BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 451
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 17, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
451 (Lara) - As Amended April 29, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 32-0
SUBJECT: Student instruction and services: educational
counseling.
SUMMARY: Revises requirements for school counseling programs in
school districts which have chosen to provide comprehensive
educational counseling programs. Specifically, this bill:
1)States legislative intent that school counselors perform
specified functions and services, including: engaging and
advocating for all students; implementing programs to promote
student academic, career, and personal growth; promoting a
safe learning environment; using research-based strategies to
reduce stigma, conflict, and bullying; and providing support
services for students who are English learners, eligible for
free or reduced-price meals, or foster youth, including
enhancing equity and access to the education system and
community services.
2)Expands the definition of academic counseling to include
SB 451
Page 2
counseling in understanding the relationship between academic
achievement and career success, the value of career technical
education and career readiness, and postsecondary options.
3)States that educational counseling may also include:
a) individualized review of the academic and deportment
records, and the academic and career goals and
opportunities, of a student.
b) the opportunity for a counselor to meet with each
student and his or her parents or guardians to discuss the
academic and deportment records of the student, and his or
her educational and career options.
c) identifying students who are at risk of not graduating
or having sufficient training to allow them to fully engage
in their chosen career.
d) developing a list of coursework and experience necessary
to assist middle and high school students to meet academic
goals such as passage of the high school exit exam or its
successor, graduation requirements, and higher education
admission requirements, and a list for students for
continuing education for students who fail to meet
graduation requirements
SB 451
Page 3
e) informing each student who has failed to pass one or
both parts of the high school exit examination, or its
successor, of the option of intensive instruction and
services
f) offering an individual conference with each 10th and
12th grade student who is not meeting academic targets or
career goals and providing the student and his or her
parent or guardian: information on programs, courses, and
career technical education options; information on the
academic progress of the student; information on
remediation strategies, high school courses, and
alternative education options available to the student; and
information on postsecondary education and training and the
availability of financial aid
1)Requires ongoing professional development related to career
and vocational counseling to include strategies for students
pursing postsecondary, career technical education, multiple
pathway, college, and global career opportunities.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes school districts to provide a comprehensive
educational counseling program for all students that include
academic counseling, career and vocational counseling,
personal and social counseling.
2)Defines educational counseling to mean specialized services
provided by a school counselor possessing a valid Student
Personnel Services credential issued by the Commission on
Teacher Credentialing.
SB 451
Page 4
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill has been keyed non-fiscal by the
Office of Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states, "Research has
demonstrated, most recently in a 2014 UC Irvine study, that
higher numbers of counselors in K-12 schools is strongly
associated with higher ratios of college enrollment, among other
improved student outcomes.
As California aims to improve its education system and is
implementing the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF),
counselors can play a critical role in addressing equity
challenges and meeting the eight state priorities outlined in
the Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP), which include
school climate, high school graduation rates, and access to
college preparation courses, among others."
In 2010-11 California had the worst counselor-to-student ratio
in the country. The American School Counselor Association
recommends a ratio of one counselor for every 250 students.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that
as of 2010-2011 the national average was one counselor for every
471 students, and that California had one counselor for every
1,016 students, the worst ratio in the country.
SB 451
Page 5
School counseling workforce reduced by one fifth during the
recession. A 2012 EdSource report examining the number of
school counselors in the state's 30 largest districts found that
the number of counselors in those districts was 21% lower than
pre-recession levels. The report also found that few districts
issued preliminary layoff notices to counselors in significant
numbers in 2012-13, indicating that the reductions have
stabilized.
California Standards for the School Counseling Profession. In
2009 the California Association of School Counselors issued a
set of standards for the school counseling profession. These
standards were intended to address a number of problems
resulting from unclear expectations of school counselors,
including counseling time being diverted to administrative
tasks, poor quality evaluations due to absence of an evaluation
specific to school counseling, and poorly structured and
incoherent counseling programs. The report noted that, "without
clear standards of practice for school counseling, student
support programs and services often become a jumble of
disconnected services and random acts of guidance." The
provisions of this bill are intended to mirror this set of
standards, with updates related to reflect the LCFF and LCAP,
and other recent policy, such a restorative justice and positive
behavior interventions.
Updating and aligning school counseling with LCAP priorities.
Current law requirements for school counseling date to 1987, and
do not reflect a number of changes in education policy,
including school finance, accountability, discrimination and
SB 451
Page 6
safety, and college and career readiness. This bill attempts to
update counseling statutes by updating them in a number of
areas, including referencing elements of the eight state
priority areas including of the Local Control Accountability
Plans.
Middle and High School Supplemental Counseling eliminated by
LCFF. The 2006-2007 Budget Act provided $200 million in ongoing
funds to support additional counseling services for students in
grades 7-12, and a related trailer bill AB 1802 (Committee on
Budget), Chapter 79, Statutes of 2006, established the Middle
and High School Supplemental Counseling program to provide
additional counseling services to students in grades seven to
twelve. School districts were eligible to apply for this
funding to support counseling services and to reduce the
counselor-to-student ratios. This program became subject to
categorical flexibility in 2009, and was eventually eliminated
in the transition to LCFF.
Prior legislation. SB 272 (Wiggins) of the 2009-10 Session, was
substantially similar to this bill. SB 272 was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger, who stated:
"School district governing boards already have the
authority to include the specified program requirements
within its comprehensive educational counseling program.
Nothing under current law prohibits a district from doing
SB 451
Page 7
so. As a result, this bill is unnecessary."
AB 722 (Corbett), Chapter 250, Statutes of 2001, required the
California Department of Education to conduct a study to
determine the proper ratios of student-to-school counselors
necessary to maintain adequate student support services.
AB 1802 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 79, Statutes of 2006,
established the Middle and High School Supplemental Counseling
program to provide additional counseling services to students in
grades seven to twelve.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of School Counselors
California Association for the Gifted
Santa Clara County Office of Education
SB 451
Page 8
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916)
319-2087