BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1457|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1457
Author: Morrell (R), et al.
Amended: 5/4/16
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 4-4, 3/30/16 (FAIL)
AYES: Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Vidak
NOES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Monning
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pan
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 5-4, 4/20/16
AYES: Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak
NOES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Monning
SENATE FLOOR: 15-18, 5/23/16 (FAIL)
AYES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines,
Galgiani, Huff, Mendoza, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen,
Stone, Vidak
NOES: Block, De León, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Liu, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Pavley,
Roth, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Beall, Hertzberg, Hueso, Leyva, Pan,
Runner
SUBJECT: Pupil instruction: high school graduation
requirements: credit for released time instruction
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: 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
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Page 2
for the completion of "released time instruction," excluding any
cap on the number of excused absences for this purpose.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/4/16 require the secular criteria
that are used as part of a school board's policy in determining
whether to authorize credit for the completion of released time
instruction to include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) the number of hours of classroom instruction time; (2) a
review of the course syllabus that reflects course requirements
and materials used; (3) the methods of assessment used in the
course; and (4) the course is taught by a certificated teacher.
ANALYSIS:
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 in
computing average daily attendance (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.
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d) No pupil shall be excused from school for such purpose
on more than four days per school month. (Education Code
§ 46014)
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 Section 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 Section 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.
4) Defines "sponsoring entity" as the entity that provides
released time instruction to a pupil pursuant to this bill.
5) Provides that the governing board of a school district may
adopt a policy authorizing a pupil in high school to
participate in released time instruction.
6) Requires the policy to include the following conditions:
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.
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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.
i) The pupil attends school for no less than the minimum
school day applicable to that pupil on each day of
released time instruction.
7) Provides that a policy may allow a pupil to receive up to
two elective credits toward that pupil's high school
graduation requirements for the completion of released time
instruction.
8) Requires the policy to 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.
9) Provides that the secular criteria shall include, but not be
limited to the following:
a) The number of hours of classroom instruction time.
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b) A review of the course syllabus that reflects course
requirements, materials used, and a clear learning
objective.
c) The methods of assessment used in the course.
d) The course is taught by a certificated teacher.
10)Provides that there shall be no criteria requiring that
released time instruction be completed only at a nonpublic
school.
11)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.
12)Prohibits school district staff and faculty from encouraging
or discouraging participation by pupils in released time
instruction.
13)Provides that an absence for released time instruction shall
not be deemed an absence in computing ADA.
Comments
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."
Why is existing law a problem? 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 ADA for these absences, as long as all statutory
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requirements are met.
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:
1) 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.
2) It authorizes such instruction and specifically eliminates
the cap on the number of allowable excused days for this
purpose.
3) It expands the ability of school districts to generate ADA
for these absences (current law caps these absences at four
days per month). While this bill requires students to meet
the minimum day requirement in current law for a school
district to receive full ADA (which is typically four hours)
on each day of released time instruction, it does not limit
the frequency for which students may participate each month.
Blurring the lines between the separation of church and state?
This bill provides that elective credit may 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 the ability of
students attending public schools receiving public dollars via
ADA to be excused from the regular school day to receive
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religious instruction be further expanded? An argument can be
made that because a student would have to meet the minimum day
requirement for each day of released time instruction, a
district would receive full ADA for that student regardless of
whether he or she is excused from school. However, this bill
does not place any limits on the frequency or number of times
each month that students may be excused from school for this
purpose.
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, raising the following questions and issues to
consider:
1) 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?
2) Are the conditions outlined in this bill sufficient to
ensure that absences for this purpose would not be excessive?
3) Are additional limitations or time restrictions necessary to
ensure that these absences are not frequent or excessive?
4) Under current law, the generation of 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?
5) 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?
Elective credit. This bill authorizes 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 that
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reflects a clear learning objective, 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. These provisions raise the
following questions and issues to consider:
1) Should instruction outside of the school setting be eligible
for elective credit towards graduation without prescribing
any criteria or requirements for the coursework or the
personnel that would be responsible for the instruction?
2) How much "released time instruction" for the generation of
two credits is necessary or reasonable?
3) 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?
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/6/16)
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
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Several individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/9/16)
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
5/25/16 15:38:36
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