BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 451
AUTHOR: Huff
AMENDED: April 10, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 17, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lenin Del
Castillo
SUBJECT : Open Enrollment Act.
SUMMARY
This bill expands the Open Enrollment Act to authorize the
parent of a pupil, regardless of whether the pupil attends
a "low-achieving school", to submit an application for the
pupil to attend another school within the same district or
to a school outside their district of residence.
BACKGROUND
Under current law, the Open Enrollment Act allows the
parent of a pupil attending a school identified by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction as "low-achieving" to
submit an application for the pupil to attend another
school within the same district or transfer to another
school district (school district of enrollment). A list of
1,000 "low-achieving schools" ranked by increasing Academic
Performance Index (API) is identified by the Superintendent
of Public Instruction each year.
A school district of enrollment may adopt specific written
standards for acceptance and rejection of transfer
applications, including consideration of the capacity of a
program, class, grade level, or school building, or adverse
fiscal impact.
A school district of enrollment is prohibited from
considering a pupil's previous academic achievement,
physical condition, and proficiency in the English
language, family income or any of the individual
characteristics set forth in Section 200 of the Education
Code, and shall ensure that pupils are enrolled in a school
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with a higher API than the school in which the pupil was
previously enrolled.
The Open Enrollment Act also requires that pupils are
selected through a random, unbiased process, except that
pupils applying for transfer are assigned specific
priorities, with the first priority given to siblings of
children who already attend the desired school and second
priority for pupils transferring from a program improvement
school ranked in decile 1 on the API.
(Education Code § 48350 et seq.)
Current law authorizes inter-district transfers known as
"school districts of choice" in which the governing board
of a school district may declare a district to be a
district of choice that is willing to accept a specified
number of inter-district transfers. A district of choice
is not required to admit pupils but the pupils that it does
elect to admit must be selected through a random process
that prohibits enrollment based on academic or athletic
performance. School districts of choice must give priority
for attendance to siblings of children already in
attendance in that district. A district of choice may
reject the transfer of a pupil if the transfer of that
pupil would require the district to create a new program to
serve that pupil, but prohibits a district of choice from
rejecting the transfer of special needs pupils, individuals
with exceptional needs, and English learners. Districts of
choice are required to collect specific data about the
students who transfer to their district and report that
data to surrounding districts and the state. These
provisions are currently scheduled to become inoperative on
July 1, 2016. (Education Code § 48300 et seq.).
ANALYSIS
This bill expands the Open Enrollment Act to authorize the
parent of any pupil, regardless of whether the pupil
attends a "low-achieving school", to submit an application
for the pupil to attend another school within the same
district or to a school outside their district of
residence. The Open Enrollment Act currently limits
applicants to parents of students attending low-achieving
schools. More specifically, this bill:
1) Removes the existing definition of "low-achieving
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schools" in the Open Enrollment Act.
2) Removes the requirement for the Superintendent of
Public Instruction to annually create a list of
low-achieving schools.
3) Allows the parent of a pupil enrolled in a school
district of residence to submit an application for the
pupil to attend a school in a school district of
enrollment.
4) Requires that third priority be given to pupils
transferring from a school ranked in decile 2 on the
Academic Performance Index when a school district of
enrollment reviews applications for pupil transfers.
5) Adds the Open Enrollment Act to the list of
provisions that the governing board of a school
district or a county board of education may not
request the State Board of Education to waive.
STAFF COMMENTS
1 Need for the bill . According to the author,
because current law assigns students to schools based
on their residence, California does not have an equal
and fair distribution of education benefits. Students
and families are put at a disadvantage if their
assigned school does not meet their academic needs.
The author indicates the bill would expand school
options for parents and allow students to transfer to
a high-performing public school ensuring equal access
to a quality education.
2 Expansion of School Choice? The Open Enrollment
Act has only been operative for less than three years.
An evaluation of the program by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction is due to the Legislature,
Governor, and State Board of Education by October 1,
2014, and shall include the changes in academic
achievement of pupils that transfer, fiscal and
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programmatic effects on school districts, and
demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of
pupils that transfer. Would it be premature to expand
the Open Enrollment Act before receiving this data or
any outcomes demonstrating the effectiveness of this
program? This bill essentially eliminates the existing
boundaries for school districts and creates a
statewide open enrollment policy with funding
implications at both the state and local level.
Also, given that the District of Choice program
already allows parents and students with the option to
transfer within their district or to another district,
it is unclear why an expanded school choice program is
necessary.
3 Mandated Costs . The enrollment process and
notification requirements in this measure impose
certain mandated costs on both districts of residence
and districts of enrollment.
4 Previous related legislation :
SBX5 4 (Huff, 2010), Chapter 3, Statutes of 2010,
established the Open Enrollment Act to allow any pupil
in a low-achieving school, as defined, to transfer to
another school in the district or any school outside
of their district of residence.
SB 680 (Romero), Chapter 198, Statutes of 2009,
extended the sunset date of the District of Choice
(DOC) program to July 1, 2016.
SUPPORT
American Center for School Choice
California Charter Schools Association Advocates
Democrats for Education Reform
Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options
Parents Advocate League
32 Por Mexico
OPPOSITION
Association of California School Administrators
California Federation of Teachers
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California School Boards Association
Capitol Advisors
Small School Districts Association