BILL NUMBER: AB 2544	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Roger Hernández

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to add Section 42238.035 to the Education Code, relating to
school finance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2544, as introduced, Roger Hernández. School finance: preschool
funding.
   Existing law establishes a public school system that requires
state funding for county superintendents of schools, school
districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local
control funding formula, as specified. Existing law requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to calculate, for each county
superintendent of schools, school district, and charter school, a
base entitlement for the transition to the local control funding
formula that includes, among other things, the sum of the amount of
funding received from appropriations contained in certain budget
items of the Budget Act of 2012.
   This bill would establish the school district and charter school
preschool funding formula. The bill would require the Superintendent,
commencing with the 2015-16 fiscal year, and each year thereafter,
to calculate and apportion, a preschool funding grant for each school
and charter school in the state pursuant to a specified funding
formula. The bill would require the school district and charter
school to use the money to fund either existing or startup preschools
in the district or at the charter school. The funding formula would
be based on the number of 4 year olds who reside in a school district
who are economically disadvantaged, an English learner, or a foster
youth, as defined, or a combination thereof, as provided by each
school district.
   By imposing new mandates on a school district, the bill would
establish a state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 42238.035 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
   42238.035.  (a) The amount computed pursuant to this section shall
be known as the school district and charter school preschool funding
formula.
   (b) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Economically disadvantaged child" means a child that is
eligible to receive a free or reduced-price meal pursuant to Section
49552.
   (2) "English learner" has the same meaning as it does in Section
52164.
   (3) "Foster youth" has the same meaning as it does in Section 300
and 601 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
   (c) (1) Commencing with the 2015-16 fiscal year and each fiscal
year thereafter, the Superintendent shall annually calculate a
preschool funding grant for each school district and charter school
in the state pursuant to this section, equal to the base grant
calculated pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) of Section 42238.02. The school district and charter
school shall use the money to fund either existing or startup
preschools in the school district or at the charter school.
   (2) For purposes of making the calculations in subdivisions (d)
and (e), the Superintendent shall use information obtained from each
school district on the number of economically disadvantaged children,
English learners, and foster youth who are four years old at the
time of making the calculation and residing in the school district.
   (3) For purposes of calculating the grant pursuant to this
section, a child may be counted more than once if the child meets
more than one of the definitions in subdivision (b).
   (d) The Superintendent shall compute a supplemental preschool
grant add-on equal to 35 percent of the base grant as specified in
subdivision (c) for each school district's percentage of four year
olds residing in the district, or in the case of a charter school,
the percentage of four year olds residing in the school district in
which the charter school is physically located, in each of the
categories specified in subdivision (b). The supplemental preschool
grant shall be calculated by multiplying the base grants specified in
subdivision (c) by 35 percent and by the sum of the percentages of
four year olds in the categories specified in subdivision (b) in that
school district. For purposes of calculating the grant for a charter
school physically located in more than one school district, the
Superintendent shall use the school district with the highest number
of four year olds residing in the school district where the charter
school is physically located.
   (e) The Superintendent shall compute a concentration preschool
grant add-on equal to 35 percent of the base grant as specified in
subdivision (c) for each school district's percentage of four year
olds residing in the district, or in the case of the charter school,
the percentage of four year olds residing in the school district in
which the charter school is physically located, in each of the
categories specified in subdivision (b). The concentration preschool
grant shall be calculated by determining the amount by which the sum
of these percentages exceeds 50 percent and by multiplying the base
grant as specified in subdivision (c) by 35 percent and by any
positive percentage so determined. For purposes of calculating the
grant for a charter school physically located in more than one school
district, the Superintendent shall use the school district with the
highest number of four year olds residing in the school district
where the charter school is physically located. For a charter school
physically located in only one school district, the percentage of
four year olds in excess of 50 percent used to calculate
concentration preschool grants shall not exceed the percentage of
four year olds in excess of 50 percent of the school district in
which the charter school is physically located. If the charter school
is physically located in more than one school district, the charter
school's percentage of four year olds in excess of 50 percent used to
calculate concentration preschool grants shall not exceed that of
the school district with the highest percentage of four year olds in
excess of 50 percent within the charter school's physical location.
   (f) The Superintendent shall apportion funding to a school
district and charter school equal to the sum of the amounts computed
pursuant to subdivisions (c), (d), and (e), multiplied for each
school district and charter school by the number of four-year-old
children served by each.
  SEC. 2.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.