BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 802
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 27, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 802 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: May 9, 2011
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill, commencing with the 2013-14 fiscal year (FY),
authorizes a school district, county office of education (COE),
or charter school to claim attendance toward average daily
attendance (ADA) for the purposes of calculating revenue limit
funding for an online class, as specified.
1)Requires all of the following conditions to apply in order for
a school district, COE, or charter school to claim ADA for
online classes: (a) the pupil is enrolled in any of grades
9-12; (b) the pupil is enrolled in classes that include
courses in a classroom-based setting, courses that are offered
through an online program, or both; (c) the pupil meets
minimum instructional time requirements, as specified; and (d)
each online course is high-quality.
2)Defines "high-quality online course" as meeting all
requirements related to the following: ratio of full-time
equivalent certificated teachers teaching the course;
experience of the teacher (including credential requirements);
subject-matter content of the course; student teacher ratio;
the pupil elects to participate in the course; no charge to
take the course; course examinations are administered by a
proctor; and records regarding the amount of time the pupil is
online are maintained by the district, COE, or charter school.
AB 802
Page 2
3)Defines "asynchronous online course" as a course where the
teacher and pupil are online at different times and are not
able to interact simultaneously.
4)Defines "synchronous online course" as a course where the
teacher and pupil are online at the same time and able to
interact.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Beginning in the 2013-14 FY, potential on-going GF/98 revenue
limit costs, likely between $3.2 million and $6.4 million, for
increased claims of ADA for providing online instruction to
pupils in grades 9-12.
2)One-time GF/98 cost pressure, of approximately $250,000, to
local education agencies (LEAs) to purchase equipment to
provide online courses, as specified. There are 1,264 high
schools in the state.
3)This bill authorizes LEAs to claim ADA for asynchronous online
learning courses once the SPI adopts regulations for this
purpose. To the extent the amount of time a pupil spends
online in this course cannot be verified, there is an
increased risk the state will provide GF/98 revenue limit
funding to LEAs for attendance that cannot be validated.
Consequently, there is also the potential for LEAs to have
increased audit costs to the extent that ADA attendance cannot
be verified as part of the regular audit process.
4)One-time GF administrative costs to the SPI, likely less than
$125,000, to develop regulations pursuant to this measure.
AB 802
Page 3
SUMMARY , CONTINUED
1)Requires a "high-quality online course" to have either: (a)
the teacher online at the same time as each pupil, accessible
to each pupil attending the synchronous online course, and
able to make a visual connection with each pupil for the
purposes of verifying attendance or providing immediate
supervision, or (b) the teacher is online at a different time
as each pupil, is accessible to each pupil attending the
asynchronous course, and for the purposes of verifying
attendance is able to do at least one of the following:
a) Periodic proctored examinations.
b) Biometric verification.
c) A line-of-sight visual connection, including, but not
limited to, Internet webcam.
2)Prohibits a pupil from being credited with more than five days
of online course attendance per calendar week that regular
classes are maintained and requires attendance accounted under
these provisions to be subject to statutory audited
requirements.
3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in
consultation with the Director of Finance (DOF), on or before
December 31, 2012, to do all of the following: (a) make
revisions to any attendance accounting manual necessary to
clarify attendance procedures for online courses, including
asynchronous courses and (b) make recommendations to the
Legislature and the governor regarding statutory changes
necessary to allow attendance in asynchronous online courses
to be included in ADA calculations.
4)Requires the SPI to adopt rules and regulations for the
purpose of implementing this measure, as specified. This
measure further prohibits pupil attendance in asynchronous
AB 802
Page 4
online courses from being included in the calculation of ADA
until the SPI has adopted rules and regulations.
5)Deems a pupil in an online course to be under the immediate
supervision of an employee of the school district, COE, or
charter schools for the purposes of calculating ADA and
meeting instructional minute requirements, as specified.
6)Sunsets these provisions on July 1, 2017.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . In March 2010, the United States Department of
Education released Transforming American Education: Learning
Powered by Technology, a draft of the nation's educational
technology plan. The plan states ""Just as technology is at
the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and
work, we must leverage it to provide engaging and powerful
learning experiences, content, and resources and assessments
that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic,
and meaningful ways. Technology-based learning and assessment
systems will be pivotal in improving student learning and
generating data that can be used to continuously improve the
education system at all levels."
According the author, "The state's classrooms remain stuck in
the 20th Century and have failed to embrace a changed world
full of innovation and technology - despite California being
the cradle of the technological revolution. If California
aspires to compete with other states and nations as an
economic engine, it must make dramatic changes in its
classrooms to usher in a meaningful 21st Century education and
it must make them soon. One clear example is the virtual
classroom. Technology and the Internet provide educators with
new tools and students with better options to break down
barriers created by geography, poverty, language and other
conditions."
AB 802
Page 5
This bill allows a school district, county office of education
(COE), or charter school to claim attendance toward ADA for
the purposes of calculating revenue limit funding for an
online class
2)Existing law requires the majority of the state's revenue
limit funding (general purpose) allocated to LEAs (i.e.,
districts, COEs, etc.) be based on ADA. ADA is the average
amount of time a pupil attends class under the immediate
supervision of a certificated employee. As a result, the more
the pupil attends class the more ADA the LEA receives, which
leads to increased revenue limit funding.
Within the current ADA requirements, LEAs are able to provide
online courses to pupils in the following ways:
a) Pupils are receiving online instruction in a classroom
setting under the immediate supervision of a certificated
employee.
b) Pupils are enrolled in a part-time or full-time
independent study (IS) program (i.e., the pupil may be
taking regular classroom courses and one or two IS program
courses online). If a pupil is enrolled full-time in an IS
program, he or she is required to produce a work product,
which is assessed by a certificated employee of the
district.
c) Pupils who have met the minimum instructional
requirement and are taking an online course. Under this
scenario, the pupil is generating full ADA for meeting the
minimum instructional requirement and the pupil is taking
the online course in addition to meeting minimum
requirements.
d) Pupils are enrolled in a charter school, which has less
strict accounting and attendance requirements for its
pupils.
AB 802
Page 6
3)Fiscal concerns with asynchronous online learning . The
fundamental principal for allocation of funding under
California's school finance system is the value of
instructional time. The state measures this principal through
the ADA attendance system, including the ability of the pupil
to be under the direct supervision (via a line of sight) of a
certificated employee.
This bill requires pupils who enroll in an asynchronous online
class to meet minimum instructional day and minute
requirements in order to generate ADA, which is the basis for
calculating revenue limit funding. It also prohibits LEAs
from claiming ADA for asynchronous online classes until the
SPI has adopted rules and regulations governing this issue.
There are fiscal questions related to claiming ADA for an
asynchronous online course. For example, how does the state,
for accounting and audit purposes, ensure that the pupil meets
the minimum instructional time and day requirements? This
includes basic issues as how attendance is taken in these
courses.
Also, what type of mechanisms will be provided to verify is
the pupil is participating in the asynchronous online course?
Currently, the bill requires only one of three verifications
to be used, as specified. The committee may wish to consider
these issues.
4)Should there be an evaluation or report ? Pursuant to this
measure, the authorization to claim ADA for an online class
sunsets in July 2017. This bill, however, does not contain a
requirement to report minimal information on the number of
LEAs that offered online classes; the types of classes offered
(synchronous or asynchronous); and the amount of ADA claimed.
This information would be helpful as the Legislature
considers extend authorization of these provisions.
AB 802
Page 7
5)Previous legislation . AB 2027 (Blumenfield), similar to this
bill, was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee's
suspense file in August 2010.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081