BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session SB 1156 (Huff) - School accountability: Open Enrollment Act: low-achieving schools ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: April 21, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: May 16, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: This bill amends the Open Enrollment Act by replacing the Academic Performance Index with new eligibility criteria for identifying low-achieving schools. Specifically, the bill provides that a low-achieving school is either a school that is identified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (Superintendent) or the State Board of Education (Board) for comprehensive support and improvement, as specified, or a school that is receiving mandatory assistance by the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (Collaborative). Fiscal Impact: Reporting: Costs to the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Legislative Analyst's Office likely in the low hundreds of thousands for existing staff to work together to produce an evaluation and recommendations for the program. SB 1156 (Huff) Page 1 of ? However, in order to produce a report as intended by this bill, the submittal date would need to be postponed several years. See staff comments. (General Fund) Data System Updates: The CDE notes costs related to updating its data collection system to include student transfer data. These costs would be potentially significant to the extent these changes would be required to be made prior to the 2017-18 fiscal year. (General Fund) Background: Existing law establishes the Open Enrollment Act which allows the parent of a student attending a school identified as low achieving to submit an application for the student to attend another school with in the same district or transfer to another school district. Current law defines a low-achieving school by a list developed annually by the Superintendent which ranks 1,000 low-achieving schools by increasing Academic Performance Index. However, since the implementation of the state's new student assessment system, the Academic Performance Index has been suspended and therefore the list has not been updated to identify schools newly eligible for the Open Enrollment program. According to the CDE, the last available list which is being used for 2016-17 school year is based on the assessment results from the former statewide student assessments aligned to the prior state content standards. The federal and state accountability systems are undergoing major changes. Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, the recent enactment of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaces identification for school improvement, corrective action, restructuring, public school choice, and supplemental educational services with two categories: (1) comprehensive support and improvement; and (2) targeted support and improvement for LEAs with schools which have "consistently underperforming" subgroups. Schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement are those that are in the lowest performing 5 percent performing in the state; high schools that graduate less than two-thirds or their students; and schools subject to targeted support and improvement. The ESSA provides public school choice as an option, not a requirement, to LEAs with schools identified by the Superintendent for comprehensive support and improvement. The state's new accountability system establishes, among other SB 1156 (Huff) Page 2 of ? things, an entity to provide support and intervention through the Collaborative. Its purpose is to provide advice and assistance to LEAs to achieve the goals specified in their local control and accountability plans (LCAPs). Existing law requires, at the direction of the Collaborative, the fiscal agent to contract with individuals, LEAs, or organizations with the expertise, experience, and a record of success to assist LEAs in meeting their goals. Proposed Law: For purposes of the Open Enrollment Act, this bill amends the definition of a low-achieving school, a status that allows parents of a student enrolled in that school to submit an application for transfer to another school within or outside the district of residence. This bill removes the provisions referencing schools with the lowest Academic Performance Index, effective July 1, 2018. Instead, it defines a low-achieving school as one that is identified by the Superintendent or the State Board of Education for comprehensive support and improvement pursuant to the accountability provisions of the federal ESSA and the state accountability system through the Collaborative. This bill also requires the school district in which the student transfers to ensure that the student is enrolled in a new school that is not identified as being low-achieving, instead of enrolled in a school with a higher Academic Performance Index as required by existing law. This bill updates the order of priority for students applying for a transfer to provide as second priority, students that generate additional funding through the state's Local Control Funding Formula (low-income, English learner, or foster youth) transferring from a low-achieving school. Finally, this bill requires the Superintendent, with the Legislative Analyst's Office, to complete an evaluation of the open enrollment program, as specified. It also requires both entities to make recommendations regarding the eligibility criteria for the open enrollment program based on the state's new accountability system with respect to complying with federal ESSA, including the use of LCFF unduplicated subgroup criteria, and may also include recommendations on the future of the program. SB 1156 (Huff) Page 3 of ? Related Legislation: SB 451 (Huff, 2013) proposed to expand the Open Enrollment Act to authorize the parent of a student, regardless of whether the student attends a low-achieving school, to submit an application for the student to attend another school. SB 541 failed passage in the Senate Education Committee. Staff Comments: Staff notes that the new provisions of the Open Enrollment Act in this bill are operative July 2018. The evaluation report is due no later than one year after the implementation of the state's accountability system for purposes of complying with federal ESSA which would likely be the 2018-19 fiscal year. This timeline makes it difficult to analyze the new program. Allowing for the new requirements to be in effect for a few years may yield better information from which to make recommendations on the effectiveness and future of the program. This would also provide time for the CDE to make necessary changes to its data collection system and track the data over multiple years. SBX5 4 (Romero, Chapter 3, Statutes of 2010) established, among other things, the Open Enrollment Act which was intended to make the state eligible for the federal Race to the Top grant. The Commission on State Mandates determined certain requirements of the program to be a higher level of service than federal law and therefore reimbursable by the state. Mandated activities included: notifying parents of the option to transfer out of a low-achieving school; ensuring the transferred student is in a school with a higher Academic Performance Index; and notifying the school district of residence and the parent of a student's accepted application for transfer. The costs attributed to this mandate have historically been in the mid tens of thousands. This bill updates the program's current requirements to conform to the changes in the federal and state accountability systems and would continue the program's mandated activities. SB 1156 (Huff) Page 4 of ? -- END --