BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 377
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Date of Hearing: March 25, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 377
(Linder) - As Introduced February 18, 2015
SUBJECT: Examination fees: Advanced Placement and
International Baccalaureate Examination Fee Grant Program
SUMMARY: Re-establishes, subject to an appropriation in the
annual Budget Act for this purpose, a grant program to award
grants to cover the costs of Advanced Placement (AP) examination
fees or International Baccalaureate (IB) examination fees, or
both, for eligible economically disadvantaged high school pupils
or foster youth; and requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to administer the program. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines "eligible economically disadvantaged high school
pupil" to mean a pupil who is eligible for a federal free or
reduced-price meal program.
2)Authorizes school districts to apply to the CDE for grant
funding based on the number of economically disadvantaged
pupils or foster youth enrolled in AP or IB courses who will
take the next offered AP or IB exams.
3)Requires participating school districts to designate school
district staff to whom pupils may submit applications for
grants and to institute a plan to notify pupils of the
availability of the grants.
4)Authorizes eligible economically disadvantaged high school
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pupils or foster youth to apply to the designated school
district staff for a grant; provides that the grant shall be
used only to pay the AP or IB exam fees, and requires a pupil
who receives a grant to pay $5 of the exam fee.
5)Provides that if the applications exceed the total funds
available for this purpose, the CDE shall prorate the grants
based upon the ratio of the total amount requested to the
total amount appropriated for this purpose.
6)Requires priority to be given to AP exam fees if there is
insufficient funding allocated for the grant program.
7)Authorizes school districts and county superintendents of
schools to form collaboratives or consortia in order to
participate in the grant program.
8)Authorizes the CDE to enter into a contract with the providers
of the AP and IB exams to facilitate program administration,
and exempts the CDE from specified Public Contract Code and
Military and Veterans Code provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: This bill reestablishes a grant program that was
repealed by its own terms January 1, 2013. It was originally
established as a five year pilot program by AB 2216 (Escutia,
Chapter 793, Statutes of 1998) with a repeal date of January 1,
2005. The repeal date was extended to January 1, 2008 by SB 507
(Escutia), Chapter 646, Statutes of 2003, and it was extended
again to January 1, 2013 by SB 1442 (Escutia), Chapter 436,
Statutes of 2006.
The repealed version of this program specified that either state
funds or federal funds could be used for the grants. The CDE
does not need statutory authorization to expend federal funds
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that may be appropriated for this purpose. The 2013-14 budget
provided $10.7 million in federal funds for this program, which
provided aid to 143,936 students. The CDE does not yet know how
much federal funding will be available for this program in
2014-15.
Advanced Placement test program. The AP test program has been
administered by the College Board since 1955. More than 30 AP
courses and examinations covering multiple subject areas are
offered to high school students. Exams are administered every
May and are scored on a scale from 1 to 5. Students earning
qualifying scores on AP examinations may obtain course credit
and/or placement from colleges and universities. The
recently-enacted Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
includes AP scores among several outcome measures used to
measure student achievement. Specifically, student achievement
will be measure, in part, by the percentage of students who
score a 3 or higher on the AP exam.
According to the CDE, the cost to administer each AP exam in
2015 for income eligible students is $55. Since income eligible
students are required to pay $5 per exam, the value of the grant
is $50 for each exam the student takes.
International Baccalaureate programs. The IB program is based
in Geneva Switzerland and operates in several countries,
including the United States. The IB diploma program is a
two-year pre-university curriculum leading to an IB diploma.
Successful IB candidates are typically granted advanced
placement credit in colleges and universities. According to the
CDE, the cost of the IB exam in 2015 is $110, making the value
of the grant to eligible students $105.
Arguments in support. Supporters argue that the bill is
important, because removes barriers to AP and IB opportunities
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for low income pupils, who otherwise may not be able to
participate.
Related legislation. AB 1854 (Linder) of last year was
identical to this bill. It passed the committee last year on a
6-0 vote and died in the Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Association of International Baccalaureate World
Schools
College Board
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
AB 377
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