BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2091
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2091 (Lopez)
As Amended May 27, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Olsen, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 2091
Page 2
SUMMARY: Requires that local educational agencies (LEAs)
provide parents with translated copies of a student's
individualized education program (IEP) upon their request and
within 60 days of an IEP meeting, and requires that the IEP and
related documents be translated by a qualified translator.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires LEAs to provide, upon request, a student's parent,
guardian, or educational rights holder with a translated copy
of the student's completed IEP and any revisions within 60
days of the IEP team meeting.
2)States that nothing in the act shall be construed to abridge
any right granted to parents under state or federal law,
including the right to give or withhold consent to part or all
of an IEP before receiving a translated copy of the IEP.
3)Requires LEAS to provide, upon request, a student's parent,
guardian, or educational rights holder with a translated copy
of any of the following documents which is discussed at an IEP
team meeting within 30 days of the IEP team meeting:
a) Documents relating to the student's present levels of
academic achievement and functional performance
b) Documents relating to the student's right to a free and
appropriate public education
c) Notes on items discussed at the IEP team meeting
d) Documents relating to the goals of the student
AB 2091
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e) Progress reports of school staff who provide services in
accordance with the IEP
4)Requires that documents subject to these requirements be
translated by a qualified translator who is proficient in both
languages used. Defines a "qualified translator," for
purposes of these requirements, as one who has met the testing
or certification standards for outside or contract
translators, as proficient in the ability to communicate
commonly used terms and ideas between the English language and
the non-English language to be used and has knowledge of basic
translator practices, including confidentiality, neutrality,
accuracy, completeness, and transparency.
5)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
revise its notice of procedural safeguards in all languages in
which it publishes this notice, to inform parents of their
rights to request translation of documents as authorized by
this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, Proposition 98/General Fund state mandated costs,
potentially in the millions of dollars, to translate IEP
documents. There are several variables that will affect local
costs, including what kinds of translation services LEAs may
already be providing, the fees each LEA charges according to
contractual agreements, and whether an LEA has access to
translators for languages less frequently used. Translation of
documents can range from $30 to $80 per page. If 1% of English
learners that qualify for special education request documents,
statewide costs would range from $580,000 to $1.5 million.
COMMENTS:
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Need for the bill. The author's office states, "The IEP process
can be very overwhelming and intimating for someone who is not
familiar with the process or terminology, especially if that
person's primary language is not English. Although verbal
interpreters are made available to parents, guardians, or
educational right holders during IEP meetings, some terms in
documents or processes may be lost in translation?The problem
occurs when the LEA does not provide a translated IEP in a
timely manner or at all, and when a translated IEP is provided
the document has not been translated accurately."
Up to 43% of public school students in California have parents
whose primary language is not English. According to the CDE,
2.7 million students speak a language other than English in
their homes. This can be interpreted to mean that up to 43% of
the parents of public school students speak a language other
than English as their primary language. According to the CDE,
about 14% of California's English learners qualify for special
education, and likely many more students with disabilities who
are not classified as English learners have parents whose
primary language is not English.
History of federal compliance issues around interpretation and
translation in special education proceedings. A joint letter
from the United States (U.S.) Department of Education and the
U.S. Department of Justice dated January 7, 2015, highlighted a
number of compliance problems related to English learners and
rights established by under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964. The departments noted a history of compliance problems
around "fail[ure] to provide translation or an interpreter at
IEP meetings."
AB 2091
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Analysis Prepared by:
Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0003309