BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2609
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 2609
(Chau) - As Amended March 28, 2016
[This bill was double referred to the Assembly Committee on
Privacy and Consumer Protection and was heard by that committee
as it relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT: Advertising: educational conferences
SUMMARY: Requires for-profit educational conference
organizations that provide solicitation materials directly to a
school for purposes of distribution to a student to include
specified disclosures in those materials and to provide the
materials in a sealed envelope addressed to the parent or
guardian of the student. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires an educational conference organization (ECO) that
provides materials related to an educational conference
directly to a school or employee for purposes of distribution
to a student to:
a) Provide materials in a sealed envelope or other
packaging addressed to the parent or legal guardian of the
student.
AB 2609
Page 2
b) Include in the materials the following disclosures, in
clear and conspicuous language:
i) That the materials constitute a solicitation for the
sale of a product.
ii) The legal form of the organization making the
solicitation, including the for-profit status of the
organization.
iii) The legal owner, if any, of the organization making the
solicitation.
iv) The specific eligibility criteria required for
participation in the solicited educational conference or
conferences, if any.
v) An itemized list of the costs to participate in the
educational conference and the total price of
participating in the educational conference, including
estimated expenses not included in the price of the
educational conference.
vi) That attendance at an educational conference may not
affect a student's chances of being admitted to college,
and that a parent or guardian should contact the
AB 2609
Page 3
student's school counselor for more information.
vii) Whether or not a nomination from a teacher or school
administrator is required to participate in the
educational conference, or if an individual may be
self-nominated or nominated by a parent or guardian.
viii) The total amount, if any, of funding or other support,
including employment or grants for school supplies, the
organization has provided to the student's school or the
school's employees during the last three years before the
date of the solicitation.
ix) A phone number, email address, or website that a parent
or guardian may use to contact a relevant government
agency for purposes of filing a complaint related to the
solicitation or the educational conference itself.
1)Defines an educational conference to mean "a conference,
forum, camp, or other similar event, intended to develop the
leadership, career or college readiness of a student, or
provide some other form of educational benefit, when
participation in the event is represented as being limited to
students receiving an award, invitation or nomination to
participate in the event."
2)Defines an educational conference organization (ECO) to mean
"a person, partnership, corporation, or other entity that
operates in a for-profit manner and that plans and advertises
AB 2609
Page 4
educational conferences to students residing in California."
3)Defines a student to mean "a person who is enrolled in
elementary or secondary school, grade kindergarten through
grade 12, at the time an educational conference is arranged
with an ECO."
4)Makes legislative findings and declarations pertaining to the
importance of protecting students from false or misleading
advertising, promoting high-quality educational conference
experiences, and encouraging public confidence in youth
leadership conferences by establishing appropriate marketing
restrictions and disclosure requirements on for-profit
educational conference solicitations.
5)Declares that no reimbursement is required by this bill
because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency
or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, or changes the
definition of a crime.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Pursuant to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA), protects the privacy of student education records
and applies to all schools that receive funds under an
applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA
requires that schools, with certain exceptions, obtain a
parent or guardian's written consent prior to the disclosure
of personally identifiable information from a child's
education records. (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99)
AB 2609
Page 5
2)Pursuant to the Student Online Personal Information Protection
Act (SOPIPA), prohibits an operator of a website, online
service, online application, or mobile application from
knowingly engaging in targeted advertising to students or
their parents or legal guardians, using covered information to
amass a profile about a K-12 student, selling a student's
information, or disclosing covered information. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) Section 22584(a))
3)Establishes guidelines for educational travel organizations
(ETO) and requires that a written contract for educational
travel include, among other things, disclosure of the ETO's
name, address, phone number or other method of 24-hour
telecommunications, statement on whether or not the ETO
maintains insurance that covers any injury sustained by a
student traveler, any additional costs to students, staff
qualifications required by the ETO for staff who will
accompany students, and specifies that it is a violation to
make misleading statements or substantial representations in
conducting an educational travel program. (BPC 17552 -
17556.5)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill is intended to better protect
students from questionable marketing practices for educational
conferences by prohibiting for-profit ECOs from distributing
solicitation materials for educational conferences directly to
students at school, and by requiring certain disclosures to be
included with the solicitation. This bill is
author-sponsored.
AB 2609
Page 6
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "While some
for-profit youth leadership camps may provide a worthwhile
enrichment experience for children who participate, the
misleading and manipulative nature of a solicitation that
appears to be an honor, and the fact that the pitch is
directly and publicly aimed at the student and communicated
through a teacher, raises serious questions of student privacy
and consumer protection. Young students are particularly
vulnerable to manipulative solicitations that appear to be a
competitive award or honor because of their perceived value in
applying for college, because a respected teacher delivered
the materials, or perhaps because the 'nomination' was
announced publicly before the student's peers."
This bill offers strong protection against organizations that
use deceptive marketing techniques to lure students into
attending their programs while allowing the many non-profit
service organizations who have made substantial contributions
in the area of youth leadership training to continue their
efforts."
