BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2007
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2007 (Grove)
As Amended July 2, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 23, 2014) |SENATE: |35-0 |(August 11, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Authorizes, until January 1, 2018, a virtual or online
charter school, in specified circumstances, to claim independent
study average daily attendance (ADA) for a pupil who resides
outside of the geographic boundaries in which the school is
authorized to operate.
The Senate Amendments:
1)Establishes a repeal date of January 1, 2018, for the section
that authorizes a virtual or online charter school, in
specified circumstances, to claim independent study ADA for a
pupil who resides outside of the geographic boundaries in
which the school is authorized to operate and the section that
defines "virtual or online charter school."
2)Requires, on or before December 31, 2016, the California
Department of Education (CDE) to report on the CDE's
assessment of the need for a virtual or online charter school
to claim the independent study ADA of pupils enrolled in a
virtual or online charter school that have moved outside of
the geographic boundaries in which the virtual or online
charter school is authorized for the duration of the courses
in which the pupils are enrolled, as specified.
3)Makes technical and non-substantive changes to these sections.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that charter schools can claim ADA only for pupils
who are residents of the county in which the virtual or online
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charter school is authorized, or who are residents of a county
immediately adjacent to that county.
2)Considers a charter school that does not meet the requirements
to be a classroom-based school as a non-classroom-based school
and as such, must have its funding determination approved by
the State Board of Education.
3)Defines a virtual or online charter school as one in which at
least 80% of teaching and student interaction occurs via the
Internet.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the effect of this bill would be as follows:
1)ADA: Unknown, but likely minor costs/savings (Proposition 98
General Fund) to allow students to remain enrolled in their
virtual or online charter schools of attendance for the
remainder or a school year in which they move out of the
geographic service boundaries of that school.
2)CDE "report": Likely minor costs to the CDE to report on its
assessment of the need for this new authority. The CDE
estimates incurring additional workload worth about $30,000 to
complete the report.
COMMENTS : Students who transfer between schools, for reasons
other than grade promotion, often encounter lower achievement
levels due to discontinuity of curriculum between schools,
behavioral problems, difficulty developing peer relationships,
and in the end, face a greater risk for dropping out. While a
student who transfers between online schools may avoid some of
the social or behavioral issues, this bill addresses those
students who are required to leave an online school and enroll
in a brick and mortar school as well as addressing the academic
concerns that will follow the student to any new school in which
he or she enrolls. According to the author's office,
"approximately 43% of virtual schools identify special education
or at-risk children and youth as their target student
populations. These include students in the juvenile justice
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system and students who are at risk of dropping out."
Additionally, the author's office indicates that virtual charter
schools are an increasingly popular option among non-traditional
students, including athletes, actors, and high-mobility
students, such as children from military families. By allowing
students that are enrolled in a virtual charter school to remain
in that school if they are forced to move to another county in
the state, the bill will allow a child to have continuity and
continue to thrive in the school in which he or she is already
enrolled.
However, it is important to also weigh the benefits of
continuity of instruction for a pupil against the potential
difficulty of oversight by the charter authorizer. One could
argue that oversight of charter schools is an essential element
of success for both the charter school and for California's
public school system as a whole. Geographic proximately to its
authorizer ensures that a charter school can be properly
supervised by its authorizer. To allow children to continue to
enroll in a charter school that may be separated from its
authorizer by nearly 1,000 miles would make meaningful
supervision nearly impossible. This bill could be a slippery
slope that makes it more and more likely students will be unable
to access a credentialed teacher due to distance. Further, this
bill may open the door to students attending schools that have
no relationship to the community in which the student is living.
The repeal date for the operative provisions of this bill will
provide this Legislature sufficient time to evaluate the
effectiveness of the flexibility provided by this bill. The
CDE's report, required by this bill, may be a useful tool in
informing the Legislature of its decision to extend these
provisions beyond 2018.
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0004387