Amended in Assembly June 2, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 30, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 252

Introduced by Assembly Member Holden

February 9, 2015

An act to add and repeal Section 52245 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 252, as amended, Holden. Advanced placement program: begin delete grant program: STEM curriculum. end delete begin insert Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program. end insert

Existing law contains legislative findings and declarations stating that advanced placement courses, among other things, help to improve the overall curriculum at schools where they are provided and provide a cost-effective means for high school pupils to obtain college-level coursework experience. begin delete Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually update the information on advanced placement available on the Internet Web site of the State Department of Education to include current information on the various means available to school districts to offer or access advanced placement courses, and to annually communicate with high schools that offer advanced placement courses in fewer than 5 subjects and inform them of the various options for making advanced placement courses and other rigorous courses available to pupils who may benefit from them. end delete

This begin delete bill, until July 1, 2021, end delete begin insert bill end insert would establish begin delete a grant program overseen by the department end delete begin insert the Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program, to be administered by the State Department of Education, end insert for purposes of awarding grants begin insert of up to $8,000 to eligible school districts end insert to cover the costs begin delete associated with a high school end delete begin insert of end insert establishing or expanding begin delete its end delete begin insert a high school end insert advanced placement STEM curriculum, as defined. begin delete The bill would require the Superintendent to submit on or before July 1, 2021, a specified report to the Legislature describing the effectiveness of the grant program. end delete begin insert The bill would specify that the program is to be implemented only if moneys are made available to the department from state and nonstate funding sources for purposes of the program. The bill would establish the Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program Account within the State Treasury for purposes of awarding grants pursuant to the program. The bill’s provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2022. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

begin delete (a) end delete begin delete   end delete The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

begin delete

(1)

end delete

begin insert (a) end insert  According to a 2009 report “Technical Difficulties: Meeting
California’s Workforce Needs in Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM) Fields,” there is a large disparity
between the continued workforce demands for degrees in the STEM
fields and a continued shortfall of STEM degrees conferred to
California’s minority population.

begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  Fifty-nine percent of California’s African American pupils
who have potential to thrive in an advanced placement STEM
course do not take the advanced placement STEM course for which
they have potential.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  Fifty-eight percent of California’s American Indian and
Alaska Native pupils do not take the advanced placement STEM
course for which they have potential.

begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  Fifty-five percent of California’s Hispanic or Latino pupils
do not take the advanced placement STEM course for which they
have potential.

begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  Forty-one percent of California’s female pupils do not take
the advanced placement STEM course for which they have
potential.

begin delete

(6)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  More than ninety percent of colleges and universities across
the country offer college credit, advanced placement, or both, for
qualifying advanced placement examination scores. These credits
can potentially save pupils and their families thousands of dollars
in college tuition, fees, and textbook costs.

begin delete

(7)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  Research shows that pupils who take advanced placement
courses are much more likely than their peers to complete a college
degree on time. Pupils have the opportunity to dig deeper into
subjects that interest them, develop advanced research and
communication skills, and learn to tap their creative,
problem-solving, and analytical potential.

begin delete

(8)

end delete

begin insert (h) end insert  Advanced placement courses give pupils access to rigorous
college-level work. Advanced placement pupils build confidence
and learn the essential time management and study skills needed
for college and career success.

begin delete

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish an advanced
placement STEM Access Grant Program to expand diversity in
the STEM field in regards to socioeconomic standing, gender, and
race.

end delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 52245 is added to the Education Code, to read:

52245.  

(a)  For purposes of this section, “STEM curriculum”
means courses in any of the following subject areas:

(1) Biology.

(2) Calculus.

(3) Chemistry.

(4) Computer science.

(5) Environmental science.

(6) Physics.

(7) Statistics.

(b)   begin delete There end delete begin insert The Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant
Program end insert is hereby begin delete established a grant program end delete begin insert established, to be
administered by the department, end insert for the purpose of awarding
moneys to cover the costs associated with a high school
establishing or expanding its advanced placement STEM
curriculum. begin delete Grants end delete

begin insert

(c) (1) The Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program
Account is established in the State Treasury, to be used solely for
purposes of the program. Funds in the account may be used to
fund grants and for administrative costs of implementing this
section. Notwithstanding any other law, the State Treasury is
authorized to receive and deposit into the account any gifts, grants,
or donations received for purposes of this section from private
persons or entities.

end insert begin insert

(2) The amount of the grant awarded by the department shall
be matched by the participating school district on a
dollar-for-dollar basis, or the equivalent value in services or
resources.

end insert

begin insert (d) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The program end insert shall be administered in accordance with begin delete both end delete
begin insert all end insert of the following:

(1) Grant funds may be used for one-time costs of establishing
or expanding advanced placement STEM courses, including, but
not limited to, begin delete teacher recruitment, end delete professional development,
instructional materials, begin insert and end insert laboratory materials and begin delete supplies, and
facilities remodeling. end delete begin insert supplies. end insert

(2) The grant amount shall be determined based on the cost of
the type of advanced placement course in the STEM curriculum,
not to exceed eight thousand dollars ($8,000) per grant application.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  A school district may apply to the department for a maximum
of one grant per high school and begin delete ten end delete begin insert 10 end insert grants per school district begin delete pursuant to this section end delete if all of the following conditions are met:

begin delete

(1)

end delete

begin insert (A) end insert  The high school begin insert or school district end insert meets either of the
following criteria:

begin delete

(A)

end delete

begin insert (i) end insert  Does not offer advanced placement courses in the STEM
curriculum.

begin delete

(B)

end delete

begin insert (ii) end insert  Offers advanced placement courses in the STEM curriculum,
but those courses are oversubscribed. “Oversubscribed” means
demand for the course exceeds enrollment by at least one-half of
the number of pupils required for a full class.

begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (B) end insert  The high school has identified pupils from populations that
are underrepresented in STEM courses who have demonstrated
they have high potential to be successful in one or more advanced
placement courses in the STEM curriculum. The high school may
identify pupils using any means it deems appropriate, including,
but not limited to, a pupil’s score on the preliminary SAT.

begin delete

(d) Grant applications shall be submitted on a form developed
by the Superintendent and shall include, but not necessarily be
limited to, an itemized budget for the establishment or expansion
of the advanced placement STEM course and an agreement to
provide the Superintendent with the data needed for the report
required pursuant to subdivision (f).

(e) In awarding grants, the department shall give first priority
to applicants with no advanced placement courses in the STEM
curriculum.

(f) (1) On or before July 1, 2021, the Superintendent shall
submit a report to the Legislature describing the effectiveness of
the grant program established pursuant to this section. The
Superintendent is encouraged to consult with the College Board
in preparing the report pursuant to this subdivision. The report
shall include

the increase in the number of pupils in total, and the number of
pupils by gender and pupil subgroup, as defined in Section 52052,
enrolled in advanced placement courses in the STEM curriculum.

(2) A report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(g) The department shall implement this section only to the
extent that moneys are

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The program shall be implemented only if moneys are made end insert
available to the department begin delete and the Superintendent for the purposes
of this section. end delete begin insert to fund the program. end insert The moneys may be derived
from any source, including, but not limited to, state begin delete funding, federal
funding, end delete and nonstate funding sources.

begin delete

(h)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2021, and,
as of January 1, 2022, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2022, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.