BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2491
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2491 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits a local education agency's (LEA) application
for the Gifted and Talented (GATE) program from being approved
by the State Board of Education (SBE) for more than one year,
unless the application describes the process used by the LEA to
identify pupils of ethnic minorities and diverse socioeconomic
status for eligibility in the program.
FISCAL EFFECT
GF/98 cost pressure, likely less than $100,000, to LEAs to
implement the requirements of this measure.
According to the State Department of Education (SDE), no LEA
with fewer than 1,500 average daily attendance receives less to
support its GATE program than $2,500 or the amount it received
in the 1998-99 FY, whichever is greater. The February 2009
budget package established fiscal and policy flexibility for
this program, which allows LEAs to use GATE funding for any
educational purpose it deems necessary. Also, LEAs are annually
allocated the same amount of program funding they received in
the 2008-09 fiscal year.
COMMENTS
1)Background . The GATE program allocates funding to LEAs to
develop education opportunities for high-achieving and
underachieving pupils in elementary and secondary schools who
have been identified as gifted and talented. The program may
consist of special day classes, part-time groupings, and
cluster groupings. GATE curricular components are required to
AB 2491
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be planned and organized as integrated differentiated learning
experiences within the regular school day and may be augmented
or supplemented with other differentiated activities related
to the core curriculum, including independent study,
acceleration, postsecondary education, and enrichment.
According to the SDE internet website, "GATE programs are
operating in approximately 800 districts located in all 58
counties. There are over 480,000 public school students that
have been identified as gifted and talented in the state."
2)Purpose . According to the author, "Students with exceptional
gifts and talents come from all cultural and socio-economic
backgrounds. The reasons are varied for the
under-identification of gifted and talented students who are
low-income or with limited English proficiency. Parents may be
so stretched financially that opportunities for enrichment and
development are almost nonexistent, and school staff may base
their judgments in part of the benefits of such enrichment.
Cultural differences or poverty may preclude some parents from
active involvement in the schools and from helping their
children access appropriate programs. AB 2491 would be an
important step forward in identifying gifted students,
regardless of socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds."
3)GATE program requirements currently suspended until 2014-15
fiscal year . As part of the February 2009 budget package, SB
4 X3 (Ducheny), Third Extraordinary Session, Chapter 12,
Statutes of 2009, provided LEAs with unprecedented fiscal and
policy flexibility related to over 40 categorical programs,
including the GATE program, between the 2008-09 fiscal year
(FY) to the 2012-13 FY. Specifically, any LEA that received
funding for specified categorical programs (i.e., GATE
program) in the 2008-09 FY is authorized to use this funding
for any other educational purpose until the 2012-13 FY. The
LEA may choose to continue operating the categorical program
that it received funding for or redirect it for any other
educational purpose it deems appropriate. SB 70 (Committee on
Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011,
extended this flexibility until the 2014-15 FY.
An LEA that continues to operate any categorical program under
fiscal and policy flexibility may do so without following the
program's existing statutory requirements. For example, a
GATE program is not required to submit an application to the
SBE or make any programmatic assurances with regard to
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curriculum or eligibility.
This bill amends the main statute that governs the GATE
program; it does not, however, modify the fiscal and policy
flexibility statute that is in effect until the 2014-15 FY.
As such, if this measure were to become law, it would have no
practical effect on programs in the state.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081