BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2091
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|Author: |Lopez |
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|Version: |May 27, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 15, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Special education: individualized education programs:
translation services
SUMMARY
This bill requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide
parents with a translated copy of an individualized education
program (IEP) and other specified documents, upon request, and
requires that the IEP and related documents be translated by a
qualified translator.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Requires LEAs to take any action necessary to ensure
that, in an IEP team meeting, the parent or guardian
understands the proceeding, including arranging for an
interpreter for parents or guardians with deafness or whose
native language is a language other than English.
(Education Code § 56341.5)
2) Requires proposed special education assessment plans to
be provided to parents in the native language of the parent
or other mode of communication used by the parent, unless
it is clearly not feasible to do so. (EC § 56321)
3) Requires LEAs to give the parent or guardian a copy of
the individualized education program, at no cost to the
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parent or guardian. (EC § 56341.5)
4) Requires, through regulations, LEAs to give a parent or
guardian a copy of a student's IEP in his or her primary
language at his or her request.
(California Code of Regulations, Title 5, § 3040)
5) Defines "consent" in special education proceedings to
include situations in which the parent or guardian has been
fully informed of all information relevant to the activity
for which consent is sought, in his or her native language,
or other mode of communication. (EC § 56021.1)
6) Requires schools and school districts, if 15% or more of
the students enrolled in a public school speak a single
primary language other than English, to send all notices,
reports, statements, or records to the parent or guardian
in the primary language, in addition to English. Existing
law authorizes the response from the parent or guardian to
be in English or the primary language. (EC § 48985)
ANALYSIS
This bill expands the existing requirement for local educational
agencies (LEAs)to ensure that the parent or guardian understands
the proceedings of an individualized education program (IEP)
team meeting to include the provision of translation services
(in addition to the existing requirement to arrange for an
interpreter), as follows:
1) Requires a local educational agency (LEA) to provide a
student's parent, guardian, or educational rights holder,
upon request, with a translated copy of the student's
completed IEP and any revisions to the IEP in the primary
language of the parent, guardian or educational rights
holder within 60 days of the IEP team meeting.
2) Prohibits this from being 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 the LEA to provide a student's parent, guardian,
or educational rights holder, upon request, with a
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translated copy of any document specified below discussed
at an IEP team meeting in the primary language of the
parent, guardian, or educational rights holder 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.
e) Progress reports of school staff who provide
services in accordance with the student's IEP.
4) Requires the documents to be translated by a qualified
translator who is proficient in both the English language
and the non-English language to be used. This bill defines
"qualified translator" as a translator who has met the
testing or certification standards for outside or contract
translators, 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 but not limited
to, confidentiality, neutrality, accuracy, completeness,
and transparency.
5) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
revise its notice of procedural safeguards, in English and
in the primary languages for which the CDE has developed
translated versions, to inform parents of their right to
request the translation of documents pursuant to this bill.
6) Provides that nothing in the provisions requiring the
translation of documents is intended to affect any other
state or federal law requirement regarding the translation
of education-related documents.
STAFF COMMENTS
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1) Need for the bill. According to the author, "The IEP
process has many steps and can be very overwhelming and
intimidating for a parent, guardian, or educational rights
holder who is not familiar with the process or terminology.
Especially, if that person's primary language is not
English. Although verbal translators are made available to
parents, guardians, or educational rights holders during
IEP meetings, some terms in documents or processes may be
lost in translation. LEAs are required to provide
translated copies of the IEP if requested. The problem
occurs when the LEA does not provide the IEP in a timely
manner and when the translated IEP is provided, in some
cases, the document has not been translated accurately."
2) Author's amendment. The author wishes to amend this bill
to conform the timeline for the provision of translated
individualized education program (IEP)-related documents,
from 30 to 60 days, with the 60 day timeline for the
provision of a translated IEP. Staff recommends this
amendment be adopted.
3) Expansion of translated documents. This bill requires
local educational agency (LEAs) to translate a student's
IEP and certain related documents in the parent's primary
language. Existing law requires LEAs to:
a) Take any action necessary to ensure that parent
understands the proceedings of an IEP team meeting,
including providing an interpreter.
b) Provide proposed special education assessment
plans to parents in the native language of the parent
or other mode of communication used by the parent,
unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.
c) Provide to a parent or guardian a copy of a
student's IEP in his or her primary language at the
parent's request.
d) Send all notices, reports, statements, or records
to the parent or guardian in the primary language, in
addition to English, if 15% or more of the students
enrolled in a public school speak a single primary
language other than English (not specific to documents
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related to special education).
