BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 298
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 298 (De León)
As Amended April 26, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
EDUCATION 10-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Eng, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Beth Gaines, Wagner, | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, |
| |Williams | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Extends the authorization for the Los Angeles County
Board of Education to charter the Soledad Enrichment Action
Charter School (SEA), until June 30, 2018. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Authorizes a charter school operating under a charter approved
before June 1, 1997, by the county board of education of a
county of the first class to serve at-risk pupils, to operate
until June 30, 2018.
2)Specifies that the continuation of the authority of a charter
school to operate after June 30, 2018, shall be subject to the
approval of that county board of education.
3)Specifies, notwithstanding any other provisions of the
Education Code, for the 2012-13 to 2017-18 fiscal years,
inclusive, the attendance of pupils in a charter school to
which this section applies shall be funded at the same rates
for the same categories of pupils as community schools and
community day schools in the same county.
4)Makes legislative findings and declarations that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
because of the unique circumstances resulting from the
intensely urbanized nature of the County of Los Angeles.
SB 298
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, General Fund (Proposition 98) cost pressure of
approximately $18 million to allow the SEA charter school to
continue operating. Existing law prohibits SEA from receiving
average daily attendance (ADA) funding for more than 2,000
pupils in a fiscal year. According to the State Department of
Education (SDE), SEA enrolled approximately 3,393 students
during 2008-09 but claimed ADA funding for only 1,239 students.
The significant difference between enrollment and attendance is
typical of community day schools and occurs primarily because
most community day schools operate as a short-term placement for
students.
COMMENTS : SEA started in 1972 as a non-charter "Alternative
Education Program-Independent Study Program" under the Los
Angeles Unified School District. When the program expanded to
locations outside city boundaries, it transitioned to become an
"Alternative Education-Community School Program" under the Los
Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). In 1997, teachers
working under the county sponsored "Community School Program"
elected to become a charter school. However, because at that
time county offices of education were only authorized to approve
charter schools through an appeal process, a new law was needed
to address this situation. SB 1318 (Polanco), Chapter 58,
Statutes of 1997, authorized a charter school to be chartered by
the Los Angeles County Board of Education and allowed the
charter school to receive the higher per-pupil funding of county
community schools.
According to the author, SEA offers highly innovative
alternative education that keeps at-risk youth off the streets.
SEA is an alternative high school in Los Angeles County for
at-risk youth (14-18) who are on probation or who have been
expelled from school. The school is successful because in
addition to providing an academic curriculum tailor-made for
each student, it also provides a comprehensive set of social
services to youth and their families. As a result, it offers
viable alternatives to gangs, drugs, and violence to youth at
risk of academic failure and delinquency. SEA has proven to be
effective with students that have failed in traditional schools.
88% of the students who enter the SEA Charter School
successfully exit the program after catching up on their credits
by graduating from the school, returning to their home school,
SB 298
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or by entering a more appropriate learning environment. Today,
SEA serves close to 4,000 at risk youth and their families
throughout 19 locations in the Los Angeles County. Services
include innovative academic education techniques, after-school
programs, alcohol and drug counseling, mental health therapy,
mandatory community service, peace and reconciliation retreats,
job training and parent education classes. SEA provides each
student with six hours of daily academic study coupled with two
hours of constructive and supervised after school activity. SEA
students come from low income families and 98% qualify for the
School Lunch Program.
Why is this bill necessary? In addition to the authority to
approve charter school petitions that are denied by a school
district, county boards of education may also approve charter
schools that will serve pupils for whom the county office of
education would otherwise be responsible for providing direct
education and related services. While the Los Angeles County
Board of Education could renew the SEA charter without benefit
of special legislation, legislation is necessary to continue the
authority for the SEA to be funded at the same rates for the
same categories of pupils as community schools and community day
schools in Los Angeles County. While special legislation is
necessary to continue the higher funding rate, the Assembly
should consider whether it is necessary to continue the charter
authorization as well.
Previous legislation: AB 177 (Bass), Chapter 525, Statutes of
2007 extended the statutory authorization for SEA from June 30,
2008 to June 30, 2013.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0004962