3)The educational conference industry . Educational conferences
go by a variety of different names: youth leadership camps,
experiential learning programs, and prestige conferences, but
what they all have in common is that they provide school-aged
children who are seeking extra-curricular activities for
personal enrichment, civic engagement or even an advantage
with future college admissions. However, these programs vary
widely from one another in their marketing, admissions
criteria, selection processes, and costs to participate.
Perhaps the most well-known example of an educational
conference provider is the American Legion's Boys and Girls
State, which was founded in 1935 to allow students to study
the operation of local, county and state government by
AB 2609
Page 7
participating in activities such as legislative sessions or
court proceedings during their annual conferences. Legion
Posts select high school juniors based on recommended
guidelines that include interviews to evaluate merit and
ability in order to attend their program. In most cases,
individual expenses are paid by a sponsoring post, a local
business or another community-based organization.
Rotary International also offers several programs for youth
such as the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, which is a
leadership development program that hosts events that include
presentations, activities, and workshops that cover a variety
of topics. Participants are nominated by their local Rotary
clubs, which often cover all expenses. Both the American
Legion and Rotary programs are organized as non-profits.
There are also programs offered by for-profit companies, such
as the Junior National Young Leaders Conference, the National
Youth Leadership Forum, or the Global Young Leaders
Conference. These programs solicit their participants through
a "nomination" process that relies on teachers to identify
potential participants from among their own students, and can
cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to participate.
4)Consumer protection concerns about the "nomination" process .
According to a 2009 New York Times article, ("Congratulations!
You are Nominated. It's an Honor [It's a Sales Pitch]" New
York Times, April 13, 2009) students are receiving conference
solicitations that "looked and sounded more like an Academy
Award than a sales pitch. In fancy script, on weighty card
stock adorned by a giant gold seal . . .[it] promised a
'lifetime advantage' and 'valuable addition' to her resume.
It used words like 'elite,' distinguished,' 'select.'"
AB 2609
Page 8
Students who receive these offers may be led to believe that
attendance at these conferences is a highly selective honor
because of statements in the solicitation materials that call
nominees "the nation's most highly acclaimed students" and
"most promising young leaders of tomorrow." However,
according to the article, "there are no hard and fast criteria
for nominators. . . .The nomination form asks for nothing
beyond the student's name, address, school year and sex."
The New York Times cites Jeff Sherrill, an associate director
with the National Association of Secondary School Principals,
who says that in his view, a leadership conference is no more
or less likely to enhance college applications than, say,
soccer camp. "It doesn't fall into the same category as being
selected by your county where there was truly some type of
assessment and selection process. Honors typically don't come
with a price tag," he says.
The article goes on to say that "[l]eadership companies
marketing to teenagers spend handsomely on mailing lists (the
College Board is one source), but the biggest pipeline to
customers is teachers and program alumni. Mailings usually
name the person making the nomination and include a list of
past participants from the student's school."
Eligibility criteria may also be vague, or even non-existent.
For example, the website of one ECO (Envision EMI) suggests
that educators nominate students who "show special academic
promise, aspirations, and leadership potential, can meet the
challenges of the program's rigorous curriculum, and will be
mature and confident contributors to group and program
activities." However, no quantifiable criteria, such as grade
point average, are provided, and the nomination process
(requiring the student's name and address) can be completed
online. Furthermore, a nominator need not even be the
student's teacher: Envision EMI allows any "teacher, educator
AB 2609
Page 9
or mentor who is interested in giving students an experiential
learning opportunity outside the classroom is eligible to
nominate." Once a nomination is made, marketing materials
designed to look like award letters will be delivered to the
student's school, addressed directly to the student, or to the
address provided in the nomination.
The cost of for-profit conferences is also raised as an issue.
The Times article describes one program (Envision EMI's
week-long Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC)) that
can costs upwards of $2,200, with airfare and meals not
included, which students are encouraged to pay for through
community fundraising: "Needy students are typically sent a
brochure with fund-raising ideas and success stories of other
students who have tapped friends, family and community to help
pay their way...." In 2006, 1.7% of the revenues for
Envision's CYLC program went to grants and scholarships.
In order to better protect students from potentially
misleading advertising, this bill would require ECO's to
address sealed solicitations to the parents or guardians of
the student instead of the student and include key disclosures
with those materials to make clear that it is a solicitation
and not an award. By allowing parents to see the materials
first, with the added context provided by the new disclosures,
this bill attempts to put parents in a better position to
understand and explain the nature of the solicitation to the
student, thereby allowing the family to make a more informed
decision as to whether or not to participate.
5)FERPA and directory information . Although there are several
federal and state laws in place designed to protect student
privacy, certain exceptions exist that allow a student's
information to be released to outside organizations. For
instance, FERPA permits schools to disclose "directory
information," defined as information that is generally not
AB 2609
Page 10
considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released,
without written consent to a third party, which can include
companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks.
Because ECOs are only accessing directory information when
asking teachers to nominate students, a FERPA violation does
not arise.
6)Prior Legislation . SB 142 (Boatwright), Chapter 772, Statutes
of 1995, established consumer protection guidelines for ETOs.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None received
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
AB 2609
Page 11