BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 379 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 379 (Gordon) As Amended May 28, 2015 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+------+---------------------+----------------------| |Education |6-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | | | | |Kim, McCarty, | | | | |Santiago, Weber | | | | | | | |----------------+------+---------------------+----------------------| |Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Eduardo Garcia, | | | | |Gordon, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Quirk, | | | | |Rendon, Wagner, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- AB 379 Page 2 SUMMARY: Makes complaints alleging violations of certain educational rights afforded to students in foster care and students who are homeless subject to the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP), and places limits on the time students can be educated in emergency shelters. Specifically, this bill: 1)Makes certain educational rights afforded to students in foster care and students who are homeless (as noted) subject to the UCP. These include: a) The requirement that a student in foster care who resides in a licensed children's institution attend a school operated by the local educational agency (LEA) except under specified circumstances. b) The requirement that LEAs allow students in foster care to remain enrolled in their school of origin when a placement change occurs. c) The requirement that LEAs designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster children, who ensures the proper educational placement and enrollment of students, assists in school transfer, and coordinates with other personnel regarding expulsion proceedings. d) The requirement that the transfer of a student in foster care and his/her records between LEAs occurs within two business days of receipt of a transfer request. e) The requirement that an LEA ensure that if a student in foster care is absent due to a placement change made by the court or placing agency, or a court required appearance or activity, the student's grades and credits will not be lowered AB 379 Page 3 due to this absence. f) The requirement that LEAs accept and award full or partial credit for coursework satisfactorily completed by students in foster care or students who are homeless while attending other schools, even if the students do not complete an entire course. The prohibition on an LEA making such a student retake some or all of a course which the student satisfactorily completed in another school, or from retaking an "A to G" course. The requirement that when a student is awarded partial credit, he or she must be enrolled in the same course in order to complete it. g) The exemption of students in foster care (including those whose court jurisdiction has been terminated) and students who are homeless from any locally adopted graduation requirements which are in excess of state graduation requirements. h) The requirement that the educational liaison transfer all academic and other records within two business days of a foster child's request for enrollment. 1)Requires, for complaints made subject to the UCP by this bill, that the California Department of Education (CDE) issue a written decision regarding the appeal of a complaint within 60 days, and requires that if an LEA or the Superintendent of Public Instruction finds merit in a complaint or an appeal, respectively, the LEA to provide a remedy to the affected students. 2)Limits the amount of time a student can be educated in an emergency shelter to five days, unless the express written consent of the education rights holder has been provided. Makes complaints regarding these requirements subject to the UCP. AB 379 Page 4 3)Requires that, if after an investigation either a local or state agency decision finds that an LEA has violated a student's right to remain in his or her school of origin pending a dispute regarding school placement, and that violation has resulted in an interruption in the student's school attendance, the student shall be awarded "compensatory educational services." 4)Requires that information regarding the above requirements be included in the annual notification required by the UCP. EXISTING LAW: 1)Grants certain educational rights (many of which are described above) to students in foster care and those who are homeless. In addition, current law deems students in foster care whose residential placement has been changed, and those who are homeless, to have met residency requirements for the purpose of participation in interscholastic sports and other extracurricular activities, grants certain rights in expulsion proceedings, guarantees equal access to extracurricular activities, and requires education in the least restrictive environment. Existing law also requires all LEAs to designate a staff person to be the educational liaison for students in foster care. 2)Through regulation, requires LEAs to adopt uniform complaint procedures through which the public can register complaints regarding educational programs and rights. (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 4600). Authorizes a modified complaint process known as "Williams Complaints" through statute (Education Code Section 35186) for complaints regarding instructional materials, emergency or urgent facilities conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of pupils, teacher vacancy or misassignment, and instructional services provided to students who have not passed the High School Exit Examination. AB 379 Page 5 FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1)Unknown, likely minor, Proposition 98/General Fund state mandated costs related to the expansion of the UCP. The existing UCP mandate is currently included in the K-12 Mandate Block Grant. If the CSM determines the requirements of this bill impose a higher level of service, this could place pressure on the Legislature to increase funding under the K-12 Mandate Block Grant. 2)Unknown administrative costs to the California Department of Education (CDE) to process appeals. For illustration, when complaints related to charging pupil fees was added to the UCP process in 2013, 121 new claims were submitted in the first nine months. Annual claims have since leveled to around 40 claims per year. CDE may need additional limited-term staff should this bill result in a similar increase. COMMENTS: The "Invisible Achievement Gap ". A 2013 report by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, titled "The Invisible Achievement Gap," for the first time linked education and child welfare data to identify the achievement gap for students in foster care relative to their peers. It found, based on 2009-10 educational data, that students in foster care represented a subgroup distinct in many ways from other low-income students. Among the findings in this report were that foster youth: 1)Have among the lowest scores in English-language arts. 2)Have the lowest scores in mathematics of any subgroup. AB 379 Page 6 3)Have the highest dropout rate, nearly three times the rate of other students. 4)Have the lowest high school graduation rate of any subgroup. The report also found that students in foster care are more likely to change schools during the school year, more likely to be enrolled in low-performing schools, less likely to participate in state assessments, and significantly more likely to be enrolled in nontraditional schools. The 2013 legislation establishing Local Control Funding Formula (AB 97 (Budget Committee), Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013) recognized foster youth as a special population of students requiring more attention, and required LEAs to identify ways in which they will improve the educational outcomes of these students in their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs). A recent report commissioned by the National Youth Law Center on the implementation of these requirements noted that while "LCFF has begun to shine a bright light on the needs of foster youth," problems persist in the areas of data sharing, the shortage of educational rights holders, and compliance with the law regarding records transfer and school enrollment, among others. The report found that "on balance, initial LCAPs did not recognize the needs of foster youth." The Uniform Complaint Procedures. Required by federal law, the UCP was established in 1991 as a means of creating a "uniform system of complaint processing" for educational programs. The authority for this process is located in regulations, not state statute. These regulations require the adoption of the UCP by school districts, county offices of education, charter schools receiving AB 379 Page 7 federal funds, and local public or private agencies which receive direct or indirect state funding to provide school programs or special education or related services. The UCP is used for complaints regarding a number of state and federal programs. In addition, complaints may be filed under the UCP regarding discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, unlawful pupil fees, certain charter school requirements, and violations of the law establishing LCAPs. A modified process for complaints was established by legislation implementing part of the settlement of the Eliezer Williams, et al., vs. State of California, et al. case (SB 2727 (Daucher), Chapter 903, Statutes of 2004). These complaints are known as "Williams Complaints." Analysis Prepared by: Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000783