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