BILL ANALYSIS
SB 331
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 16, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 331 (Romero) - As Amended: June 10, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 25-13
SUBJECT : Migrant education
SUMMARY : Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) in collaboration with the Statewide Migrant Parent
Advisory Council to develop and revise, as necessary, the state
services delivery plan and the state master plan for services to
migrant children, commencing with the next revision, amendment,
or adoption after July 1, 2011, and makes various changes to the
Migrant Education Program (MEP). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the state service delivery plan to include
collection, through the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and the Migrant Student
Database, of individual and aggregate data for migrant pupils
regarding all of the following:
a) Eligible migrant children;
b) Preschool participation in migrant education funded
programs;
c) Enrollment in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12,
inclusive;
d) Achievement based on the California Standards Test (CST)
and the high school exit exam;
e) Enrollment in and completion of courses that satisfy the
subject requirements for admission to the California State
University and the University of California;
f) Suspensions and expulsions;
g) Dropout rates;
h) Graduation and completion of the high school exit exam;
i) Retention in grade level;
j) Designation and redesignation of English learners;
aa) Completion of career technical education (CTE) courses;
and,
bb) Distribution of teachers based on highly qualified
status and years of experience in education.
2)Specifies that individual and aggregate enrollment data shall
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also include separate data concerning the number of migrant
pupils enrolled in alternative education programs including,
but not limited to, juvenile court schools, county community
schools, community day schools, continuation high schools, and
independent studies.
3)Requires interpretation services at each state and regional
migrant parent advisory council meeting by an individual who
has received training in interpreting and who is fully fluent
in English and in the language understandable to the parents.
4)Requires a report developed by the State Parent Advisory
Council (SPAC) to include an evaluation of the MEP, a review
of annual needs, a year-end assessment, policy
recommendations, and the most recent data collected as
required in this bill.
5)Specifies that if the SPI or the California Department of
Education (CDE) does not provide the SPAC with training on the
preparation of the specified report, the SPAC may approve, by
majority vote, an individual or group to provide technical
assistance to draft the report.
6)Stipulates that the technical assistance or training provided
by the SPI or an outside source for the purpose of drafting
the report shall be objective and free of charge and that it
is the sole responsibility of the SPAC to determine the
contents of the report.
7)Deletes language stating that priority shall be given to
programs and activities for migrant children, and specifying
that migrant programs shall not be provided solely for
children who have ceased to migrate.
8)Makes several technical changes to provisions governing the
MEP.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that the SPAC participate in the planning, operation,
and evaluation of the state MEP and provides that the
membership of the SPAC shall be comprised of individuals who
are knowledgeable of the needs of migrant children and are
nominated and elected by the parents of migrant children
enrolled in the operating agencies.
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2)Requires at least two-thirds of the members of the SPAC to be
parents of migrant children and requires the SPAC to meet a
minimum of six times a calendar year to provide input on
issues relating to the operation of the MEP.
3)Provides that each operating agency that receives migrant
education funds or services shall establish a parent advisory
council to actively solicit parent involvement in the
planning, operation, and evaluation of its programs.
4)Requires the SPI to sponsor an annual SPAC conference to be
scheduled during the spring and requires the SPAC, within 120
days from the conclusion of the conference, to prepare and
submit a report to the Legislature, the State Board of
Education (SBE), the SPI, and the Governor regarding the
status of the migrant education program.
Existing Federal Law :
1)Authorizes the allocation of grants to state educational
agencies to establish or improve, directly or through local
operating agencies, programs and educational opportunities for
migratory children to help them succeed in the regular school
program, meet the state academic content standards that all
children are expected to meet, and graduate from high school.
2)Requires each state that receives a grant to ensure that the
state and its local operating agencies identify and address
the special educational needs of migratory children in
accordance with a comprehensive statewide plan, as specified.
3)Requires each state that receives funding to give priority for
services to migratory children who are failing or most at risk
of failing and whose education has been interrupted during the
regular school year. Allows for continuation of services for:
a) A child who ceases to be a migratory child during a
school term is eligible for services until the end of such
term;
b) A child who is no longer a migratory child may continue
to receive services for one additional year, but only if
comparable services are not available through other
programs; and,
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c) Secondary school students who were eligible for services
in secondary school may continue to be served through
credit accrual programs until graduation.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill would entail significant costs, both
one-time and ongoing. There would be costs to the CDE for
revising the master plan, expanded program monitoring,
augmenting data systems, translations, technical assistance and
evaluations. There would also be significant local assistance
costs for local evaluations and interpretations. Further, while
the bill requires the provision of services of migrant youth in
alternative education programs, it should be noted that the
program is not currently funded at a rate that allows services
to be provided to every eligible child. It is estimated that
350,000 children are eligible but services are provided to only
210,000.
