BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1457
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|Author: |Morrell |
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|Version: |March 28, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: March 30, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Lenin Del Castillo |
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Subject: Pupil instruction: high school graduation
requirements: credit for released time instruction
SUMMARY
This bill expands the authority of school districts to authorize
a student to be excused from school to receive moral and
religious instruction by authorizing a local governing board to
adopt a policy, as specified, to allow pupils to earn up to two
elective credits towards high school graduation requirements for
the completion of "released time instruction," excluding any cap
on the number of excused absences for this purpose, and
authorizing a school district to generate average daily
attendance (ADA) for these absences.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Provides for pupils, with the written consent of their
parents or guardians, to be excused from school in order to
participate in religious exercise or to receive moral and
religious instruction at their respective places of worship
or at other suitable places away from school property
designated by the religious group, church, or denomination,
which shall be in addition and supplementary to the
instruction in manners and morals required elsewhere.
2) Provides that such absences shall not be deemed absences
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in computing ADA, if all of the following conditions are
complied with:
a) The governing board of the school district
adopts a resolution permitting pupils to be absent
from school for such exercises or instruction.
b) The governing board of the school district
adopts regulations governing the attendance of pupils
at such exercises or instruction and the reporting
thereof.
c) Each pupil so excused shall attend school at
least the minimum school day for his grade for
elementary schools, and as provided by the relevant
provisions for secondary schools, as specified.
d) No pupil shall be excused from school for such
purpose on more than four days per school month.
(Education Code § 46014)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Provides various legislative findings and declarations,
including the finding and declaration that private
religious education is a legitimate and complimentary part
of the American school system, and that parents have a
recognized constitutional right to educate their children
at religious private schools.
2) Defines "released time instruction" as the instruction
received by a pupil for the purposes and under the
conditions of Education Code § 46014 which allows pupils,
with the consent of their parents, to be excused from
school in order to participate in religious exercises or to
receive moral and religious instruction, as specified.
3) Provides that Education Code § 46014 shall be construed to
additionally permit a pupil to be excused from school to
participate in instruction in nonsectarian morals and
systems of belief by a nonsectarian entity.
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4) Defines "sponsoring entity" as the entity that provides
released time instruction to a pupil pursuant to this
chapter.
5) Provides that the governing board of a school district may
adopt a policy authorizing a pupil in high school to earn
up to two elective credits toward that pupil's high school
graduation requirements for the completion of released time
instruction.
6) Requires the policy to state that a pupil in high school
may receive elective credits for the completion of released
time instruction only if the following conditions are met:
a) The pupil's parent or guardian makes a
written request.
b) The released time instruction is
conducted off school district property.
c) No public funds are expended and no
public school personnel are involved in providing the
instruction.
d) The sponsoring entity maintains
attendance records and makes those records available
to the school district the pupil attends.
e) Transportation to and from the place of
released time instruction, including transportation
for pupils with disabilities, is the complete
responsibility of the sponsoring entity, parent,
guardian, or pupil.
f) The sponsoring entity makes provisions
for and assumes liability for the pupil.
g) The pupil assumes responsibility for
any missed schoolwork.
h) The pupil does not miss any core
curriculum subject courses to attend released time
instruction.
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7) Provides that the policy shall include secular criteria for
determining whether to authorize a pupil to earn credit for
the completion of released time instruction. Requires the
criteria to be substantially the same criteria used to
evaluate a similar nonpublic high school course for the
purpose of determining whether to award credit for that
course to a pupil transferring from a nonpublic high school
to a public high school.
8) Provides that the secular criteria may include, but not be
limited to the following:
a) The number of hours of classroom
instruction time.
b) A review of the course syllabus that
reflects course requirements and materials used.
c) The methods of assessment used in the
course.
d) The qualifications of the course
instructor, which shall be similar to the
qualifications of other teachers in the school
district.
9) Provides that there shall be no criteria requiring that
released time instruction be completed only at a nonpublic
school.
10) Provides that a decision to award credit for released time
instruction shall be neutral to, and shall not involve any
test for religious content or denominational affiliation.
11) Prohibits school district staff and faculty from
encouraging or discouraging participation by pupils in
released time instruction.
12) Provides that an absence for released time instruction
shall not be deemed an absence in computing average daily
attendance.
STAFF COMMENTS
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1) Rationale for the bill. According to the author the
purpose of this bill is to enable school boards to take
action to authorize more time than is allowed under current
law for students to participate in religious exercise or
religious and moral instruction and to receive elective
credit toward high school graduation for this activity.
According to the author, both Ohio and South Carolina have
passed similar legislation allowing students to receive two
elective credits for "released time instruction."
