SCR 67, as amended, Liu. begin insertSchool end insertAttendance Awareness Month.
This measure would designate September 2013 asbegin insert Schoolend insert 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, Goodbegin insert schoolend insert attendance is essential to pupil
2achievement and graduation, and systemic approaches are needed
3to reduce chronic absenteeism rates in California, with a focus
4starting as early 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
P2 1absence thereby weakens our communities and our local
2economies; and
3WHEREAS, The impact of chronic absence hits low-income
4pupils and children of color particularly hard if they do not have
5the resources to make up for lost time in the classroom.
6Low-income pupils and children of color are more likely to face
7systemic barriers to getting to school, such as unreliable
8transportation, lack of access to health care, unstable or
9unaffordable housing, and even unfairbegin delete disicplinaryend deletebegin insert disciplinaryend insert
10 policies; and
11WHEREAS, Chronic absence exacerbates the achievement gap
12that separates low-income pupils from their peers, since pupils
13from low-income families are both more likely to be chronically
14absent and more likely to be affected academically by missing
15school. Absenteeism also undermines efforts to improve struggling
16schools, since it is hard to measure improvement in classroom
17instruction if pupils are not in class to benefit from the
18improvement efforts; and
19WHEREAS, Improvingbegin insert schoolend insert attendance and reducing chronic
20absence take commitment, collaboration, and tailored approaches
21to address particular challenges and strengths in each community;
22and
23WHEREAS, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
24Torlakson, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, and Secretary of
25California Health and Human Services Diana Dooley jointly hosted
26an interagency forum on chronic absence to encourage state and
27local collaboration to improve the overall health, safety, and
28well-being of our children by promoting public awareness and
29reforms that improve school attendance; and
30WHEREAS, The Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1357 of the
312009-10 Regular Session to establish a definition and reporting
32mechanisms for chronic absence and Assembly Bill 97 of the
332013-14 Regular Session to establish chronic absence as a state
34priority for our schools to be included in the recently enacted local
35control accountability plans; and
36WHEREAS, Schools andbegin insert schoolend insert districts must do more to track,
37calculate, and share the data on how many and which pupils are
38chronically absent so that schools and communities can work to
39deliver the right interventions to the right pupils; and
P3 1WHEREAS, All pupils, even those who show up regularly, are
2affected by chronic absence because teachers must spend time
3reviewing for pupils who missed lessons; and
4WHEREAS,begin delete Attendanceend deletebegin insert School attendanceend insert can be improved,
5and chronic absence significantly reduced, when schools, parents,
6and communities work together to monitor and promote good
7attendance and address hurdles that keep children from getting to
8school; now, therefore, be it
9Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
10thereof concurring, That the Legislature designate September 2013
11asbegin insert Schoolend insert Attendance Awareness Month in the State of California,
12and encourages public officials, educators, and communities in
13California to observe the month with appropriate activities and
14programs; and be it further
15Resolved, That the Legislature join communities across our
16nation to increase awareness of the importance of school attendance
17by addressing attendance barriers and the root causes of chronic
18absence; and be it further
19Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
20this resolution to thebegin delete authorsend deletebegin insert author and coauthorsend insert for appropriate
21distribution.
O
98