BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 169|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 169
Author: Torres (D)
Amended: 3/25/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/8/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Runner, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock,
Huff, Liu, Price, Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Education finance
SOURCE : Los Angeles County Office of Education
DIGEST : This bill defines school districts to include
county offices of education and other agencies or entities
so that the county offices and other agencies or entities
will be eligible for federal funding distributed by the
State Board of Education.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that whenever federal
aid to education is provided to the state, and the
disposition of the funds is not otherwise specified by
federal or state law, then the distribution of those funds
to local educational agencies shall be determined by the
CONTINUED
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State Board of Education (SBE), consistent with the
requirements of federal law.
Existing law provides for county boards of education and
county superintendents of schools to direct county offices
of education. County offices of education (COEs) operate a
variety of alternative schools such as county community
schools, juvenile court schools, as well as Regional
Occupational Programs and Centers (ROP/C) and Special
Education Local Plan Areas (SELPA). COEs also assist
school districts in a variety of ways, providing
instructional and financial support services and exercising
oversight over the fiscal condition of districts, among
other functions.
County offices have historically received federal funds
provided for services related to their areas of
responsibility, such as special education and neglected and
delinquent youth. On the other hand, counties have often
not been eligible for federal funds under programs such as
the Title I basic grants because those programs are
distributed to schools on the basis of the characteristics
of pupils in an attendance area, and county schools serve
pupils that are referred to them, but do not serve pupils
on the basis of their residence in an attendance area.
This bill defines school districts to include COEs and
"other agencies" so that the county offices and other
agencies will be eligible for federal funding distributed
by the SBE.
Comments
This bill serves a technical purpose in that it reconciles
existing ambiguous and seemingly interchangeable references
to "school districts" and "local education agencies" in
existing law, and thus clarifies that school districts,
COEs, and all other educational agencies deemed eligible
are required to be considered by the SBE when any
application or allocation of federal funds is being made.
California Department of Education (CDE) . The CDE
indicates that there are no instances where federal
education funds are currently made available to school
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districts, but not to COEs or other agencies, unless there
is federal or state statute requiring that differentiation.
This is true despite there being no current statutory
requirement on the inclusion of COE or other educational
agencies. This bill codifies current practice and
continues to ensure that all eligible educational entities
are included in federal funding opportunities available to
the state.
Prior Legislation
AB 1683 (Torres), 2009-10 Session, was nearly identical to
this bill. Passed the Senate with a vote of 33-0 on August
5, 2010. The bill was subsequently vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger, whose veto message read, in pertinent part:
"Nothing in current law prohibits county offices of
education from receiving federal funds consistent with
federal law. The Administration does not have any
evidence that county offices of education have been
denied access to federal dollars that should
appropriately be distributed to them. Therefore, it is
unclear why the statutory change in this bill is
necessary.
"However, I am directing the State Board of Education to
be especially cognizant of this issue and be diligent
about working with the State Department of Education and
the county offices of education to ensure that no
inadvertent omissions occur in the future."
AB 339 (Torres), 2009-10 Session, was also nearly to this
bill. Passed the Senate with a vote of 34-0 on July 9,
2009. The bill was subsequently vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger, whose veto message read, in pertinent part:
"This bill would define 'school districts' to include
school districts, county offices of education, and other
agencies deemed eligible pursuant to state and federal
law, for the purpose of allocating federal education
funds. However, in its current form, I am concerned that
the bill may have unintended consequences for charter
schools and/or other educational agencies currently
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eligible for these federal funds."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/28/11)
Los Angeles County Office of Education (source)
Alameda County Board of Education
Alameda County Office of Education's Alliance for the Arts
Learning Leadership
Alameda County Superintendent of Schools
California School Boards Association
Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Monterey County Office of Education
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the bill's sponsor,
the Los Angeles County Office of Education, "County offices
of education play a vital role in providing educational
programs and services for students, parents, school
district and the community. Often the students served by
county offices of education are at-risk students. These
students are the type of young people many of these
federally funded programs are intended to serve. AB 169
will ensure that these pupils are not inadvertently left
out when federal funds are allocated."
According to the author's office, this bill clarifies that
the state allocations of federal funds to school districts
also include county offices of education. This bill
provides equity in funding county offices of education.
County offices of education play a vital role in providing
educational programs and services for students, parents,
school districts and the community. This bill will ensure
the county offices are not inadvertently left out when
federal funds are allocated.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro,
Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Fletcher, Fong,
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Fuentes, Furutani, Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Halderman,
Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wieckowski, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Butler, Charles Calderon, Conway,
Feuer, Galgiani, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Harkey, Jones,
Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Mendoza, Morrell, Olsen, Wagner,
Williams, Vacancy
CPM:mw 6/28/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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