BILL ANALYSIS
AB 983
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 983 (Skinner) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:8-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes weekend activities in the After School
Education and Safety (ASES) program. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires costs associated with weekend activities from being
paid from the program's maximum or supplemental grant.
2)Prohibits the participation of pupils in weekend activities to
be included in the attendance reported to the State Department
of Education (SDE) for the calculation of grant awards, except
for the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st
Century) program.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)The 2009 Budget Act allocates $547 million GF/98 for the ASES
program. According to the State Department of Education
(SDE), 377 LEAs received ASES grants serving 3,800 schools in
2008-09. Community organizations (e.g., non-profits, etc.)
and local governments may partner with a LEA to receive grants
to operate ASES programs provided that the LEA is the fiscal
agent for the program.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The ASES program, as renamed and revised by
Proposition 49 in 2002, funds the establishment of local
before and after school education and enrichment programs.
These programs are created through partnerships between
schools and local community resources to provide literacy,
academic enrichment and safe alternatives for students in
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kindergarten through ninth grade. Funding is designed to: (a)
maintain existing before and after school program funding and
(b) provide eligibility to all elementary and middle schools
that submit quality applications throughout California.
According to LA's Best, co-sponsor of this measure, some ASES
programs provide weekend activities for their pupils. Current
law, however, does not provide explicit authorization for them
to use grant funding to conduct these with their students.
This bill provides this authorization.
2)The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is a
federally funded after school program that provides five-year
grant funding to establish or expand before-and after-school
programs that provide disadvantaged K-12 grade students
(particularly students who attend schools in need of
improvement) with academic enrichment opportunities and
supportive services to help the students meet state and local
standards in core academic content areas. Local education
agencies cities, counties, community-based agencies, other
public or private entities, including faith-based
organizations, or a consortium of two or more such agencies,
organizations, or entities are eligible to apply.
The federal 21st Century program funding was used to establish
the state 21st Century Community Learning Centers After School
Safety and Enrichment for Teens, a program that serves high
school students. In previous iterations of this measure, the
prohibition of calculating weekend attendance for the purposes
of grant calculations was extended to all after school
programs, including the federal 21st Century program.
However, this measure exempts the federal program because
federal law authorizes the use of grant funds for weekend
activities.
The 2009 Budget Act provided $129.3 million for this program.
Funding for this program is contingent on the amount of
federal funds the state receives.
3)Proposition 49 , approved by the voters in 2002, expanded
existing before and after school programs and renamed them the
ASES program. Proposition 49 has the effect of requiring the
state to add approximately $428 million annually for before
and after school programs. As a result of the initiative,
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state funding for after school programs is continuously
appropriated and no longer requires approval by the
Legislature as part of the annual Budget Act. The amount of
additional funding pursuant to Proposition 49 will be added to
the Proposition 98 base in future years. ASES, as modified by
Proposition 49, has two main goals: keeping students safe
after school and improving student academic outcomes.
4)Previous legislation . SB 1674 (Torlakson), which also
authorized weekend activities under the ASES program, was
vetoed in September 2008, with the following message:
"As the primary author of Proposition 49 that created the ASES
Act, I am very proud of the good work that after school
providers have done in serving kids over the years. While
providing students with educationally enriching activities
during weekend hours is a worthy goal, this bill takes the
program beyond the original scope of the ASES program. After
school programs are intended to provide students with access
to quality tutoring, homework assistance, and educational
enrichment during weekday non-school hours, when they are most
at risk of being involved in dangerous activities."
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081