Amended in Assembly August 4, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 166

Introduced by Assembly Member Atkins

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gonzalez, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, and Williams)

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July 1, 2014

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 166—Relative to Dropout Recovery Week.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 166, as amended, Atkins. Dropout Recovery Week

This measure would declare the week of August 4, 2014, to August 10, 2014, inclusive, as Dropout Recovery Week, and would state that the Legislature intends to encourage the support of dropout recovery high schools with creative teaching strategies, alternative assessments, and adequate resources.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The America’s Promise Alliance found, in 2014,
that pupils drop out of high school because they are overwhelmed
by the effects of toxic living conditions such as homelessness,
violent surroundings, abuse or neglect, and catastrophic family
health events; and

WHEREAS, The 2014 Building a GradNation Report found
that the nation cannot achieve its graduation goals without
increasing California’s graduation rate for Latino and African
American pupils and without providing more investment for
dropout recovery; and

WHEREAS, Research by the Alliance for Excellent Education
concludes that if only one-half of the dropouts from a single year
were to earn a diploma, the economic benefits to California would
include an additional $1.4 billion in earnings annually for the
reengaged pupils and an annual increase in state and local tax
revenues of $167 million; and

WHEREAS, Research further shows that reengaged learners
demonstrate higher levels of civic engagement, contribute to the
cultural strength of their communities, and are significantly less
likely to be unemployed, on public assistance, or arrested for a
violent crime; and

WHEREAS, Research by WestEd demonstrates the challenges
faced by schools seeking to reengage dropouts in that one-half of
the dropouts who return to school stay for one year or less,
one-third of returning dropouts fail to complete even one course
after they reenroll, and as few as 18 percent of returning dropouts
graduate; and

WHEREAS, Successful dropout recovery high schools in
California are operating under Section 52052.3 of the Education
Code in partnership with the Workforce Investment Act, the
California Conservation Corps, and other federal and state career
technical education partners to provide significant social, economic,
and academic benefits for their pupils and for California’s
population as a whole; and

WHEREAS, These successful dropout recovery high schools
utilize multiple strategies, including accelerated learning
pedagogies, competency-based instruction, and open entry-open
exit enrollment; and

WHEREAS, These successful dropout recovery high schools
attract and retain high-quality staff committed to transforming
their pupils from being at risk of failure to being at promise of
success; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby declares the week
of August 4, 2014, to August 10, 2014, inclusive, as Dropout
Recovery Week, in honor of the schools and staff who work to
reengage pupils who have previously dropped out of school, and
in honor of the pupils who overcome significantly personal
challenges to reengage in high school and become transformed
learners in preparation for college and a future career; and be it
further

Resolved, That the Legislature intends to encourage the support
of dropout recovery high schools with creative teaching strategies,
alternative assessments, and adequate resources; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.