BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 252


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          Date of Hearing:  July 15, 2015


                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION


                              Patrick O'Donnell, Chair


          SB  
          252 (Leno) - As Amended June 2, 2015


          SENATE VOTE:  40-0


          SUBJECT:  Pupils: diploma alternatives: fees.


          SUMMARY:  Prohibits a fee from being charged to a homeless youth  
          for the high school proficiency exam and the high school  
          equivalency test.  Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Prohibits the California Department of Education (CDE) from  
            charging a fee for the high school proficiency exam to an  
            examinee who is a homeless child or youth.


          2)Prohibits a scoring contractor or testing center from charging  
            a fee for the high school equivalency exam to an examinee who  
            is a homeless child or youth.


          3)Requires an examinee to meet the following criteria to be  
            exempt from the fee:


             a)   Meets the federal definition of "homeless youth or  








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               child" in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act;


             b)   Has not attained the age of 25 years as of the date of  
               the schedules exam; and


             c)   Can verify his or her status as a homeless child or  
               youth.


          4)Provides that a homeless services provider that has knowledge  
            of the examinee's housing status may verify the examinee's  
            status.


          5)Defines "homeless services provider" to include either of the  
            following:


             a)   A homeless services provider listed in Section  
               103577(3)(d) of the Health and Safety Code; or


             b)   Any other person or entity that is qualified to verify  
               an individual's housing status, as determined by the CDE.


          6)Provides that additional state funds shall not be appropriated  
            to implement the fee exemption.


          EXISTING LAW:   


          1)Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to award a  
            "certificate of proficiency" to persons who demonstrate  
            proficiency in basic skills taught in public high schools.









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          2)Authorizes the CDE to charge a fee to cover the cost of  
            administering the proficiency exam.


          3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to  
            issue a California high school equivalency certificate to a  
            person who passes a SBE-approved equivalency exam and meets  
            specified residency and age requirements.


          4)Defines (in federal law) "homeless children and youth" to  
            mean:


             a)   Individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate  
               nighttime residence;


             b)   Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other  
               persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a  
               similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer  
               parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative  
               adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or  
               transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are  
               awaiting foster care placement;


             c)   Children and youths who have a primary nighttime  
               residence that is a public or private place not designed  
               for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation  
               for human beings;


             d)   Children and youths who are living in cars, parks,  
               public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing,  
               bus or train stations, or similar settings; and










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             e)   Migratory children who are living in circumstances  
               described above. 


             f)   Defines (in the California Health and Safety Code) a  
               "homeless service provider" to mean:


               i)     A governmental or nonprofit agency receiving  
                 federal, state, or county or municipal funding to provide  
                 services to a "homeless person" or "homeless child or  
                 youth," or that is otherwise sanctioned to provide those  
                 services by a local homeless continuum of care  
                 organization;


               ii)    An attorney licensed to practice law in this state;


               iii)   A local educational agency liaison for homeless  
                 children and youth designated as such or a school social  
                 worker.


               iv)    A human services provider or public social services  
                 provider funded by the State of California to provide  
                 homeless children or youth services, health services,  
                 mental or behavioral health services, substance use  
                 disorder services, or public assistance or employment  
                 services; and


               v)     A law enforcement officer designated as a liaison to  
                 the homeless population by a local police department or  
                 sheriff's department within the state.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee:








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          1)This bill prohibits additional state funding from being  
            provided to implement the fee exemptions and would therefore  
            require that they be absorbed at the local level.  Costs are  
            estimated to be in the low to mid hundreds of thousands to  
            cover the loss of fee revenue.  
          2)The CDE indicates that this bill imposes minimal costs to the  
            department.





          COMMENTS:  





          Background.  The California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE)  
          and High School Equivalency Tests are offered as alternatives to  
          a high school diploma.  The CHSPE is available to pupils 16 and  
          over, and measures basic skills in English language arts and  
          math.  A Certificate of Proficiency is accepted by federal  
          agencies for purposes of employment, and all persons and  
          institutions subject to California law that require a high  
          school diploma are required to accept the certificate as  
          satisfying the requirement.  The fee is $110 for those who  
          register by the deadline, $135 for late registration, and $160  
          for emergency registration.  The CDE reports that there were  
          4,594 CHSPE test takers in 2013-14, with a pass rate of about  
          47%.  Those who fail the test can retake it.





