BILL ANALYSIS
AB 223
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 223 (Ma) - As Amended: April 15, 2009
Policy Committee: Education Vote:
6-3
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires the San Francisco Board of Education (SFBE)
to make Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps (JROTC) courses
available to pupils under its jurisdiction in grades 9-12,
inclusive, at all schools within the district where JROTC
courses were offered during the 2008-09 school year if it also
makes athletic programs available to its pupils.
FISCAL EFFECT
Annual state reimbursable mandated GF/98 costs, of approximately
$1.1 million, to require the SFBE to make JROTC courses
available to pupils in grades 9-12, as specified. This assumes
the same level of program service that is currently provided.
To the extent that San Francisco Unified School District's
(SFUSD) costs increase, the state mandated costs will increase
as well.
The Department of Defense provides one-half of the JROTC
instructors' salaries, which average approximately $84,000
annually. SFUSD pays the other half of salary costs and all
benefit costs of each JROTC instructor.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Existing law authorizes a school district
governing board to establish a school course in military
science and Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).
In November 2006, the SFBE passed a resolution to begin a
two-year phase-out of all JROTC program in the district
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"resulting in no JROTC classes in the 2008-09 school year and
beyond." The resolution further stated that the program
"violates our anti-discrimination policies with regard to
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and adults."
In December 2007, the SFBE extended the phase-out period for
the JROTC by one year; therefore, the program will cease to
exist, absent any other action, at the end of the 2008-09
school year. Of the seven school board members who were on
the board in 2006, two remain.
In November 2008, the voters of San Francisco approved
Proposition V by a vote of 59 % to 41%. Proposition V stated
"it is herby policy of the City and County of San Francisco
that students in San Francisco public high schools should
continue to be able to choose to choose to participate in the
schools' JROTC program."
This bill requires SFUSD to make JROTC courses available to
pupil in grades 9-12, inclusive, at all schools within the
district where JROTC courses were offered during the 2008-09
school year if it also makes athletic programs available to
its pupils.
The SFBE opposes this measure, citing local control concerns.
2)Potential reimbursable mandate and non-fiscal bill . This bill
is keyed non-fiscal; however, this measure creates the
potential for reimbursable state-mandated costs to SFBE by
requiring the school board to make JROTC courses available at
all schools within the district where JROTC courses were
offered during the 2008-09 school year, as specified.
This measure requires SFBE to make JROTC available to its
pupils enrolled in schools that offered the program in the
2008-09 school year, if the school also makes athletic
programs available to its pupils. Since all of the schools
that offered JROTC courses in the 2008-09 school year make
athletic programs available to its pupils, it is likely
districts may submit a reimbursement claim to the Commission
on State Mandates for the state requiring them to offer JROTC
courses. The claim may request the entire cost to SFUSD to
provide JROTC to its specified schools.
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3)JROTC is a federal program offered to high school students.
Each branch of the military (i.e., the Army, Marines, Air
Force, Navy and Coast Guard) allows local high schools to
apply for and make available a JROTC program for their
students.
SFUSD has offered this program for over 90 years. Prior to
the 2008-09 school year, students were able to enroll in JROTC
to fulfill their physical education graduation requirement.
However, for the 2008-09 school year, the program is only
offered to pupils as an elective course. Students who
participate in JROTC must attend school full-time and may
enroll in the program at the ninth-grade level or above. All
instructors are required to be retired military personnel and
attend military schools for JROTC instructor training.
According to SFUSD, of the 19 high schools, seven offer this
program to its students and all of these high schools offer
its pupils the opportunity to participate in athletic
programs. In 2007-08, there were 1,050 high school students
enrolled in a JROTC program.
4)JROTC Task Force . As part of the original November 2006
resolution, the SFBE established a 16 member JROTC task force
to develop "alternative, creative, career driven programs with
the elements of the existing JROTC program that students have
indicated important to them." According to SFUSD, the task
force met 13 times between April 17, 2007 and June 2, 2008.
As part of its duties, it administered a JRTOC participant
survey and examined a number of existing youth leadership and
training programs offered by the community. The task force
utilized the information from its survey to identify the
following three components of the JROTC program that students
found most valuable: (a) leadership, (b) service to the
community, and (c) physical fitness/well-being.
In June 2008, the task force proposed the development of a
"leadership pathway" alternative program to JRTOC to be
implemented at two school sites in the fall of 2008. The
school sites are Balboa and Lincoln high schools and the core
components of the "leadership pathway" are an Ethnic Studies
and Leadership Development course in 9th grade and a Service
Learning course in 10th grade that focuses on solving
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community-based issues. According to SFUSD, 75 students are
enrolled in these courses.
5)SFUSD has 111 schools with an enrollment of 55,000 pupils. Of
the 55,000 pupils, 41.8% (23,000) are Asian; 23% (12,652) are
Latino; and 12.5% (6,858) are African American. In the
2007-08 FY, the district's total revenues were approximately
$629 million (all funds).
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081