BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 167
Author: Adams (R), et al
Amended: 6/17/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/10/09
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado,
Padilla, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-0, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Price, Runner, Walters, Wolk, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/4/09 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Local high school graduation requirements:
foster youth
SOURCE : San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill exempts pupils in foster care from
district graduation requirements that exceed state
requirements if the pupil transfers to the district, or
transfers from one high school to another within a
district, in the 11th or 12th grade. This bill requires
the district to notify the pupil if the exemption granted
would affect the pupil's ability to gain admission to
CONTINUED
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postsecondary institution and to provide information about
transfer opportunities available through the California
Community Colleges.
ANALYSIS : Existing law prescribes the course of study a
pupil is required to complete while in grades 9 to 12,
inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school
district to adopt rules specifying additional coursework
requirements. Existing law also allows a child who is in
foster care and who is attending high school or the
equivalent level of vocational or technical training on a
full-time basis, or is in the process of pursuing a high
school equivalency certificate, prior to his/her 18th
birthday, to continue to receive foster care aid beyond
his/her 18th birthday so long as the child continues to
reside in a foster care placement, continues to attend high
school or the equivalent on a full-time basis, and the
child is reasonably expected to complete the educational or
training program or to receive a high school equivalency
certificate, before his/her 19th birthday. Existing law
requires schools to allow foster youth to remain in the
school of origin for the duration of the school year when
the foster youth's residential placement changes and when
remaining in the same school is in the child's best
interest. Existing law requires school districts to accept
for credit full or partial coursework satisfactorily
completed by a pupil while attending a public school,
juvenile court school, or nonpublic, nonsectarian school or
agency.
By waiving district-specific requirements, this bill will
make it easier for certain pupils in foster care to
graduate by age 19 (foster care may extend to age 19
depending on certain circumstances, including educational
status). As exemption from these requirements may prevent
a pupil from meeting a-g requirements, this bill requires
districts to notify pupils who receive exemptions if these
exemptions will affect their ability to gain admission to
postsecondary educational institutions and to provide
information about community college transfer opportunities.
Available data indicates that there are 73,000 children in
California's foster care system. Typically, these children
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will transfer to new homes multiple times before exiting
the system, and these transfers will frequently move
children to different school districts. A report from the
California Education Collaborative for Children in Foster
Care suggest that foster youth face significant obstacles
toward completing a high school degree, as indicated by the
fact that only 46 percent obtain a diploma and less than
three percent attend a four-year college.
Prior legislation . AB 2138 (Adams), 2007-08 Session, which
was vetoed, was nearly identical to this bill. The
Governor's veto message read:
This bill attempts to create a statewide policy of
exempting certain foster care students from
district-specific graduation requirements. In doing so,
this bill would usurp the authority of local school
boards to determine the conditions under which students
should be granted diplomas. Beyond the current minimum
statewide requirements, local school boards have the
ability to waive their own local graduation requirements
based on the merit of each student's case. This bill
would undermine their ability to judge each individual
student's particular circumstances.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
Assuming 2,500 to 5,000 annual notifications are
necessitated by this bill, this bill will result in state
reimbursable mandated costs of $75,000 to $150,000.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/31/09)
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors (source)
SUPPORT
All Saints Church Foster Care Project
Aspiranet
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Association of Counties
California State PTA
California State University
County of San Bernardino
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County Welfare Directors Association
Junior League of Orange County
Los Angeles Unified School District
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City of Los Angeles
Special Education Local Plan Area Administrators
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors writes, "A foster child who is in high school
who has taken the required classes in their previous school
district may find that their new high school requires
additional classes, over and beyond those they have already
taken to graduate. Completing these new classes would
likely not present a problem to a freshman, who would have
the time to take the required classes before they graduate.
These additional requirements could present a real problem
to a foster child who is a junior or a senior, and who may
not have the time to complete these additional classes."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Huffman
DLW:mw 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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