BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 451
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
451 (Lara)
As Amended April 29, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 32-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |6-0 |O'Donnell, Kim, | |
| | |McCarty, Santiago, | |
| | |Thurmond, Weber | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Revises requirements for school counseling programs in
school districts which have chosen to provide comprehensive
educational counseling programs. Specifically, this bill:
1)Expands the definition of academic counseling to include
counseling in understanding the relationship between academic
achievement and career success, the value of career technical
education and career readiness, and postsecondary options.
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2)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
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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states: "Research has
demonstrated, most recently in a 2014 UC [University of
California] 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."
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In 2010-11 California had the worst counselor-to-student ratio
in the country. 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.
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.
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
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.
Prior legislation. SB 272 (Wiggins) of the 2009-10 Regular
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 so. As a result, this bill is
unnecessary."
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Analysis Prepared by:
Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0001044