BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1152
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1152 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 22, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill removes the California School Age Families (Cal-SAFE)
program from categorical flexibility, which has the effect of
reestablishing the requirements of the program. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Exempts the Cal-Safe program from any new education financing
proposal that would eliminate categorical programs commencing
with FY 2013-14 and all subsequent fiscal years (i.e., the
governor's Local Control Funding Formula).
2)Requires the funding received by school districts, county
offices of education (COEs), and charter schools that do not
elect to implement a Cal-SAFE program to be reappropriated to
this program for the purpose of expanding or establishing new
programs, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
Potential loss of GF/98 savings, likely in the hundreds of
thousands to low millions of dollars, by reappropriating any
Cal-SAFE funds currently being used by local education agencies
for other education purposes to expand or establish new Cal-SAFE
programs. The 2012 Budget Act allocated $46.4 million for the
program. This amount includes a 19.8% reduction.
COMMENTS
1)Background . As part of the February 2009 budget package, SB 4
X3 (Ducheny), Third Extraordinary Session, Chapter 12,
Statutes of 2009, provided local education agencies (LEAs)
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with unprecedented fiscal and policy flexibility related to
over 40 categorical programs, including the Cal-SAFE program,
between FY 2008-09 and FY 2012-13. Specifically, any LEA that
received funding for specified categorical programs in FY
2008-09 is authorized to use this funding for any other
educational purpose until FY 2012-13. The LEA may choose to
continue operating the categorical program 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
FY 2014-15.
This bill removes the Cal-SAFE program from categorical
flexibility and reestablishes the requirements of this
program. It is unclear how many LEAs have redirected program
funding for other educational purposes.
2)Purpose . SB 1064 (Chapter 1078, Statutes of 1998) established
the Cal-SAFE Program to improve the educational experience,
increase the availability of support services for enrolled
students, and provide child care and development services for
their children. This program incorporated many of the
elements of the Pregnant Minors program, the School Age
Parenting and Infant Development program, and the Pregnant and
Lactating Students program.
Female and male students 18 years and younger who have not
graduated from high school may voluntarily enroll in the
Cal-SAFE Program, if they are an expectant parent, a custodial
parent, or a non-custodial parent taking an active role in the
care and supervision of their child. An eligible student with
an Individualized Education Program is eligible as long as
there is an active IEP. If a student does not have an IEP and
is continuously enrolled in the program and has not graduated
before reaching age 19, the student may be enrolled for one
additional semester. As long as parents are enrolled in the
Cal-SAFE Program, their children are eligible for services
until age five or entry into kindergarten, whichever comes
first. According to the State Department of Education (SDE),
approximately 98,000 students and 62,000 children were served
by the program between 2000 and 2010.
According to the author, "Pregnant and parenting teens and
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their children are a uniquely identified student population
and cannot adequately be served by the existing K-12 system
because it does not take into account specific issues such as
access to quality child care, support services aimed at
student parents, prevention services, prenatal self-care, meal
supplements, or parenting and life skills education."
3)Evaluation of the Cal-SAFE program . Chapter 1078 required an
evaluation of this program to be conducted for five years,
beginning in 2005. According to SDE, "Data collected and
analyzed between 2000 through 2004 showed positive outcomes,
benefits, and cost effectiveness of the program. Most notably,
more than three-fourths of the students who left the program
successfully completed their high school education, and a
significant majority of the children born to Cal-SAFE students
were born healthy."
Specifically, SDE reports that over 75% of the students left
the program having successfully completed their high school
education. This graduation rate for teen mothers exceeds the
20% cited in the authorizing legislation. Over 65% of the
exiting students indicated that they would pursue further
education or employment. Most planned to enroll in a local
community college.
4)This bill conflicts with the Governor's proposed Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF) . The LCFF proposes to consolidate the
majority of the state's categorical programs, including those
under categorical flexibility, within the existing revenue
limit (general purpose funding) structure to establish a new
K-12 student formula phased in over seven years. The
governor's proposed budget provides $1.6 billion GF/98 in FY
2013-14 to begin increasing district rates to a target base
rate and provides supplemental funding for English learner
pupils, low income pupils, and foster youth.
5)Related legislation .
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a) AB 88 (Buchanan), pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, implements the LCFF, which establishes a new
K-12 funding formula and eliminates all of the flexed
categorical programs.
b) AB 1186 (Bonilla), pending in this committee, extends
categorical program flexibility from FY 2014-15 to FY
2019-20 and requires school districts to spend increased
funding on professional development for the Common Core
(CC) Standards, purchasing technology to implement CC
Standards assessments, or implementation of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics programs, as
specified.
c) SB 223 (Liu), pending in the Senate Appropriations
Committee, extends categorical program flexibility provided
that each LEA meets specified accountability requirements.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081