BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1764
                                                                  Page 1

          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 1764  (Olsen and Buchanan) 
          As Amended  April 24, 2014
          Majority Vote 

           EDUCATION           7 - 0                                       
           
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          |Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Chávez,  |     |                          |
          |     |Gonzalez, Nazarian,       |     |                          |
          |     |Weber, Williams           |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |     |                          |
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           SUMMARY  :  Allows a school district to award mathematics credit  
          for completion of a California State University (CSU) and  
          University of California (UC) approved "Category C" computer  
          science course, if the district requires more than two years of  
          mathematics courses for graduation.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the  
          Legislative Counsel.



           COMMENTS  :  By allowing computer science to count for a high  
          school mathematics credit, this bill provides an essential  
          incentive for more students to take computer science courses  
          while in high school.  By providing students with an  
          opportunity to gain critical knowledge and skills in the  
          field it may also result in more students pursuing computer  
          science in in their postsecondary education.  In an effort  
          to encourage rigorous courses that speak to computer  
          science, rather than the use of technology, this bill  
          suggests that districts should offer mathematics credit only  
          when those courses are approved by the CSUs/UCs for  
          "Category C" credit, which represents the mathematics course  
          requirements.  This bill recognizes this overlap between  
          higher level mathematics courses and rigorous computer  
          science courses and encourages districts to construct  
          computer science courses that allow students to re-think  
          traditional mathematics and explore meaningful computer  
          science curriculum.









                                                                  AB 1764
                                                                  Page 2




           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087 

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