BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 637
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 30, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 637 (Knight) - As Introduced: February 16, 2011
SUBJECT : School choice: G.I. Jr. Grant Program.
SUMMARY : Establishes the G.I. Jr. Grant Program to provide
annual scholarships of up to $5,000 to children of military
families to attend private nonsectarian nondenominational
schools. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the G.I. Jr. Grant Program, beginning with the
2012-13 school year, under which a parent of a qualifying
pupil who completes an application shall receive a grant that
is to be redeemed at the grant school in which the qualifying
pupil enrolls and applied toward payment of the tuition and
fees payable for the educational and related services provided
to the qualifying pupil by that grant school.
2)Specifies that notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
grant provided under this article constitutes a grant of aid
to a qualifying pupil through the qualifying pupil's parent
and is not a grant to the grant school in which the qualifying
pupil is enrolled; the grant does not constitute taxable
income to the parent or the qualifying pupil; and, a
qualifying pupil shall not receive a grant for any portion of
a school year in which the qualifying pupil is enrolled in a
private school that does not redeem grants.
3)Defines "grant" to mean a grant of aid made under this article
to a qualifying pupil, through the qualifying pupil's parent,
to be used by and for the benefit of the pupil.
4)Defines "grant school" to mean a nonsectarian,
nondenominational private school, that maintains one or more
grade levels from kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, and
that elects to, and is entitled to, participate in and redeem
grants.
5)Specifies that a pupil is eligible to receive a grant under
this article if, during the school year in which the grant is
to be effective, the pupil meets all of the following
conditions:
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a) Is a California resident within the meaning of Section
68017.
b) Is under 22 years of age, and has neither graduated from
high school nor obtained a general equivalency diploma.
c) Enrolls as a full-time pupil in a grant school at a
grade level in which all qualifying pupils in that grade
are entitled to receive a grant.
d) Is the natural or adopted child of a person who is or
was a member of the United States Armed Forces, including a
member of the California National Guard or a member of the
reserves of any branch of the United States Armed Forces,
and who is currently on federal active duty or who was on
federal active duty at any time after January 1, 1995.
6)Specifies that a qualifying pupil who receives a grant shall
continue to receive a grant each year if the qualifying pupil
completed all necessary coursework to be promoted to at least
the next grade level in the grant school, the qualifying pupil
is in good academic standing with the grant school, and the
parent completes all applications required by the grant school
and the department.
7)Specifies that a nonsectarian, nondenominational private
school that maintains any grade in which an enrolled
qualifying pupil is entitled to receive a grant and shall opt
each school year to either participate or not participate in
the grant program; and, specifies that a school that wishes to
participate in the program as a grant school shall complete a
notice of intent to participate, and file it with the
department, by February 15 of each calendar year for inclusion
in the program for the following school year.
8)Specifies that a private school that participates in the grant
program, and that is entitled to redeem a grant for a
qualifying pupil who enrolls in that grant school, is not
required to accept the grant as full payment for the
educational and related services that the school provides to
that qualifying pupil, and may charge the qualifying pupil an
additional amount representing the balance of the tuition and
fees that remains payable after crediting the qualifying pupil
with the amount of the grant received by the qualifying pupil;
and, specifies a private school that redeems grants shall use
the grant proceeds solely to provide educational goods,
services, and facilities for its qualifying pupils and is not
entitled to receive, for redeeming a grant, any amount in
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excess of the tuition and fees customarily charged by the
school to cover the cost of providing those educational goods,
services, and facilities.
9)Requires each grant school shall do all of the following:
a) Ensure the eligibility of each applicant for a grant
issued.
b) On or before August 1 of each year, submit a list of
qualifying pupils and the contact information of each
parent of a qualifying pupil accepted into the school for
that school year to the department.
c) Submit a list of qualifying pupils enrolled in and
attending the school with a grant as of the date of the
report to the department on August 15, October 15, January
15, and April 15 of each school year. The report shall
constitute the base pupil level of qualifying pupils. The
base pupil level shall accurately reflect the number of
qualifying pupils enrolled in and attending the grant
school.
d) Annually meet at least one of the following standards:
i) At least 70 percent of the qualifying pupils in the
program at the school advance at least one grade level
each year.
ii) The grant school's average daily attendance rate for
the pupils in the program is at least 90 percent.
iii) At least 80 percent of the qualifying pupils in the
program at the school demonstrate significant academic
progress, measured by criteria established by the grant
school including, but not necessarily limited to, a
nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test.
iv) At least 70 percent of the families of qualifying
pupils in the program at the school meet the parental
involvement criteria established by the grant school.
e) Provide test results to the parent of each pupil if the
school administers a nationally standardized
norm-referenced achievement test.
