SCR 67, as introduced, Liu. Attendance Awareness Month.
This measure would designate September 2013 as Attendance Awareness Month, and would encourage public officials, educators, and communities in California to observe the month with appropriate activities and programs.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, Good attendance is essential to pupil achievement
2and graduation, and systemic approaches are needed to reduce
3chronic absenteeism rates in California, with a focus starting as
4early as kindergarten; and
5WHEREAS, Chronic absence, missing 10 percent or more of
6school, which can be just two or three days a month, for any reason,
7including both excused and unexcused absences, is a proven
8predictor of academic trouble; and
9WHEREAS, A pupil’s chronic absence is a predictor of
10below-grade-level reading proficiency by the third grade and course
11failure and eventual dropout later in that pupil’s career, and chronic
12absence thereby weakens our communities and our local
13economies; and
P2 1WHEREAS, The impact of chronic absence hits low-income
2pupils and children of color particularly hard if they do not have
3the resources to make up for lost time in the classroom.
4Low-income pupils and children of color are more likely to face
5systemic barriers to getting to school, such as unreliable
6transportation, lack of access to health care, unstable or
7unaffordable housing, and even unfair disicplinary policies; and
8WHEREAS, Chronic absence exacerbates the achievement gap
9that separates low-income pupils from their peers, since pupils
10from low-income families are both more likely to be chronically
11absent and more likely to be affected academically by missing
12school. Absenteeism also undermines efforts to improve struggling
13schools, since it is hard to measure improvement in classroom
14instruction if pupils are not in class to benefit from the
15improvement efforts; and
16WHEREAS, Improving attendance and reducing chronic absence
17take commitment, collaboration, and tailored approaches to address
18particular challenges and strengths in each community; and
19WHEREAS, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
20Torlakson, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, and Secretary of
21California Health and Human Services Diana Dooley jointly hosted
22an interagency forum on chronic absence to encourage state and
23local collaboration to improve the overall health, safety, and
24well-being of our children by promoting public awareness and
25reforms that improve school attendance; and
26WHEREAS, The Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1357 of the
272009-10 Regular Session to establish a definition and reporting
28mechanisms for chronic absence and Assembly Bill 97 of the
292013-14 Regular Session to establish chronic absence as a state
30priority for our schools to be included in the recently enacted local
31control accountability plans; and
32WHEREAS, Schools and districts must do more to track,
33calculate, and share the data on how many and which pupils are
34chronically absent so that schools and communities can work to
35deliver the right interventions to the right pupils; and
36WHEREAS, All pupils, even those who show up regularly, are
37affected by chronic absence because teachers must spend time
38reviewing for pupils who missed lessons; and
39WHEREAS, Attendance can be improved, and chronic absence
40significantly reduced, when schools, parents, and communities
P3 1work together to monitor and promote good attendance and address
2hurdles that keep children from getting to school; now, therefore,
3be it
4Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
5thereof concurring, That the Legislature designate September 2013
6as Attendance Awareness Month in the State of California, and
7encourages public officials, educators, and communities in
8California to observe the month with appropriate activities and
9programs; and be it further
10Resolved, That the Legislature join communities across our
11nation to increase awareness of the importance of school attendance
12by addressing attendance barriers and the root causes of chronic
13absence; and be it further
14Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
15this resolution to the authors for appropriate distribution.
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