COMMENTS : The MEP is a federally funded program, authorized
under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The MEP is
designed to provide supplemental education services to migrant
children to help reduce the educational disruption and other
challenges that result from repeated moves. According to the
CDE, the California MEP is the largest in the nation and one out
of every three migrant students in the United States (U.S.)
lives in California. According to CDE, there are currently over
200,000 migrant students attending California schools during the
regular school year and 97,000 attending summer/intersession
classes.
This bill requires the development and revision of the state
master plan and the state services delivery plan to be conducted
in collaboration with the SPAC, provides for the inclusion of
specified data in the master plan, requires the provision of
translation services at state and regional parent advisory
council meetings, and expands the scope of a report that the
SPAC is required to draft and submit to specified parties.
Revision of the master plan and state delivery plan: Current
law requires the SPI to establish a SPAC to participate in the
planning, operation, and evaluation of the state MEP. State law
requires SPAC membership to be comprised of individuals who are
knowledgeable of the needs of migrant children and are nominated
and elected by the parents of migrant children enrolled in the
operating agencies. This bill requires the SPI, in
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collaboration with the SPAC, to develop and revise the state
services delivery plan, commencing with the next revision,
amendment, or adoption after July 1, 2011, and establishes that
the state master plan for services to migrant children shall
also be known as the state services delivery plan. Contrary to
what this bill suggests, the state master plan and the state
services delivery plan are two separate and distinct plans. The
state master plan is required by state law and the state
services delivery plan is required by federal law. The SPI is
currently in the process of revising the state services delivery
plan and is expected to complete it in the next few months. In
recognition that these are two different and separate plans,
staff recommends the bill be amended on page 3, lines 37-38, to
strike out "The state master plan also may be known as the state
services delivery plan."
Federal and state laws identify the SPAC as an advisory body in
the planning and operation of programs and projects at the state
and local level, but federal law requires the comprehensive
state plan to be developed in collaboration with parents of
migratory children, and not parent councils. Staff recommends
the bill be amended to stay consistent with federal law and
require the state plan be developed and revised by the SPI "in
collaboration with parents of migratory children."
Data collection : Title I, Part C, of the NCLB, program
regulations, and policy guidance issued by the Office of Migrant
Education (OME) at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE)
require state educational agencies to conduct a Comprehensive
Needs Assessment (CNA) of the MEP. Accordingly, in the summer
of 2005, the Migrant, Indian, and International Education Office
of the CDE in collaboration with WestEd launched the CNA
process. The initial Comprehensive Needs Assessment (2007)
report identified several shortcomings, including the following:
1)47% of migrant students attending public schools were in
Program Improvement (PI) schools.
2)The dropout rate for migrant students is believed to be well
over 50%, although reliable data on this measure are
unavailable.
3)The CST show that only 12% of migrant students meet state
standards in English-language arts compared with 33% for
non-migrant students. Only 18% meet mathematics state
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standards compared with 32% for non-migrant students.
4)Approximately 23% of migrant students were significantly
over-aged in kindergarten.
5)By 11th grade, 22% of migrant high school students had not
completed any A-G qualifying English courses.
The lack of "hard" data to inform the CNA was noted as one of
the most important findings of the entire process, and the
management team recommended that a comprehensive study be
conducted on the data needs of the MEP and that a plan be
devised to identify the specific responsibilities of the CDE,
regional offices, and school districts to collect, store, and
report data on migrant students and their families. This bill
requires the collection of individual and aggregate data
regarding migrant children including achievement on the CST and
the high school exit exam as well as completion of college
preparation and CTE courses. Because most migrant pupils are
also English learners, staff recommends the bill to also include
achievement data from the English language development test.
Furthermore, staff recommends a technical amendment on page 5,
line 36, after "examination" add "adopted pursuant to Section
60850."