10)Requires, on or before March 31, 2012, and each March 31
thereafter, the department to issue a press release, and shall
publish on its Internet Web site, a list of all grant schools
in the state that will redeem grants for the school year that
begins in that calendar year. Each school on the list shall be
identified by at least contact information and by the grade
level or levels for which the grant school will redeem grants
for that school year.
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11)Requires that a parent who wishes to enroll a qualifying
pupil in a grant school for any school year on a grant that is
to be issued to complete and submit, not later than June 15 of
the calendar year in which the school year that the grant is
to be effective, an application to the grant school on a form
provided by the school. The application shall be filed at the
same time that the parent submits the application for a grant
to the department. Within 45 calendar days after receiving
the application, the grant school shall notify the applicant,
in writing, whether the application has been accepted. If the
grant school rejects an applicant, the qualifying pupil may
use the grant to apply for enrollment before June 15 of each
year to another participating grant school that has space
available.
12)Requires a parent who wishes to enroll a qualifying pupil in
a grant school to submit an application for a grant to the
department. The department shall develop the form of
application for a grant, and shall publish the form on its
Internet Web site in a format that may be downloaded by pupils
or parents who request the form. The grant form shall provide
for identification of a qualifying pupil by at least the
pupil's name, date of birth, address, school district of
residence, school and grade of current enrollment, grant
school to which application for admission under a grant is
being made, and grade of school in which the grant applied for
is to be effective.
13)Specifies a grant issued for the benefit of a qualifying
pupil in the 2012-13 school year shall have a value equal to
five thousand dollars ($5,000), or the total amount of tuition
and fees charged by the grant school, whichever is less; and,
specifies commencing with the 2013-14 school year, the grant
value shall be annually adjusted to reflect the percentage
increase, if any, from the prior fiscal year in the amount
appropriated from the General Fund in the annual Budget Act to
meet the minimum constitutional funding guarantee under the
California Constitution.
14)Specifies the moneys to pay a grant that is issued for the
benefit of a qualifying pupil, and that is to be effective
during the school year with respect to which those moneys are
paid, shall be distributed by the department immediately on
receipt of proof of the pupil's enrollment in the grant school
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during a school year and in the form of a grant to the parent.
The parent shall restrictively endorse the grant for the use
of the grant school, and surrender the grant to the grant
school. The grant school shall immediately credit the account
of the parent of the qualifying pupil, and apply the grant for
the benefit of the qualifying pupil in payment of the tuition
and fees due from, or the costs of providing educational and
related services to, that pupil; and, specifies the department
shall annually make four payments to a grant school based on
the base pupil level. The payments shall be issued to the
grant schools on September 1, November 1, February 1, and May
l of each school year.
15)Requires a grant school, if a qualifying pupil transfers from
a grant school to another school during the school year in
which a grant issued for the benefit of that pupil is
effective, to do both of the following:
a) Provide written notice of the transfer, within 10 days
after the transfer occurs, to the department.
b) Return to the department, to be held in trust and
maintained by the department in the name of the
transferring pupil's parent for the benefit of that pupil,
any grant moneys already paid or distributed to the grant
school for the benefit of that pupil for that school year,
and not yet due or earned as tuition and fees or as the
cost of providing educational and related services for that
pupil for that school year.
16)Specifies that moneys shall be deposited in the fund pursuant
to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another
measure and the department shall administer the fund. Moneys
deposited in the fund are for the purpose of making G.I. Jr.
grants; and, specifies the department may use up to 1 percent
of the annual appropriation for payment of the costs and
expenses that are incurred by the department in performing its
duties and responsibilities.
17)Specifies that a person who does any of the following is
guilty of a misdemeanor:
a) Uses or attempts to use a grant or certificate of grant
for any purpose other than those permitted.
b) With intent to defraud, knowingly forges, alters, or
misrepresents information on a grant or certificate of
grant or on any documents submitted in an application for a
grant.
