BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Tom Torlakson, Chairman

                                           519 (Mendoza)
          
          Hearing Date:  08/30/07         Amended: 04/24/07
          Consultant:  Dan Troy           Policy Vote: ED 6-2
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   AB 519 would require the Superintendent of  
          Public Instruction (SPI) to prepare a plan to include data on  
          dropouts in the Academic Performance Index (API) and to develop  
          a definition of dropout for this purpose.  This plan would be  
          submitted to the Legislature by July 1, 2008. 
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions        2007-08      2008-09       2009-10     Fund
           Dropout Report         $200                             General
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.

          The authorizing legislation for the API (Chapter 3/1999, SB 1X  
          (Alpert)) required dropout rates to be included as one of the  
          factors, but since the state did not have unique identifiers to  
          track each pupil, calculating reliable rates has not been  
          possible.  As a result, current API figures are based on  
          standardized test scores, including the California Standards  
          Test (CST), the California High School Exit Examination  
          (CAHSEE), and the California Achievement Test (CAT-9).  Chapter  
          517/2005 (SB 1496, Goldberg) required SDE to track a high school  
          attrition rate defined as the difference between the number of  
          pupils enrolled in the 9th grade and the number of pupils that  
          received a diploma four years later.  

          Recent technology initiatives (e.g., CSIS, CALPADS) have  
          facilitated the development of unique student identifiers which  
          should ultimately make a reliable rate calculable.  The  
          Department of Education indicates that CALPADS will be fully  
          implemented in the 2009-10 fiscal year, so incorporating a  
          reliable dropout rate would be possible some time after that  
          year.  











          SDE indicates that the report would cost approximately $200,000  
          to produce. 

          A related bill, SB 219 (Steinberg), would require the SPI to  
          include information on dropout rates, high school graduation  
          rates, and college and career readiness to the (API).  This bill  
          was passed by the Senate and is currently on the Assembly  
          Education Committee's suspense file.  Also, AB 400 (Nunez),  
          which will be heard by the Senate Education Committee on July  
          11th, would also add dropout rates to the API, among other  
          reforms.