Annual report : Current law requires the SPAC to prepare and
submit a report to the Legislature, the SBE, the SPI and the
Governor regarding the status of the MEP, but according to CDE,
no report has been submitted in 20 years. This bill expands the
scope of the report by requiring the report to include an
evaluation of the MEP, a review of annual needs, a year-end
assessment, policy recommendations, and the most recent data
collected as required by this bill. This bill, additionally,
authorizes the SPAC to solicit and approve, by majority vote, an
individual or group to provide technical assistance and training
for purpose of drafting this report. This Committee may wish to
consider whether it would be appropriate for this advisory
council to solicit training and technical assistance from an
individual or group for purposes of drafting this report. This
proposal gives an unspecified individual or group undue
influence over a report that is supposed to be drafted and
prepared by parents of migratory children and is supposed to
reflect the views of parents. Furthermore, because this bill
requires the report to include policy recommendations, this bill
potentially provides a special interest group direct access,
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through the SPAC, to the Governor, the Legislature, the SBE and
the SPI. Even though this bill requires the training and
technical assistance to be provided free of charge, this could
conceivably require a contract between the CDE and the selected
individual or group that will essentially act as a vendor and
provide the services required by this bill. It is unclear as to
what the implications and liabilities would come as result of
this. Additionally, this bill requires the report to include
very comprehensive data on migrant pupils, which the CDE
collects, and it may be inappropriate for an outside individual
or group to have access to this type of pupil data for purposes
of training and/or technical assistance to the SPAC.
Current law does not require the SPI to provide such training
and technical assistance for the SPAC to complete the
aforementioned report. However, migrant parents who are part of
the council could potentially benefit from such training and
assistance in order to be able to draft the report, thus it
seems to be more appropriate and prudent to assign this
responsibility to the SPI, particularly since the SPI already
provides training to the SPAC in other areas. This bill could
include a specific requirement for this training to be included
with other training that the SPI provides the SPAC. It is
unclear as to why the Legislature would be interested in
authorizing an outside group to provide this training instead of
requiring the SPI to do so. Staff recommends an amendment to
require the SPI to provide training and technical assistance to
the SPAC for purposes of drafting the report and to delete the
provision allowing the SPAC to solicit and approve an individual
or group to provide technical assistance and training.
Priority for services : This bill deletes language from existing
law which provides that "priority shall be given to programs and
activities for migrant children, and in no case shall migrant
programs be provided solely for children who have ceased to
migrate." The author wishes to reinstate this language in
current law. However, this language may create confusion and
may possibly be in conflict with federal law relative to
continuation of services for children who are no longer
migratory. Federal law provides that:
1.A child who ceases to be a migratory child during a school
term is eligible for services until the end of such term;
2.A child who is no longer a migratory child may continue to
receive services for one additional year, but only if
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comparable services are not available through other programs;
and,
3.Secondary school students who were eligible for services in
secondary school may continue to be served through credit
accrual programs until graduation.
Rather than reinstating current law which may be in conflict
with the federal law, staff recommends an amendment to specify
that "Priority for the provision of services shall be consistent
with federal law and regulations governing the MEP." This
approach allows for some flexibility, considering that the
federal statutes may change if and when NCLB is reauthorized.
Lastly, this bill requires the provision of translation services
at each state and regional council meeting by an individual who
has received training in interpreting and who is fully fluent in
English and in the language understandable to the parents.
LAO Report : In 2006, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO)
produced the report, "Improving Services for Migrant Students,"
in which the LAO found that the existing model for delivering
the MEP has led to limited program accountability, poor
coordination with other student services, and little statewide
collaboration. Among its recommendations, the LAO called for an
expansion of the state's migrant education data system to
include more data elements and that district and school
personnel shall be provided access to the enhanced system. The
LAO cited the importance of collecting consistent information on
these students and sharing it across the state in order to ease
their transitions and to create more coordinated statewide MEP
services. The LAO also identified the incorporation of
additional data fields regarding migrant students into the
California School Information Services (CSIS) system as one
option for achieving this goal.
The author states, "For more than 30 years, the California
Department of Education has worked under the same migrant
education plan without any comprehensive needs assessment of the
program or evaluation of its effectiveness for migrant students.
The Comprehensive Needs Assessment (assessment) was finally
conducted in 2007-- after it was mandated by the No Child Left
Behind Act, Title I, Part C. The results dramatically reflect
that more needs to be done for these children."
Arguments in support : The Association of California School
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Administrators writes, "It is important that state and local
educational agencies improve the data collection and tracking of
migrant students and prepare a master plan that can be based on
what the data shows are the service delivery needs of this often
neglected group of students. The more accurate data we have
locally the better we can support migrant students and their
families."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California School Administrators
California Immigrant Policy Center
John Castillo Photography
Mexican American Opportunity Foundation
Superintendent of Public Instruction (If amended)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087