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c) Issues or delivers any grant, certificate of grant, or
other grant-related document knowing it has been forged,
altered, or based on misrepresentation.
d) Possesses, with intent to issue or deliver, any grant,
certificate of grant, or other grant-related document
knowing it has been forged, altered, or based on
misrepresentation.
18)Specifies in any legal proceeding challenging the application
of this article to a private school, the state bears the
burden of establishing that the law is necessary and does not
impose any undue burden on private schools; and, specifies a
nonsectarian, nondenominational private school shall not be
required to alter its philosophy, practices, or curriculum in
order to redeem grants or in order to participate as a grant
school.
19)Makes Legislative finding and declarations that allowing
parents to choose schools, public as well as private, for
their children will promote a healthy competition among
schools and empower parents to influence educational policies
and procedures, leading to better quality education and that
competition can also lead to lower costs as waste and
unnecessary expenditures of public moneys are no longer
tolerated.
20)Specifies this program shall become inoperative on July 1,
2017, and, as of January 1, 2018, is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January
1, 2018, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes
inoperative and is repealed.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that state residency may be established by an alien,
including an unmarried minor alien, unless precluded by the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101, et seq.) from
establishing domicile in the United States. (Education Code
68062)
2)Implements the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity
for Military Children (the Compact), that creates a formal
interstate agreement that addresses the educational transition
issues of children of military families. (Education Code
49700 et. seq.)
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill creates a state funded private school
voucher program that would provide up to $5,000 annually to
children of military families to attend nonsectarian
nondenominational private schools.
According to the author, there is a crisis in elementary and
secondary education in this country. Many schoolchildren are
performing significantly below national standards. Other
children are dropping out of school before completing the
ordinary course of secondary education. Substantial numbers of
young people are leaving school without the basic skills and
knowledge that will enable them to find and hold a job or
otherwise function as productive citizens. The freedom of
parents to choose schools for their children that are acceptable
to their personal educational convictions is an inherent and
inalienable personal right. The current system of school
finance limits parents' freedom to select schools that they
believe can provide their children with a quality education.
According to the author, more than half the country's public
schools enrolling significant numbers of military children are
not meeting state academic standards. Frequent moves further
undermine military children's chances of success in school,
considering that the average military family moves once every
two years. Numerous school changes negatively affect school
performance. School age military children must not only cope
with the stress of their parents being deployed, but
additionally the anxiety of switching schools, curriculums, and
making new friends. Allowing parents to choose schools, public
as well as private, for their children will promote healthy
competition among schools and empower parents to influence
educational policies and procedures, leading to better quality
education. Competition can also lead to lower costs as waste
and unnecessary expenditures of public monies are no longer
tolerated. By offering student vouchers, parents in the
military could use scholarships to send their children to
private schools that best reflect educational ideals for their
children. Military families have little or no choice over where
they are stationed, hence little or no choice in which school
districts their children are forced to attend. Therefore, it is
completely rational that military families should be allowed a
certain level of choice over the education of their children.
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Voucher Program for disenfranchised families or subsidy to
private school families ? This bill provides a voucher to
children of military families to attend a private school, but
some argue that in reality, this bill will subsidize families
who already enroll their children in private schools. This bill
could also subsidize families who already choose to homeschool
their children, since homeschools are registered as individual
private schools. The committee should consider whether this
type of shift in public education funding is appropriate,
especially in this time of fiscal crisis.
Residency Requirements : This bill requires pupils to meet the
residency requirements for attendance at a California
Institution of Higher Education. These residency requirements
specifically prohibit undocumented students from establishing
residency if they are precluded by the federal Immigration and
Nationality Act from establishing domicile in the United States.
This means that undocumented students would be prohibited from
participating in the voucher program established by this bill,
even if their parents are active military personnel. The
committee should consider whether it is appropriate to prohibit
such students from participating in the program.
Could students attend private schools out of state ? The bill
does not expressly state that the voucher can only be used to
attend private schools in California. Therefore, it is unclear
from the language in the measure, whether a California resident
would be authorized to apply for the grant and use those grant
funds to attend a private school out of state. The committee
should consider whether it is appropriate to use California
taxpayer dollars to fund the private education of a student in
another state.
