BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1876
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1876 (Torlakson)
As Amended April 28, 2010
2/3 vote
EDUCATION 6-3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, | | |
| |Arambula, Carter, Eng, | | |
| |Torlakson | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Nestande, Miller, Norby | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ASSEMBLY: 51-24 (May 13, 2010) SENATE:
24-10 (July 1, 2010)
SUMMARY : Makes changes in the After School Education and Safety
(ASES) program and the federal 21st Century Community Learning
Centers (21st CCLC) program. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes weekend activities in the ASES programs and
specifies that costs associated with weekend activities shall
be paid from the program's maximum grant or supplemental
grant.
2)Provides that except for programs funded by the 21st CCLC
program, attendance in weekend activities shall not be
included in the program's attendance report to the California
Department of Education (CDE) for the purpose of calculating
maximum or supplemental grant levels.
3)Specifies that priority for 21st CCLC program funding shall be
given to programs with expiring grants if those programs have
AB 1876
Page 2
satisfactorily met projected pupil outcomes as required by the
ASES program specified in Education Code (EC) Section 8484.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Legislative Counsel, this bill
is non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : The ASES program, passed by voters as Proposition 49
in 2002, provides almost $550 million for before and after
school programs for 400,000 students in kindergarten through
grade 9. In 2009-10, 371 grants were awarded predominantly to
districts and county offices of education, with some grants
going to local governments and nonprofit organizations working
in partnership with local educational agencies (LEAs). After
school programs must commence right after school and at least
until 6 p.m. for 15 hours per week. There are two program
requirements as follows:
1)An educational and literacy component in which tutoring and
homework assistance is provided to help students meet state
standards in one or more of the following core academic
subjects: reading/language arts, math, history and social
studies, or science.
2)An educational enrichment component that reinforce and
complement the school's academic program and may include, but
is not limited to, positive youth development strategies,
recreation and prevention strategies. Such activities may
include, but is not limited to, visual and performing arts,
music, career technical education, recreation, physical
fitness and prevention activities, and other youth development
activities based on student needs and interests.
Weekend activities: Current law provides that programs may
operate during any combination of summer, intersession or
vacation periods. This bill authorizes ASES programs to also
include activities during the weekend (e.g., for field trips or
special events) and specifies that, except for programs funded
by the 21st CCLC program, costs associated with weekend
activities must be paid from within the program's ASES maximum
or supplemental grant.
AB 1876
Page 3
According to the author, after school providers have long used
public grants for expenses related to occasional weekend
activities, which act as important incentives for pupils to
attend and successfully participate in after school activities.
In 2007, the CDE indicated that ASES base grants cannot be used
for weekend activities due to lack of statutory authorization.
The federal 21st CCLC program does not prohibit use of funds for
weekend activities, while the state ASES program does. The CDE
has indicated in prior related bills that it does not have
concerns about incorporating the authorization in statute as
long as no additional funds will be provided for this purpose.
The author states, "AB 1876 seeks to fill the gap in state law
by explicitly allowing after school base grants to be used for
weekend activities. However, the bill also acknowledges that
state-funded programs must meet certain attendance goals in
order to maintain their state grants; therefore, the bill makes
it clear that student participation in weekend activities cannot
be counted toward a state-funded program's attendance goals."
21st CCLC program: The state receives almost $130 million
federal funds for the 21st CCLC programs, which, unlike the ASES
program, extends to high schools. The state has chosen to
implement this program almost identical to the state's ASES
program. EC Section 8484.8 specifies that 40% of the funds
shall be allocated for programs serving elementary and middle
school pupils and 50% shall be allocated for direct grants to
community learning centers serving high school pupils.
Elementary and middle school programs receive grants between
$50,000 to $150,000 and must provide academic assistance,
educational enrichment and family literacy services. Federal
requirements give priority for funding to programs serving Title
I kids. The 21st Century High School After School Safety and
Enrichment Program for Teens (ASSETs) program provides grants
between $50,000 to $250,000 per school site based on $10 per
student per day, and requires the following elements:
1)An academic assistance element that includes at least one of
the following: preparation for the high school exist exam,
tutoring, homework assistance, or college preparation.
AB 1876
Page 4
2)An enrichment element that may include, but is not limited to,
community service, career and technical education, job
readiness, opportunities for mentoring and tutoring younger
pupils, service learning, arts, computer and technology
training, physical fitness and recreation activities.
Existing law, based on the federal No Child Left Behind rules,
specifies that there is no guarantee that a program receiving a
21st CCLC program grant (up to five years) would get a renewal
from future state or federal funding. This bill gives priority
for funding to programs with expiring grants if those programs
have satisfactorily met projected ASES program pupil outcomes.
ASES program providers are required to submit annual outcome
data for pupil and program evaluation. Existing law authorizes
the CDE to consider the outcomes in determining whether to renew
a grant. Existing law specifies that to demonstrate program
effectiveness, grantees must submit schoolday and program
attendance. To demonstrate program effectiveness based upon
individual program focus, one or more of the following measures
must be submitted annually:
1)Positive behavioral changes, as reported by schoolday teachers
or after school staff.
2)Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test scores.
3)Homework completion rates as reported by schoolday teachers or
after school staff.
4)Skill development as reported by schoolday teachers or after
school staff.
5)Any additional measures developed by the CDE, in consultation
with the Advisory Committee.
Existing law authorizes the CDE to terminate an ASES program if
the program fails to demonstrate measurable program outcomes for
three consecutive years. For individual program impact,
measurable program outcomes is judged by pupils participating in
the program demonstrating improvement on one or more of the
AB 1876
Page 5
aforementioned indicators.
This bill would give a program with an existing 21st Century
CCLC grant priority in its request for renewal if the CDE has
determined that it has met the measurable individual program
outcome(s) described above. The author states that this bill
will ensure continuity of services. The sponsor, the
Partnership for Children and Youth, states that this provision
is similar to a provision (EC Section 8421.5) in the High School
ASSETs program that gives priority to expiring grants that have
satisfactorily met their projected attendance goals and
demonstrated other positive outcomes. According to the CDE,
existing programs seeking renewal of their ASSETs grants are
given 10 extra points.
Related legislation: AB 983 (Skinner) contained the ASES
weekend provisions that are identical to the provisions in this
bill. The bill was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee
suspense file in 2009.
Prior legislation: This bill is almost identical to one of the
provisions in SB 1674 (Torlakson) from 2008. The bill was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with the following message:
"As the primary author of Proposition 49 that created the After
School Education and Safety Program (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."
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
As a major proponent of After School Education and
Safety programs in California, I am thrilled that the
voter approved Proposition 49 made funding available
AB 1876
Page 6
that has made it possible for so many schools across
the state to have programs serving students from 3
o'clock to 6 o'clock, from Monday through Friday.
Currently, over 3,800 after school programs serve an
average of approximately 333,700 students a day.
These programs have time and time again met their
intended purpose of keeping children safe, inspiring
student learning, and helping working families.
It is a great testament to all the hard working after
school program providers that California can be such a
leader in providing educationally enriching activities
to its students even after the end of the regular
school day. The need is so great for these valuable
after school programs that there is still not enough
funding to meet the long waiting list of schools and
students seeking to have an after school program.
As a result, with so many program applications pending
on the waiting list to start offering services during
the regular school week, I do not believe it is
prudent to expand to weekend hours at this time.
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0005345