
3.Requires pupils enrolled in county community schools (serves
pupils who have been expelled, referred by probation or an
attendance review board, or are homeless) to be assigned to
classes or programs deemed most appropriate for reinforcing or
reestablishing educational development. These classes or
programs may include basic educational skill development, job
training, tutoring, independent study, and individual guidance
activities. An individually planned educational program based
upon an educational assessment must be prescribed for each
pupil. The course of study for county community schools is to
be adopted by the county board of education and enable each
pupil to continue academic work leading to the completion of a
regular high school program.
4.States legislative intent that school districts operating
community day schools (serves pupils who have been expelled
for any reason, or referred by probation or a school
attendance review board) include as a program component
individualized instruction and assessment.
This bill authorizes a county board of education to adopt and
enforce a course of study that enhances instruction in
mathematics and ELA for pupils attending a juvenile court
school. Specifically, this bill:
1.Authorizes the county board of education to adopt and enforce
a course of study that enhances instruction in mathematics and
ELA for pupils attending juvenile court schools, as determined
by statewide assessments or objective local evaluations and
assessments as approved by the county superintendent of
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AB 631
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schools.
2.Requires the enhanced course of study to meet the common core
standards, as appropriate, and be tailored to meet the needs
of the individual pupil to increase the pupil's academic
literacy and reading fluency.
Comments
According to the author's office, "Pupils who attend juvenile
court schools often perform at far below basic in math and
reading - many at three or more years below grade level. These
students can benefit from increased math and reading instruction
and are encouraged to continue their education when they see
progress in their math and reading abilities. The need for this
bill centers around the fact that juvenile court schools are not
considered alternative schools and must therefore offer students
a complete course of classes based on the minimum instructional
minutes for a calendar year."
Previous Legislation
AB 741 (Goldberg, 2005) required the California Department of
Education to submit recommendations to the Legislature to ensure
that the K-8 curriculum contained specified components. This
bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense
file.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/3/13)
Los Angeles County Office of Education (source)
Advancement Project
California Catholic Conference
California Federation of Teachers
School for Integrated Academics and Technologies
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia,
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Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Roger Hern�ndez, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue,
Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove,
Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy
PQ:ej 7/3/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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