BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 379
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
379 (Gordon)
As Amended May 28, 2015
Majority vote
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|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 | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 379
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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