BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 252
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
252 (Holden) - As Amended April 30, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes a grant program through July 1, 2021,
administered by the California Department of Education (CDE),
for purposes of awarding funds to cover the costs associated
with a high school establishing or expanding its advanced
AB 252
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placement Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
curriculum. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes grant funds to be used for one-time costs of
establishing or expanding advanced placement STEM courses, as
defined, including but not limited to, teacher recruitment,
professional development, instructional materials, laboratory
materials and supplies, and the remodeling of facilities.
2)Requires the grant amount to be determined based on the cost
of the type of advanced placement course in the STEM
curriculum, not to exceed $8,000 per grant application.
Specifies terms and conditions necessary to apply for the
grant funding and provides first priority shall be given to
applicants with no advanced placement courses in STEM.
3)Authorizes a school district to apply for a maximum of one
grant per high school and ten grants per district if the high
school either does not offer AP courses in the STEM curriculum
or the AP STEM courses are oversubscribed; and the high school
has identified pupils from populations that are
underrepresented in STEM courses and who have demonstrated
they have high potential to be successful in one or more AP
courses in the STEM curriculum, using any means it deems
appropriate, including, but not limited to, a pupil's score on
the preliminary SAT.
4)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), who
is encouraged to work with the College Board, to submit a
report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of the program
no later than July 1, 2021.
AB 252
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5)Provides that the grant program will be established only to
the extent that moneys are available for its purpose from any
state, federal, or nonstate source.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Unknown Proposition 98/GF cost pressure in the hundreds of
thousands. Program requirements would be contingent upon
state, federal or non-state funding; however, no specific
funding source has been identified. Actual costs will depend
on the amount of the total grant award. For illustration,
assuming 100 schools qualify for the maximum grant award of
$8,000; costs would be in excess of $800,000.
2)Administrative costs of approximately $400,000 to the
California Department of Education (CDE) to review and approve
applications, provide technical assistance and write an
evaluation of the program. CDE would likely contract with a
statewide evaluator to evaluate the effectiveness of the
programs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, the purpose of this bill is
to help create more STEM opportunities for traditionally
underrepresented students. In a survey of chemists and
chemical engineers conducted by the Bayer Corporation, 75% of
respondents agreed that lack of quality science and math
education programs in poorer school districts is a top cause
of underrepresentation in STEM, and 66% agreed that
stereotypes that say STEM is not for girls or minorities is a
top cause of underrepresentation in STEM.
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2)Prior related legislation. AB 1940 (Holden) of 2013, similar
to this bill, was held on Suspense in the committee.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081