          The SBE has approved three high school equivalency tests for use  








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          in California:  the General Educational Development Test (GED),  
          published by the GED Testing Service, which is owned by Pearson,  
          a for-profit company; the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET),  
          published by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), a private  
          not-for profit company; and the Test Assessing Secondary  
          Completion (TASC), published by CTB/McGraw-Hill, a for-profit  
          company.  The fees vary from test to test and from one test  
          center to another, but are more than $100.  For example, the Los  
          Angeles testing center for the HiSET charges $150.





          Estimates of test-taking rates among homelessness youth.   
          According to an informal survey conducted by the National  
          Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth  
          (NAEHCY), which received responses from 77 local education  
          agencies representing 42,467 homeless youth, less than 0.3% of  
          homeless youth take either the proficiency or equivalency test.   
          Two respondents reported that cost is a barrier to more homeless  
          youth taking the test.  Extrapolating from this data, NAEHCY  
          estimates that, statewide, about 862 homeless youth take either  
          test each year.





          Who pays?  While few would argue with the merits of providing  
          free access to these exams by homeless youth, it is not clear  
          who would pay.  This bill prohibits the use of state funds to  
          backfill the fee, which means that the cost would either have to  
          be absorbed by the test publishers or administrators or passed  
          on to other test takers in the form of higher fees.  However,  
          most of the other test takers, while not necessarily homeless,  
          are low income. According to the CDE, 56% of GED test takers  
          reported their annual income level as less than $10,000.   
          Another 15% earned between $10,000 and $19,999, so 71% earned  








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          less than $20,000 annually.  





          Meanwhile, the CDE reports a surplus of $1.3 million in its GED  
          administrative account.  The funds come from an administrative  
          fee that is charged to test takers.  Existing law caps the fee  
          at $20.  Currently, the revenue from the administrative fees  
          covers the CDE's costs of administering the tests.  In prior  
          years, however, the revenue exceeded costs, which resulted in  
          the surplus. These funds are not currently designated for any  
          other use.  Rather than potentially increasing testing fees  
          charged by private companies to other, low income test takers,  
          staff recommends that the bill be amended to allow the GED  
          surplus funds to be used to subsidize the fees of homeless test  
          takers for a four-year period (sunsetting on January 1, 2020.)  
          or until surplus funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.  If  
          the number of homeless test takers more than doubled to 2,000  
          per year, there still would be enough money in the surplus to  
          last for at least that period of time. 





          Unlike the equivalency tests, which are administered by private  
          entities approved by the SBE, the proficiency test is  
          administered by a local education agency (currently the  
          Sacramento County Office of Education) under contract to the  
          CDE.  Since the GED surplus cannot be used to subsidize fees for  
          the proficiency test, staff recommends the bill be amended to  
          allow the CDE to use revenue from the CHSPE administrative fees   
          it currently collects to cover the cost of fees to homeless  
          youth.  Since there is no statutory cap on the amount of the  
          administrative fee that can be charged to test takers, the CDE  
          already has the authority to raise the fee as necessary to cover  
          the additional costs.








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          To expedite these changes, staff recommends the bill be amended  
          to require the SPI to adopt emergency regulations to implement  
          them.  Finally, staff recommends that the bill be amended to  
          require the SPI to report to the Legislature by December 1, 2018  
          on the following:





                 The impact of the opportunity to take the tests at no  
               cost on the number and percentage of homeless youth who  
               take a test;
                 The estimated number of homeless youth expected to take  
               either test in future years; and


                 Recommendations for a permanent funding source.





          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,  
          AFL-CIO









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          California Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris


          California Coalition for Youth


          California Federation of Teachers


          California State PTA


          City and County of San Francisco


          City of West Hollywood


          Common Sense Kids Action


          County Welfare Directors Association of California


          Disability Rights California


          Divinity Prophet and Associated


          Echoes of Hope


          Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership


          Los Angeles County Office of Education









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          National Association of Social Workers


          San Francisco Unified School District


          Young Invincibles




          Opposition


          None received




          Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916)  
          319-2087