BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 172
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
172 (Liu)
As Amended September 1, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 25-14
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |5-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |McCarty, Santiago, | |
| | |Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |12-5 |Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Calderon, Nazarian, |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo |Wagner |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Weber, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Suspends the requirement to pass the California High
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School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as a condition of receiving a high
school diploma through the 2017-18 school years, inclusive.
Also requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
convene an advisory panel, as specified, to provide
recommendations on the continuation of the CAHSEE and on
alternative pathways to satisfy the high school graduation
requirements. These recommendations will be added to
recommendations the SPI is required to make to the State Board
of Education (SBE) regarding the expansion of the California
Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) by March
1, 2016.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)General Fund costs of approximately $200,000 for the
California Department of education (CDE) to convene an
advisory panel to provide recommendations on the continuation
of the CAHSEE and on alternative pathways to satisfy the high
school graduation requirements. These recommendations could
create significant cost pressures in the millions of dollars
depending on the scope of the recommendations.
2)Proposition 98/GF savings in 2015-16 through 2017-18,
potentially in the range of $10 million to $12 million, due to
the suspension of the test. The 2015 Budget Act required the
CDE to develop a plan to utilize any savings for other
assessment needs.
COMMENTS:
Background. The CAHSEE assesses pupils in the areas of English
language arts and mathematics. It was established by SB 2 X1
(O'Connell), Chapter 1, Statutes of 1999-2000 First
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Extraordinary Session) as part of a package of school reform
bills that established new curriculum content standards, a new
statewide assessment program, and related professional
development and instructional programs.
The requirement to pass the exam as a condition of receiving a
high school diploma became a requirement starting with the class
of 2006. According to the most recent CAHSEE independent
evaluation, the pass rate has increased from year to year, and
in 2014 it was 97.2% among all pupils (this includes pupils who
had to take the test more than once before they passed it).
Purpose. The CAHSEE is aligned to the content standards for
English language arts and mathematics that were adopted pursuant
to the 1999 education reform package of bills. In 2010 the SBE
voted to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The
adoption of the CCSS led to the development of new statewide
assessments that are aligned to the new standards. However, the
CAHSEE is still aligned to the old standards. The author
proposes to suspend the test due to this misalignment between
the test and the new standards.
During the suspension of the CAHSEE, this bill also requires an
advisory committee of academics and community stakeholders to
meet and make recommendations regarding future administrations
of a high school exit exam and alternative methods to meet high
school graduation requirements.
Amendments adopted by the Assembly Appropriations Committee
require school districts, county offices of education, and
charter schools to grant diplomas to all students who have met
all graduation requirements other than passing the exit exam and
sunsets this requirement on July 31, 2018.
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Budget language. The 2015 Budget Act requires the CDE to
develop a plan for the use of any savings from the funds
appropriated for the California High School Exit Examination
(CAHSEE) to be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee and the Department of Finance for approval. First
priority for the use of any savings is required to be for the
development of the English Language Proficiency Assessments for
California (ELPAC) and the development of a primary language
assessment and the California Alternate Assessments as specified
in law for the California Assessment of Student Performance and
Progress (CAASPP) System.
Analysis Prepared by:
Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0001792