BILL NUMBER: SCR 67	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 26, 2013

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

                        AUGUST 13, 2013

   Relative to  School  Attendance Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 67, as amended, Liu.  School  Attendance Awareness
Month.
   This measure would designate September 2013 as  School 
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  school  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   disciplinary  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  school  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  school  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  School 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
 School  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   author and
coauthors  for appropriate distribution.