BILL NUMBER: SCR 67	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Liu
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Hancock)
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Buchanan)

                        AUGUST 13, 2013

   Relative to Attendance Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   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.



   WHEREAS, Good attendance is essential to pupil achievement and
graduation, and systemic approaches are needed to reduce chronic
absenteeism rates in California, with a focus starting as early as
kindergarten; and
   WHEREAS, Chronic absence, missing 10 percent or more of school,
which can be just two or three days a month, for any reason,
including both excused and unexcused absences, is a proven predictor
of academic trouble; and
   WHEREAS, A pupil's chronic absence is a predictor of
below-grade-level reading proficiency by the third grade and course
failure and eventual dropout later in that pupil's career, and
chronic absence thereby weakens our communities and our local
economies; and
   WHEREAS, The impact of chronic absence hits low-income pupils and
children of color particularly hard if they do not have the resources
to make up for lost time in the classroom. Low-income pupils and
children of color are more likely to face systemic barriers to
getting to school, such as unreliable transportation, lack of access
to health care, unstable or unaffordable housing, and even unfair
disicplinary policies; and
   WHEREAS, Chronic absence exacerbates the achievement gap that
separates low-income pupils from their peers, since pupils from
low-income families are both more likely to be chronically absent and
more likely to be affected academically by missing school.
Absenteeism also undermines efforts to improve struggling schools,
since it is hard to measure improvement in classroom instruction if
pupils are not in class to benefit from the improvement efforts; and
   WHEREAS, Improving attendance and reducing chronic absence take
commitment, collaboration, and tailored approaches to address
particular challenges and strengths in each community; and
   WHEREAS, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson,
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, and Secretary of California Health
and Human Services Diana Dooley jointly hosted an interagency forum
on chronic absence to encourage state and local collaboration to
improve the overall health, safety, and well-being of our children by
promoting public awareness and reforms that improve school
attendance; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1357 of the 2009-10
Regular Session to establish a definition and reporting mechanisms
for chronic absence and Assembly Bill 97 of the 2013-14 Regular
Session to establish chronic absence as a state priority for our
schools to be included in the recently enacted local control
accountability plans; and
   WHEREAS, Schools and districts must do more to track, calculate,
and share the data on how many and which pupils are chronically
absent so that schools and communities can work to deliver the right
interventions to the right pupils; and
   WHEREAS, All pupils, even those who show up regularly, are
affected by chronic absence because teachers must spend time
reviewing for pupils who missed lessons; and
   WHEREAS, Attendance can be improved, and chronic absence
significantly reduced, when schools, parents, and communities work
together to monitor and promote good attendance and address hurdles
that keep children from getting to school; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature designate September 2013 as
Attendance Awareness Month in the State of California, and encourages
public officials, educators, and communities in California to
observe the month with appropriate activities and programs; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Legislature join communities across our nation
to increase awareness of the importance of school attendance by
addressing attendance barriers and the root causes of chronic
absence; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the authors for appropriate distribution.