Existing regulations require LEAs to provide a translated
copy of a student's IEP to the parent in the parent's
primarily language upon request by the parent. This bill
codifies that requirement but does not condition it on
parental request.
This bill also requires LEAs to provide a student's parent,
guardian, or educational rights holder, upon request, with
a translated copy of specific documents that are discussed
at an IEP team meeting in the primary language of the
parent. This bill provides LEAs with 30 days to translate
and provide the documents (the author's amendments change
this to a 60 day timeline). Not one local educational
agency or special education local plan area has expressed
concerns over the expansion of the requirement to translate
documents pursuant to this bill.
4) Clearinghouse for Multilingual Documents. The California
Department of Education (CDE) maintains a Clearinghouse for
Multilingual Documents, an online resource that helps local
educational agency (LEAs) find pre-existing,
locally-created translations of parental notification
documents (related to the requirement to provide notices in
the primary language if at least 15% of the school's
students speak a language other than English; not
specifically related to special education). Access to
these documents is limited to registered users. The
Clearinghouse provides free access to numerous translated
documents that other LEAs are willing to make available.
LEAs may find translations, review them, and revise them to
suit local needs.
According to the CDE, the database of multilingual documents
contains some documents that would inform individualized
education program (IEP) development, but that since this
project is a Title III service (federal English learner
statute) and the IEP is not a Title III obligation, it does
not include special education forms.
5) How many languages? According to the CDE, 2.7 million
students speak a language other than English in their
homes. That number of students represents approximately
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43% of students in California public schools. The CDE
collects data on 60 languages that are spoken by students;
94% speak one of the top ten languages in the State.
Spanish is by far the most widely-used primary language,
spoken by 84% of all English learners.
Also 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. (See AB 2785 in comment #8.)
6) Need for qualified translators. This bill requires
translators to be qualified, defined as a translator who
has met the testing or certification standards for outside
or contract translators, 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
but not limited to, confidentiality, neutrality, accuracy,
completeness, and transparency. The Special Education
Local Plan Area (SELPA) Administrators have expressed
concerns over the potential lack of availability of
qualified translators, and suggest an amendment to provide
an opportunity for LEAs that miss the 60 day timeline to
explain the efforts made to find a qualified translator
within the timeline.
In a joint letter from the United States Department of Education
and the United States Department of Justice dated January
7, 2015, the departments raised several issues with regard
to the use of web-based translation of special education
documents:
"Some school districts have used web-based automated
translation to translate documents. Utilization of such
services is appropriate only if the translated document
accurately conveys the meaning of the source document,
including accurately translating technical vocabulary. The
Departments caution against the use of web-based automated
translations; translations that are inaccurate are
inconsistent with the school district's obligation to
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communicate effectively with LEP parents. Thus, to ensure
that essential information has been accurately translated
and conveys the meaning of the source document, the school
district would need to have a machine translation reviewed,
and edited as needed, by an individual qualified to do so.
Additionally, the confidentiality of documents may be lost
when documents are uploaded without sufficient controls to
a web-based translation service and stored in their
databases. School districts using any web-based automated
translation services for documents containing personally
identifiable information from a student's education record
must ensure that disclosure to the web-based service
complies with the requirements of the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act."
[http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague
-el-201501.pdf]
7) Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would impose Proposition 98/General
Fund state mandated costs, potentially in the millions of
dollars, to translate individualized education program
(IEP) documents. There are several variables that will
affect local costs, including what kinds of translation
services local educational agency (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.
8) Related legislation. SB 884 (Beall) requires LEAs, among
other things, to provide specified informational materials
to parents in the three most common languages used by
parents served by the LEA. SB 884 is pending referral in
the Assembly.
AB 1876 (Lopez, 2016) prohibits the California Department of
Education from approving or renewing approval of a
contractor or testing center to administer tests for a high
school equivalency certificate unless the contractor or
testing center provides the tests in English, Spanish, and
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Vietnamese, and provides that an examinee shall be
permitted to take the test in any of these three languages.
AB 1876 is pending in this Committee.
AB 2785 (O'Donnell) requires the California Department of
Education to develop a manual providing guidance to LEAs on
identifying and supporting English learners with
disabilities. AB 2785 is pending in this Committee.
SUPPORT
California Association for Bilingual Education
California State PTA
Californians Together
State Council on Developmental Disabilities
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
OPPOSITION
None received.
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