BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2145
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 2145 (Alejo and Dickinson) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
SUBJECT : Pupils: expulsion and suspension
SUMMARY : Requires data on pupil expulsions and suspensions to
be disaggregated by pupil subgroup and made available on the
California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires CALPADS to include information on pupil suspensions
and expulsions disaggregated by:
a) Grade level
b) Ethnicity
c) Gender
d) Low socioeconomic status
e) English learners
f) Special education status
2)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), to the
extent possible, to make pupil suspension and expulsion data
available on its Internet Web site on an annual basis,
disaggregated by the six subgroups identified above with cross
tabulations by gender and special education status.
3)Requires the CDE, to the extent possible, to use CALPADS or
other data system to disaggregate truancy referrals to school
attendance review boards and juvenile court by the six
subgroups identified above with cross tabulations by gender
and special education status.
4)Requires school districts to maintain and report data
indicating whether an educational program or instructional
support was provided to a pupil whose suspension was extended,
along with a description of the type of program or support
provided.
5)Requires the CDE to make the data on truancy referrals,
suspensions and expulsions, and the extension of suspensions
for the preceding year publicly available on its Internet Web
site by July 1 each year; and further requires the
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Superintendent of Public Instruction, if the data is not
available, to report to the Legislature regarding the reasons
for the delay and the date he or she anticipates the data will
become available.
6)Provides that the disaggregated data shall not be made
publicly available in a manner that reveals personally
identifiable information about an individual pupil and shall
not result in pupil suspensions being counted more than once
against the aggregate numbers for a school, school district,
county, or the state.
EXISTING LAW establishes CALPADS, which contains student
demographic, program participation, grade level, enrollment,
course enrollment and completion, discipline, and statewide
assessment data. CALPADS is designed to facilitate program
evaluation, assessment of student achievement over time, the
calculation of more accurate dropout and graduation rates, the
efficient creation of reports to meet state and federal
reporting requirements, and the ability to create ad hoc reports
and respond to questions. Data for CALPADS is collected from
local education agencies (LEAs), which are required to retain
and report specified individual pupil and staff records. LEAs
currently receive $0.25 per enrolled pupil to cover the costs of
compliance with the reporting requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill requires the CDE to disaggregate data on
suspensions and expulsions, truancy, and the extension of
suspensions by six subgroups: grade level, ethnicity, gender,
low economic status, English learners, and special education
status; and requires the data to be cross tabulated by gender
and special education status. Most of the data is already
collected by LEAs and reported to the CDE, and the CDE has the
capacity to disaggregate the data as required by the bill. The
CDE reports that it will begin fulfilling the requirements of
the bill in June 2012.
However, this bill imposes new requirements regarding data on
the extension of suspensions. Existing law limits suspensions
to five days, but allows them to be extended under specified
circumstances. While LEAs currently maintain and report data on
extensions and expulsions, they are not required to maintain and
report data on extended suspensions, including the number of
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days served under the extended suspension and whether an
educational program or instructional support was provided to the
suspended pupil. The CDE reports that creating new fields in
CALPADS to collect this new data could take up to 18 months.
Research on pupil suspension. Research indicates that
suspension is used disproportionately with students who are
male, from low socioeconomic families, of a minority ethnic
background, and identified as having a disability or low
academic competence. For example, data collected by the U. S.
Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights shows that
Black middle school males are suspended at three times the rate
of their white counterparts, while Black middle school females
are suspended more than four times the rate of white middle
school females. Other studies show that Black students are more
frequently suspended because of subjective disciplinary actions
and are more likely to be disciplined more severely for minor
misconduct.
At the same time, research shows that suspension is highly
correlated with reduced academic achievement and increased
likelihood of dropping out and future anti-social behavior.
Suspension results in the loss of instructional time for
students who need it most, and suspended students are given no
guidance in how to acquire more positive behaviors. Students
who are frequently suspended are less likely to have parental
supervision at home, yet they are more in need of adult
supervision than are students who are not suspended.
Arguments in support. Supporters of this bill argue that more
specific data on pupil suspension and expulsion can help
identify disciplinary patterns and lead to the development of
better policies and more effective interventions. An October
2011 report from the National Education Policy Center entitled
"Discipline Policies, Successful Schools, and Racial Justice"
recommends, among other things, that "public school educators
should routinely collect, reflect upon, and publicly report data
on school disciplinary removal. Reports at the state, district,
and school level (where permissible) should include data
disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, and disability status
in terms of numbers of each group disciplined."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 2145
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Advancement Project
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Association for Bilingual Education
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Californians for Justice
Californians Together
Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice
Children Now
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Education Trust-West
EdVoice
Equal Rights Advocates
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
Fresno Barrios Unidos
Labor/Community Strategy Center
Legal Services for Children
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Office of Restorative Justice of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
PICO California
Public Counsel Law Center
Restorative Schools Vision Project
Youth Law Center
One individual
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087