BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1854
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Date of Hearing: March 26, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1854 (Linder) - As Introduced: February 19, 2014
SUBJECT : Examination fees: Advanced Placement and
International baccalaureate Examination Fee Grant Program
SUMMARY : Re-establishes, subject to an appropriation in the
annual Budget Act for this purpose, a grant program to award
grants to cover the costs of Advanced Placement (AP) examination
fees or International Baccalaureate (IB) examination fees, or
both, for eligible economically disadvantaged high school pupils
or foster youth; and requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to administer the program. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines "eligible economically disadvantaged high school
pupil" to mean a pupil who is eligible for a federal free or
reduced-price meal program.
2)Authorizes school districts to apply to the CDE for grant
funding based on the number of economically disadvantaged
pupils or foster youth enrolled in AP or IB courses who will
take the next offered AP or IB exams.
3)Requires participating school districts to designate school
district staff to whom pupils may submit applications for
grants and to institute a plan to notify pupils of the
availability of the grants.
4)Authorizes eligible economically disadvantaged high school
pupils or foster youth to apply to the designated school
district staff for a grant; provides that the grant shall be
used only to pay the AP or IB exam fees, and requires a pupil
who receives a grant to pay $5 of the exam fee.
5)Provides that if the applications exceed the total funds
available for this purpose, the CDE shall prorate the grants
based upon the ratio of the total amount requested to the
total amount appropriated for this purpose.
6)Requires priority to be given to AP exam fees if there is
insufficient funding allocated for the grant program.
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7)Authorizes school districts and county superintendents of
schools to form collaboratives or consortia in order to
participate in the grant program.
8)Authorizes the CDE to enter into a contract with the providers
of the AP and IB exams to facilitate program administration,
and exempts the CDE from specified Public Contract Code and
Military and Veterans Code provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill reestablishes a grant program that was
repealed by its own terms January 1, 2013. It was originally
established as a five year pilot program by AB 2216 (Escutia,
Chapter 793, Statutes of 1998) with a repeal date of January 1,
2005. The repeal date was extended to January 1, 2008 by SB 507
(Escutia, Chapter 646, Statutes of 2003) and it was extended
again to January 1, 2013 by SB 1442 (Escutia, Chapter 436,
Statutes of 2006).
The repealed version of this program specified that either state
funds or federal funds could be used for the grants. The CDE
does not need statutory authorization to expend federal funds
that may be appropriated for this purpose. The 2013-14 budget
appropriates $11.9 million in federal funds for this program.
The CDE estimates that will provide aid to approximately 217,000
students. The CDE does not yet know how much federal funding
will be available for this program in 2014-15.
Advanced Placement test program . The AP test program has been
administered by the College Board since 1955. More than 30 AP
courses and examinations covering multiple subject areas are
offered to high school students. Exams are administered every
May and are scored on a scale from 1 to 5. Students earning
qualifying scores on AP examinations may obtain course credit
and/or placement from colleges and universities. The
recently-enacted Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
includes AP scores among several outcome measures used to
measure student achievement. Specifically, student achievement
will be measure, in part, by the percentage of students who
score a 3 or higher on the AP exam.
According to the CDE, the cost to administer each AP exam for
income eligible students is $57. Since income eligible students
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are required to pay $5 per exam, the value of the grant is $52
for each exam the student takes.
International Baccalaureate programs . The IB program is based
in Geneva Switzerland and operates in several countries,
including the United States. The IB diploma program is a
two-year pre-university curriculum leading to an IB diploma.
Successful IB candidates are typically granted advanced
placement credit in colleges and universities. According to the
CDE, the cost of the IB exam is $145, making the value of the
grant to eligible students $140.
Arguments in support . Supporters argue that the bill is
important, because it ensures equal access to AP and IB
opportunities for low income pupil, who otherwise may not be
able to participate.
Arguments in opposition. Opponents argue that the IB program
adheres to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and not to
the U. S. Declaration of Independence, and this bill "signals
the way for IB advoctes to advance the agenda for a school
district to grant only IB diplomas in the future."
Related legislation. SB 421 (Hern�ndez) was nearly identical to
this bill. It passed the committee last year on a 7-0 vote and
died in the Appropriations Committee.
Staff recommendations. This bill provides grants only to
eligible pupils in school districts. Staff recommends the bill
be amended to also apply to pupils in county offices of
education and charter schools. In addition, the bill contains
conflicting provisions related to the allocation of grants if
grant requests exceed the funding available. One provision
requires the pro rata distribution of grants among all eligible
requests. The other provision requires that priority be given
to grants for the AP fee. To resolve the conflict, staff
recommends that the bill be amended to strike the priority given
to the AP fee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Association of International Baccalaureate World
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Schools
College Board
Fresno Unified School District
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087