BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 946
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|Author: |Leyva |
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|Version: |February 3, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: March 16, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: | Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Pupil attendance: service on precinct board
SUMMARY
This bill deems a student who is serving as a member of a
precinct board for an election to be participating in
independent study for purposes of calculating average daily
attendance, and thus allows the school district to generate
state apportionment payments for the student's absence.
BACKGROUND
State aid to school districts for general purposes (revenue
limit funding) is driven by the average daily attendance (ADA)
of the school district. Average daily attendance is generated
by students actually attending classes "under the immediate
supervision" of a properly credentialed teacher. (Education
Code § 46300, et seq.)
Existing law:
1) Provides that excused absences shall not generate state
apportionment payment, but does allow the student to make
up any missed classroom assignments or tests during the
absence. (EC § 48205)
2) Establishes that the absence of a student is to be excused
when the absence is:
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a) Due to his or her illness, or quarantine under
the direction of a county or city health officer.
b) For the purpose of having medical, dental,
optometric, or chiropractic services rendered.
c) For the purpose of attending the funeral
services, as specified.
d) For the purpose of attending jury duty.
e) Due to the illness or medical appointment of a
child of whom the student is the custodial parent.
f) For justifiable personal reasons, including an
appearance in court, observation of a religious
holiday or ceremony, or attendance at an employment or
educational conference, as specified.
g) For the purpose of serving as a member of a
precinct board for an election pursuant to Elections
Code Section 12302.
h) For the purpose of spending time with an
immediate family member who is an active duty member
of the military, as specified. (EC § 48205)
1) Requires that the attendance of students participating in
independent study be included in the calculation of average
daily attendance (ADA) only if those students participate
for five or more consecutive schooldays. (EC § 46300)
2) Authorizes an elections official to appoint up to five
students per precinct, subject to the approval of the
governing board of the local educational agency in which
the student is enrolled if the student meets the following
qualifications:
a) Is at least 16 years of age at the time of the
election.
b) Is a United States citizen, will be a citizen at
the time of the election, or is lawfully admitted for
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permanent residence.
c) Is in good standing attending a public or private
secondary educational institution.
d) Has a grade point average of at least 2.5.
(Elections Code § 12302)
ANALYSIS
This bill deems a student who is serving as a member of a
precinct board for an election to be participating in
independent study for purposes of calculating average daily
attendance, and thus allows the school district to generate
state apportionment payments for the student's absence.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Prohibits a student serving as a member of a precinct board
for an election through independent study from being
required to participate in that activity for five or more
consecutive schooldays if the student is required to do
both of the following:
a) Complete all assignments and tests
missed during the absence.
b) Complete a report or written assignment
on the subject of the activities engaged in by the
student while serving as a member of a precinct board
for an election.
2) Requires the teacher of any class from which a student is
absent to ensure that the assignments and tests are
reasonable equivalent, but not necessarily identical, to
the assignments and tests that the student missed during
the absence.
3) Requires the teacher of any class from which a student is
absent to ensure that the report or written assignment is
submitted within a reasonable time after the activities are
completed.
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4) Provides that an absence due to a student serving on a
precinct board, who meets the requirements of this bill,
shall be computed as average daily attendance (ADA),
thereby generating state apportionment payments.
5) Deletes reference to an obsolete section of the Education
Code relative to computing attendance.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, "According to
the California Civic Engagement Project, only 52% of the
eligible Californians aged 18-24 are registered to vote,
and just 8.2% actually cast a ballot in the last statewide
election. The Center for Information and Research on Civic
Learning and Engagement found that there is a clear
relationship between a student's high school civic
education experience and their political participation.
Currently, an excused absence for serving as a student poll
worker does not allow school districts to receive average
daily attendance payments. This omission suggests that
schools are not incentivized to promote student
participation in polling places during elections."