School Voucher Programs in Other States : Milwaukee, Wisconsin
and Cleveland, Ohio are among the most well known and longest
running voucher programs in the United States.
According to a 1995 WestEd report, "Research on the nation's
only traditional voucher system in operation - the Milwaukee
Parental Choice Program - is inconclusive. In its fourth year
of operation, the program provided approximately 830 low-income
students with $3,200 grants to attend any non-religious school
in the state. Wisconsin's state-appointed evaluator, John Witte
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, concluded that results
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from an on-going Milwaukee study cannot be used to infer the
success or failure of voucher programs elsewhere. He contends
that the student sample size was small, other voucher programs
may not be directly targeted at the same group of students, and
student outcomes are affected by a complex set of interrelated
variables, not just the element of choice. Witte's fourth year
report also indicated neither positive nor negative significant
results in student performance. While parental involvement was
higher than in the public schools, choice families (compared to
the average public school family) were generally smaller and
more involved in their children's schooling before the voucher
program. The study also showed that the initial student
attrition rate (half returned to public schools) tapered off
more recently to about the same level of mobility as found in
regular Milwaukee public schools. Critics, however, have
contested this and other findings in Witte's study."
According to an article evaluating the Cleveland Scholarship
Program, sponsored by the Program on Education Policy and
Governance, "During the 1996-97 school year, the Cleveland
Scholarship and Tutoring Program (CSTP) gave 1,996 students from
low-income families scholarships to be used at any participating
Cleveland private school, secular or religious. Established by
the State of Ohio in March 1995, 6,244 applications were filed
the following fall, and scholarships were awarded beginning in
January 1996. CSTP's beginnings were then complicated by a
court challenge to the program's constitutionality. Two weeks
before the beginning of the school year, the state district
court rejected the suit brought by the plaintiffs, and 1,996
scholarship recipients attended fifty-five private schools in
grades kindergarten through three."
Military Compact : There are approximately 60,000 military
dependents between the ages of 5 and 18 years old in California.
Military families move between postings on a regular basis, and
though these reassignments can be required and/or advantageous
for career personnel, they often have emotional and educational
impacts on the children of military families. Military families
and their dependents encounter significant school challenges
when dealing with attendance, enrollment, eligibility,
placement, and graduation. While the armed services, and
various states through the Interstate Compact on Educational
Opportunity for Military Children (the Compact), has taken steps
to ease the transition of personnel, their spouses and children,
the realities of frequent moves and/or the deployment of family
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members subject these children to divergent policies, rules, and
procedures at both the state and local level. For example,
twenty-five percent of military dependents lose course credits
due to school transfers from out-of-state and out-of-country
U.S. Department of Defense schools to California schools.
The average military student faces transition challenges more
than twice during high school, and most military children will
have six to nine different school systems in their lives from
kindergarten to 12th grade. With more than half of all military
personnel supporting families, the impacts of reassignment and
long deployments are a key consideration when making life and
career choices.
The Council of State Governments has worked with the U.S.
Department of Defense Office of Personnel and Readiness to draft
the Compact, addressing the educational transition issues of
children of military families. A variety of federal, state and
local officials as well as national organizations representing
interested education groups and military families worked from
July 2006 through early 2008 to develop the Compact. While the
Compact is not exhaustive in its coverage, it does address the
key issues encountered by military families: eligibility,
enrollment, placement and graduation. In addition, the Compact
provides for a detailed governance structure at both the state
and national levels with built-in enforcement and compliance
mechanisms.
The committee should consider that the Compact only protects
children of military families when they enroll in public
schools. Therefore, children of military families who utilize
the voucher program established by this bill would no longer be
protected by the Compact when they enroll in a private school.
Arguments in Opposition : According to the California Teachers
Association (CTA), who opposes the bill, "CTA believes in
financing public education directly from public funds, and
opposes any educational funding systems that would allocate
public tax monies to non-public agencies. The hard reality is
that our schools are in fiscal crisis, and need every dollar
during these tough economic times. Over the past three years,
California's public schools have been cut by nearly $3,000 per
K-12 student. More than 40,000 educators have been laid off
resulting in class sizes bursting at the seams?.CTA believes
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that parental options plans for private schools, that include
the use of public funds directly or through vouchers, compromise
free, equitable, universal and quality public education for
every student."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
California Association of School Business Officials
California Teachers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087