BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
343 (Saldana)
Hearing Date: 08/17/2009 Amended: 06/01/2009
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 8-0, Judiciary
5-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 343 would enact the Interstate Compact on
Educational Opportunity for Military Children to facilitate
school transfers of children from military families. The
compact would sunset on January 1, 2013.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Commission support $61 $61 $61 General
Administration cost Minor General
District mandates Less than $100, annually General*
* Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
The Council of State Governments, in cooperation with the United
States Department of Defense, has drafted the Interstate Compact
on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to address the
issue of educational transition among children of military
families. The Compact addresses key issues encountered by
military families: transfer of records, course sequencing,
graduation requirements, and age of entrance to kindergarten.
In addition, the Compact provides for a detailed governance
structure at both the state and national levels including
enforcement and compliance provisions. Once approved by 10 or
more states, the Compact becomes effective for participating
states. As 24 states have opted in, the Compact is operative.
AB 2049 (Salda?a, 2008) required the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to convene a task force to review and make
recommendations regarding the compact. This bill is the product
of the task force.
The Compact is only applicable to the children of active duty
members of the uniformed services, including members of the
National Guard and reserve on active duty orders, members or
veterans of the uniformed services who are severely injured and
medically discharged or retired for a period of one year after
medical discharge or retirement, and members of the uniformed
services who die on active duty or as a result of injuries
sustained on active duty for a period of one year after death.
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AB 343 (Saldana)
Among other provisions, the Compact would:
Require sending schools to furnish unofficial records,
to the extent feasible, to parents to give to receiving
schools until official records can be released, and to
furnish official records, if practicable, within 10 days of
a request from a receiving school.
Require receiving schools to place eligible pupils on
the basis of unofficial records until the official records
are obtained.
Allow 30 days for transferring students to obtain
necessary immunizations or to begin a required series of
immunizations, allow transferring students to continue
their enrollment at their grade level in the sending state
(regardless of age), and allow a pupil who has completed a
grade level at the sending school to enroll in the next
highest grade level at the receiving school.
Accept and honor courses, if such courses are offered
and space is available, and program placements made at the
sending school, including courses such as Honors, Advanced
Placement, International Baccalaureate, vocational,
technical and career pathways courses, and programs such as
gifted and talented, and English as a Second Language.
Initially provide comparable services to transferring
students with disabilities and make reasonable
accommodations and modifications to address the needs of
incoming students with disabilities.
Accept exit or end-of-course examinations for graduation
from the sending state, but requires passage of
California's high school exit examination in order to
receive a diploma issued by a California high school.
Requires LEA administrative officials to use best
efforts to waive courses required for graduation if a
transferring student has completed similar coursework; also
requires an LEA, if a waiver is not granted, to provide an
alternative means of acquiring required coursework in time
to allow for an on-time graduation.
States that the compact does not prevent the enforcement
of any other law of a member state; however, all other
member states' laws that conflict with the Compact are
superseded to the extent of the conflict.
The bill also establishes the Interstate Commission on
Educational Opportunity for Military Children (Commission) to
adopt bylaws to carry out the purposes of the compact and
resolve disputes. The Commission is authorized to levy and
collect an annual assessment from each member state to cover the
cost of the operations and activities of the Commission, and
authorizes the SPI to accept non-state funding to offset these
costs.
This bill would require the Superintendent of Public instruction
to reconvene the task force to review and make recommendations
about the compact. This bill would also require a final report
to be submitted to the Legislature by December 1, 2012, and
would provide a sunset date of January 1, 2013.
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AB 343 (Saldana)
The Commission has agreed upon an assessment of $1 per each
military child to fund its operations, which results in costs of
$61,000 for the state. It is also possible that the state will
incur some reimbursable costs for requirements of districts to
comply with the provisions of the bill. These costs are
primarily linked to the furnishing of records and, while
indeterminable at this time, would likely be less than $100,000.
Indeed, several districts with significant enrollment of
military children have indicated a willingness to waive mandated
costs, though it not clear how many of these districts have
actually adopted a board resolution to that effect. The
Department of Education has indicated only minor costs for
state-level duties.