2) Why is existing law a problem? As noted in the background
of this analysis, current law already allows for students
to be excused to participate in religious exercise or to
receive religious or moral instruction as long as specified
conditions are met. Such absences are currently limited
to no more than four days per school month and a school
district may generate average daily attendance (ADA) for
these absences, as long as all statutory requirements are
met.
The committee may wish to clarify why the current statutory
authority is insufficient.
3) Clarification of the bill's effect. As noted, students are
already permitted to be excused from school to participate
in religious exercise and receive religious or moral
instruction. This bill redefines these activities as
"released time instruction" and expands existing authority
in three ways:
a) It allows school districts to adopt policies
authorizing high school students to earn up to two
elective credits towards their graduation requirements
for the completion of religious exercise or moral and
religious instruction.
b) It authorizes such instruction and specifically
eliminates the cap on the number of allowable excused
days for this purpose.
c) It expands the ability of school districts to
generate ADA for these absences (current law caps ADA
for these absences at four days per month).
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4) Blurring the lines between the separation of church and
state? This bill provides that elective credit can be
provided to students for religious exercise and religious
or moral instruction if, among other things, no public
funds are expended and no public personnel are involved in
providing the instruction. However, while no funds are
being provided directly to the entity providing the
instruction, this bill would expand the ability of school
districts to receive public funding (ADA) for students who
are receiving religious instruction from non-school
personnel and away from the schoolsite during the regular
school day.
While current law allows for some accommodation of
religious instruction during the school day, should this
committee further expand the ability of students attending
public schools receiving public dollars via ADA to be
excused from the regular school day to receive religious
instruction?
5) Average Daily Attendance. This bill expands the ability of
a school district to generate ADA for absences due to
religious and moral instruction beyond the four days
currently allowed under law. The committee may wish to
consider:
a) How much public funding should reasonably be
generated by a school district for religious or moral
instruction by an entity other than a public school?
b) Are the conditions outlined in the bill
sufficient to ensure that absences for this purpose
would not be excessive?
c) Are additional limitations or time restrictions
necessary to ensure that these absences are not
frequent or excessive?
d) Under current law, the generation of average
daily attendance (ADA) generally requires that a
student be under the direct supervision of school
personnel. How much ADA should be generated for
instruction that is not directly provided or overseen
by the school district?
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e) While this bill defers decisions on expansion of
release time to local governing boards, what
responsibility does the state have to ensure the use
of public funds for public purposes and a clear
separation of church and state in a publicly funded
school system?
6) Elective Credit. This bill would authorize local boards to
provide up to two elective credits toward graduation for
religious and moral instruction delivered outside the
public school system. It authorizes, but does not require,
consideration of the number of hours of instruction, a
review of a course syllabus, methods of assessment, and the
qualifications of the instructor in determining whether to
authorize course credit. It also prohibits the decision to
award credit from involving any test for religious content
or denominational affiliation. The committee may wish to
consider:
a) Should instruction outside of the school setting
be eligible to elective credit toward graduation
without prescribing any criteria or requirements for
the coursework or the personnel that would be
responsible for the instruction?
b) Should course credit be offered for instruction
that is not under the direct supervision of a
certificated teacher?
c) How much "released time instruction" for the
generation of two credits is necessary or reasonable?
d) Why is it necessary that students be granted
credit toward graduation for religious and moral
instruction? Why are the existing means by which
students could receive course credit for these
activities insufficient?
7) High school graduation requirements. Students are required
to complete a minimum set of courses to meet state
requirements to graduate from high school and receive a
diploma. Specifically, current law requires students to
complete three courses in English, two courses in
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mathematics, two courses in science, three courses in
social studies, one course in visual or performing arts,
and two courses in physical education.
School district governing boards also have the authority to
supplement the state minimum requirements at the local
level with additional course work, which may include
elective courses. High school electives are typically
courses that fall outside of the core academic subject
areas and may represent a student's personal interests,
introduce new skills, or serve as training for a future
career.
This bill provides an alternative for earning elective
credits through the completion of religious exercise and
religious and moral instruction at a student's respective
place of worship or other suitable places away from school
property.
SUPPORT
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Family Council
Christian Educators Association International
Christian Released Time Education
Concerned Women for America
Father's House Church International
Gateways to Better Education
Orange County Superintendent of Schools
Representative Bill Patmon, Ohio House of Representatives
Representative Jeff McClain, Ohio House of Representatives
School Ministries, Inc.
Terry's Testing, Inc.
Valley Christian Church
West Coast Chabad
Letters from individuals
OPPOSITION
California Federation of Teachers
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