BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SCR 67
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   September 9, 2013

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                              Richard S. Gordon, Chair
                     SCR 67 (Liu) - As Amended:  August 26, 2013

           SENATE VOTE  :   34-2
           
          SUBJECT  :   School Attendance Awareness Month.

           SUMMARY  :   Designates 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.  Specifically,  this  
          resolution  makes the following legislative findings:

          1)Good school attendance is essential to pupil achievement and  
            graduation, and systemic approaches are needed to reduce  
            chronic absenteeism rates in California; and, missing 10  
            percent or more of school, which can be two or three days a  
            month, is a proven predictor of academic trouble.

          2)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; and these  
            pupils 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  
            disciplinary policies.

          3)Improving school attendance and reducing chronic absence takes  
            commitment, collaboration, and tailored approaches to address  
            particular challenges and strengths in each community; and,  
            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.

          4)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.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None









                                                                  SCR 67
                                                                  Page  2

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          California Department of Education
          Children Now
          Partnership for Children and Youth
           
            Opposition 
           
          None on file

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800