BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 451


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          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       |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 


          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