2) California Task Force on K-12 Civic Learning. This task
force was established in 2013 by California Chief Justice
Cantil-Sakauye and the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to explore and elevate the status of civic learning and
engagement in California. The task force produced a
report, Revitalizing K-12 Civic Learning in California,
that made several recommendations to improve civic learning
in all schools. The Power of Democracy Steering Committee,
led by California Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye, will work
to implement the recommendations contained in this report.
http://www.powerofdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/C
LTF-Final-Report.pdf
According to the Power of Democracy website, the following
core activities (the Six Proven Practices) are shown to
improve the quality and effectiveness of civic learning
both in and out of the classroom and ultimately build a
stronger and more engaged society:
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a) Classroom instruction in government, history, law
and democracy combining formal instruction of fact and
documents with illustration and discussion
demonstrating their relevance and application in
today's society.
b) Discussion of current events and controversial
issues, including their relevance to young people's
lives.
c) Service learning experiences that are directly
linked to curriculum and instruction and provide
students a chance to apply what they are learning.
d) Extracurricular activities that give students
opportunities to get involved in their schools and
communities and work together toward a common goal.
e) Student participation in school governance to
cultivate a sense of responsibility and give students
an opportunity to participate in the management of
their own classrooms and schools.
f) Simulations of democratic processes that allow
students to participate in simulated voting, trials,
legislative deliberation, and diplomacy.
3) Average daily attendance. Existing law provides that the
computation of average daily attendance (ADA) is to include
the attendance of students participating in independent
study for five or more consecutive days. This bill allows
students to participate in independent study to serve on a
precinct board for fewer than five days, and provide that
this participation is to be included in the computation of
ADA.
4) Missed assignments and tests. This bill requires the
teacher of any class from which a student is absent for the
purpose of serving on a precinct board to ensure that the
assignments and tests are reasonable equivalent, but not
necessarily identical, to the assignments and tests that
the student missed during the absence. This provision is
consistent with existing law regarding excused absences.
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5) Fiscal impact. According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee analysis of nearly identical prior legislation,
this bill would impose "unknown, but potentially
significant, increase in ADA to the extent that students
who volunteer at polls during an election decide to
complete assignments as required by this bill in order to
have their absence from school treated as "independent
study" instead of simply an excused absence. For each of
those instances, a school would receive ADA for that
student.
"This bill's costs will not simply be driven by the number of
students that volunteer at polls on Election Day, but
rather the number that participate in a school's
independent study assignments in order to generate ADA.
The number of students that volunteer at polls during an
election is unknown, and it is unclear how many of them
will let schools know ahead of time that they will be
absent and will enter into independent study agreements."
6) Related legislation. SB 1014 (Liu) authorizes a school to
grant parental leave to a student who is a parent, and
provides that such absences generate ADA if the school
district files an expectant and parenting student policy to
the California Department of Education. SB 1014 is
scheduled to be heard by this Committee on March 16, 2016.
AB 1593 (Obernolte) authorizes an absence by a student for the
purpose of attending the student's naturalization ceremony
to become a United States citizen to be deemed an excused
absence. AB 1593 does not provide that such as absence
generate average daily attendance (ADA). AB 1593 is
pending in the Assembly Education Committee.
7) Prior legislation. AB 2684 (Stone, 2014) was nearly
identical to this bill. AB 2684 was held on the Senate
Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
AB 466 (Hancock, 2007) was nearly identical to this bill and was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The veto message read:
I vetoed substantively similar bills in prior years.
This bill would allow schools to receive funding for
times when students are volunteering as elections
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precinct board members through independent study
programs. While civic and other volunteer activities
can offer many educational opportunities to students,
these activities should be in addition to, and not in
place of, valuable classroom learning time with a
teacher. Independent study programs are intended to
help schools address the needs of students who are
unable to attend school in a traditional classroom
setting for an extended period of time - not to be
used as means to circumvent the fulfillment of
criteria for instruction required in order to receive
school funding.
AB 1320 (Carter, 2007) deemed a student serving as a member
of a precinct board for an election or engaging in other
leadership or civic engagement activities to be
participating in independent studies for the purpose of
calculating a school district's average daily attendance.
AB 1320 was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's
suspense file.
SB 1193 (Bowen, 2006) was nearly identical to this measure
and was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The veto
message was identical to the veto message for AB 466
(Hancock, 2007).
AB 1944 (Hancock, 2004) provided that the computation of
average daily attendance is to include a student serving as
a member of a precinct board for an election. AB 1944 was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, whose veto message read:
This bill would allow schools to receive funding for
time when students are volunteering as an elections
precinct board member. While civic and other volunteer
activities can offer many educational opportunities to
students, these activities should be in addition to,
and not in place of, valuable classroom learning time
with a teacher.
SUPPORT
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American Civil Liberties Union
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles
California School Employees Association
California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla
League of Women Voters of California
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Rock the Vote
Shasta County, County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
OPPOSITION
None received.
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