BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCR 93|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCR 93
Author: DeSaulnier (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
SUBJECT : Summer Learning and Wellness Month
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution designates July 2010 as Summer
Learning and Wellness Month.
ANALYSIS : This resolution states the following:
1. A childs need for meaningful learning and enrichment
experiences does not end in June when the school doors
close for summer vacation, these needs continue into and
through the summer months. Whether or not these needs
are being met may boil down to a child's neighborhood or
family income level.
2. All children need summer learning opportunities in order
to stay on course academically. Without ongoing summer
opportunities to reinforce and learn skills, children,
especially children in low-income communities, may fall
behind dramatically in many areas of academic
achievement.
CONTINUED
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3. The debilitating effect of an absence of summer learning
and enrichment is often referred to as "the summer
slide." The summer slide is characterized by measurable
learning loss that includes reading loss and significant
achievement gaps between children with lower and higher
income parents.
4. The summer slide affects children from low-income
families disproportionately. Unequal summer learning
opportunities during elementary school years are
responsible for about two-thirds of the ninth-grade
achievement gap between youths with lower and higher
income parents. As a result, youths with low-income
parents are less likely to graduate from high school or
enter college.
5. While parents in California consistently cite summer as
the most difficult time to ensure that their children
have productive things to do, the supply of low-cost
summer programs in California is extremely limited
relative to the number of children with low-income
parents. A 2008 study of five California cities
revealed that nearly 75 percent of children and youth
are not served by the most common providers of summer
programming.
6. Summer school is currently the largest provider of
summer programming in California, but budget cuts have
had a devastating effect on program availability.
7. The health of many children with low-income parents is
put at risk during the summer because they lose access
to healthy school meals and organized physical activity.
8. Most children gain weight more rapidly when they are out
of school for summer. Summer weight gains are
especially large for African American and Hispanic
children. In California, nearly one-third (32 percent)
of 5th graders are overweight or obese.
9. The national Summer Learning Day on June 21 celebrates
how summer programs send young people back to school
ready to learn, support working families, and help keep
children safe and healthy.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/5/10)
Partnership for Children and Youth
Central Valley Afterschool Foundation
PQ:nl 4/5/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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