BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 578
Page A
Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 578 (Negrete McLeod) - As Amended: June 29, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Pupils in foster care: course credit
SUMMARY : Requires a school district and county office of
Education (COE) to accept coursework satisfactorily completed by
a pupil in foster care while attending another school and to
award full or partial credit for such coursework, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a school district and COE to accept coursework
satisfactorily completed by a pupil in foster care while
attending another public school, a juvenile court school, or a
nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency (NPS/A) even if the
pupil did not complete the entire course and to issue that
pupil full or partial credit for the coursework completed.
2)Requires the credits accepted pursuant to this bill to be
applied to the same or equivalent course, if applicable, as
the coursework completed in the prior public school, juvenile
court school, or NPS/A.
3)Prohibits a school district or COE from requiring a pupil in
foster care to retake a course if the pupil has satisfactorily
completed the entire course in a public school, a juvenile
court school, or a NPS/A.
4)Prohibits, if a pupil does not complete an entire course, a
school district or COE from requiring a pupil to retake the
portions of the course completed, unless the school district
or COE in consultation with the holder of educational rights
for the pupil, finds that the pupil is reasonably able to
complete the requirements in time to graduate from high
school.
5)Specifies that when partial credit is awarded in a particular
course, a pupil in foster care shall be enrolled in the same
or equivalent coursework, if applicable, so that the pupil may
continue and complete the entire course.
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6)Specifies a pupil in foster care shall not be prevented from
retaking or taking a course to meet the eligibility
requirements for admission to the California State University
and the University of California (known as the A-G
requirements).
7)Defines "pupil in foster care" as a child who has been removed
from his or her home pursuant to specified sections of the
Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC), is the subject of a
petition filed under specified sections of the WIC, or has
been removed from his or her home and is the subject of a
petition filed under those sections of the WIC.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires each public school district and COE to accept for
credit full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed by
a pupil while attending a public school, juvenile court
school, or nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency, and
requires the coursework be transferred by means of the
standard state transcript.
2)Requires a school district to exempt a pupil in foster care
from all coursework and other requirements adopted by a school
district that are in addition to the statewide high school
graduation requirements if the pupil, while he or she is in
grade 11 or 12, transfers into the district from another
district or between high schools within the district, unless
the district makes a finding that the pupil is reasonably able
to complete the additional requirements in time to graduate
from high school while he or she remains eligible for foster
care benefits.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, minor general fund costs, if any, unlikely
reimbursable.
COMMENTS : Current law requires each public school district and
COE to accept for credit full or partial coursework
satisfactorily completed by a pupil while attending a public
school, juvenile court school, or NPS/A. While this provision
is in the juvenile court school article of the Education Code,
it is interpreted to apply to all pupils, as indicated in a June
2007 communication from the Superintendent of Public Instruction
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(SPI) to county and district superintendents.
Children in foster care experience academic loses and deficits
due to the multiple changes in residential placement that
unfortunately result in school changes. The Legislature has
previously passed legislation to create more stable educational
placements for pupils in foster care by allowing them to remain
in their school of origin for the duration of the court's
jurisdiction, if it is in the best interest of the pupil.
Research suggests that students who change schools frequently
are affected psychologically, socially and academically from
changing schools, and that mobile students also face greater
risk of declines in academic achievement. Every time a child is
moved to a new school, he or she loses four to six months of
educational attainment.<1> The Legislature has encouraged child
welfare and education entities to work together to ensure
educational stability and to reduce the number of school
transfers experienced by pupils in foster care. This bill tries
to address situations in which pupils in foster care are unable
to remain in their schools of origin and have to transfer to a
new school.
This bill requires partial credit awarded to foster care pupils
to be applied to the same or equivalent course as the coursework
was completed in the prior school. This part of the bill tries
to address a concern that has been raised alleging that some
districts do not apply partial credits to the subject area in
which a pupil earned partial course credit, and instead apply
the credits to other subject areas or elective credit. Under
the provisions of this bill, if a foster pupil earned partial
credit in an English class, the new district is required to
accept and apply the partial credit towards English credit and
not elective credit.
The bill also prohibits a district from requiring a pupil to
retake a course if the pupil completed the entire course in a
prior school. If the pupil did not complete the entire course,
the bill prohibits a district from requiring the pupil to retake
portions of the course already completed, unless the district or
county office, in consultation with the holder of educational
rights, finds that the pupil is reasonably able to complete the
requirements in time to graduate from high school and requires
the pupil to be enrolled in the same or equivalent coursework,
---------------------------
<1> Homeless in America: A Children's Story- Part One. Homes
for the Homeless and Institute for Children and Poverty. 1999.
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as applicable, to ensure that the pupil completes the entire
course. According to the sponsor of this bill, this provision
tries to ensure that when pupils in foster care enter a new
school with partial credit in certain courses, they are not
required to retake the portions of the course already completed
and instead ensure that the pupil completes the remainder of the
course in order to obtain full credit for the course. The
purpose is to try to avoid duplication of coursework so as to
maximize school time as much as possible to ensure pupils in
foster care are able to meet all the requirements for high
school graduation.
This bill additionally includes a provision stating that no
pupil shall be prevented from retaking or taking a course that
meets the A-G requirements. This provision is intended to
ensure that if a pupil in foster care wants to retake an entire
course to obtain a higher grade to meet the A-G requirements, he
or she is not prevented from doing so.
The author states, "There is nothing in statute requiring that
schools issue partial credits or apply the accepted credits
towards the core curriculum and graduation requirements. Often
the transferred credits are applied towards elective
requirements rather than to the core curriculum, i.e. partial
Algebra 1 credits are applied as credits toward the elective
requirement, instead of being applied towards the core math
requirement. This practice often means that these foster youth
will lag behind their peers, essentially losing months of
academic progress with each change in school placement due to no
fault of their own. Additionally, this can lead to the youth
choosing to drop out of high school rather than complete
additional courses for work already completed. In order to
ensure that these youth continue to advance academically, it is
vital that school districts provide opportunities for them to
earn the credits they are missing."
Previous legislation : AB 1933 (Brownley), Chapter 563, Statutes
of 2010 requires a local educational agency (LEA) to allow a
child in foster care to remain in his or her school of origin
for the duration of the court's jurisdiction, if it is in the
child's best interest.
AB 167 (Adams), Chapter 224, Statutes of 2009, requires a school
district to exempt a pupil in foster care from all coursework
and other requirements adopted by a school district that are in
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addition to the statewide high school graduation requirements if
the pupil, while he or she is in grade 11 or 12, transfers into
the district from another district or between high schools
within the district, unless the district makes a finding that
the pupil is reasonably able to complete the additional
requirements in time to graduate from high school while he or
she remains eligible for foster care benefits
AB 490 (Steinberg), Chapter 862, Statutes of 2003, creates new
duties and rights related to the education of dependents and
wards in foster care, including giving foster youth the right to
remain in their school of origin for the duration of the school
year when their residential placement changes and remaining in
the same school is in the child's best interest.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County of San Bernardino (Sponsor)
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and
Attendance
California State Association of Counties
County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Disability Rights California
Los Angeles County Office of Education
The Advancement Project
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087