BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1866
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Date of Hearing: March 26, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1866 (Bocanegra) - As Introduced: February 19, 2014
SUBJECT : Pupil attendance: California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System
SUMMARY : Adds new data elements to the pupil attendance data
that the California Department of Education (CDE) is required to
collect and report through the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System (CALPADS). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires CALPADS to include the following data for K-12
pupils:
a) Rates of chronic absenteeism and the number of chronic
absentees;
b) Rates of truancy and the number of truants;
c) Rates of habitual truancy and the number of habitual
truants; and
d) Rates of chronic truancy and the number of chronic
truants.
2)Requires these data to be incorporated into a currently
required annual report on dropouts and a newly-required annual
report on elementary school truancy and chronic absenteeism,
which is required by related legislation (SB 1107, Monning),
and which is currently pending in the Senate.
3)Defines "chronic absentee" to mean a pupil who is subject to
compulsory full-time education or compulsory continuation
education and who is absent for 10% of more of the school days
in a school year, as measured from the date of enrollment to
the date that the data is submitted to CALPADS.
4)Requires "rates of absence" to be calculated on the basis of
the following:
a) The number of school days enrolled;
b) The number of school days on which the pupil had an
unexcused absence of more than 30 minutes but less than a
full day;
c) The number of school days on which the pupil had a full
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day of excused absence; and
d) Whether the pupil has been designated a habitual truant.
5)Requires local education agencies to submit the attendance
data and other indicators as identified by the department to
the CDE at least four times per year, on dates to be
determined by the CDE.
6)Deletes the provision that the collection and reporting of
pupil attendance data by CALPADS be implemented only if
federal funds are appropriated specifically for this purpose.
7)Provides that these requirements shall become operative only
if legislation is enacted in this year that establishes an
annual report on elementary school truancy and chronic
absenteeism that takes effect on or before January 1, 2015.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires CALPADS to collect data on K-12 rates of absence and
chronic absentees, provided federal funding is appropriated
for this purpose.
2)Defines "truant" as a pupil who is absent from school without
a valid excuse three full days in one school year or tardy or
absent for more than a 30-minute period on three occasions in
one school year, or any combination thereof.
3)Defines "habitual truant" as a pupil who has been reported as
a truant three or more times per school year.
4)Defines "chronic truant" as a pupil who is absent from school
without a valid excuse for 10% or more of the schooldays in
one school year.
FISCAL EFFECT : State mandated local program
COMMENTS : CALPADS was established to enable California to meet
federal requirements delineated in the No child Left Behind Act
of 2001 and became operative in 2009. CALPADS tracks individual
pupil enrollment history and achievement data, including
demographic information, program participation, grade level,
enrollment, course enrollment and completion, discipline, and
statewide assessment data. It is used for state and local
program evaluation, to create state- and federally-required
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reports, and to give local education agencies immediate access
to information on new pupils.
Existing requirement is not funded. SB 1357 (Steinberg, Chapter
704, Statutes of 2010) requires CALPADS to include information
on rates of absence and chronic absentees, provided federal
funds are specifically appropriated for this purpose. According
to the CDE, federal funds have never been appropriated. In
addition, budget language prohibits the CDE from adding
additional data elements to CALPADS. Specifically, provision
22 of budget item 6110-001-0890 provides, in part, "As a further
condition of receiving these [federal] funds, the SDE shall not
add additional data elements to CALPADS, require local
educational agencies to use the data collected through the
CALPADS for any purpose, or otherwise expand or enhance the
system beyond the data elements and functionalities that are
identified in the most current approved Feasibility Study and
Special Project Reports and the CALPADS Data guide v4.1."
Accordingly, the CDE has not added enrollment data that is
currently authorized in statute to CALPADS.
Impact on CALPADS . The CDE indicates that collecting the data
required by this bill would stress the capacity of CALPADS,
which is currently being revised to meet the demands of the new
local control funding formula. In addition, CDE reports that it
takes a long time to generate reports on even an annual basis,
and that generating quarterly reports is not practical, given
existing resources. While attendance data is valuable, CDE
argues that collecting it at the local level would yield
information that is more timely and actionable for local
decision makers. Imposing this new requirement on the CDE
without additional resources could result in the delayed
achievement of existing legislative priorities. Given these
concerns regarding the capacity of CALPADS, staff recommends
that the bill be amended to make its provisions that expand
CALPADS subject to an appropriation for this purpose.
Arguments in support. According to the author's office,
"Truancy and chronic absenteeism have reached epidemic
proportions in California," and the lack of a statewide
reporting system hampers efforts to analyze the problem and
create effective strategies to address it. Truancy and chronic
absenteeism are early indicators of poor educational outcomes,
including dropping out of school. A statewide data collection
and reporting system would foster more consistent collection and
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use of attendance data at the local level as well as allow for a
statewide perspective to help identify areas of need and best
practices.
Related legislation. This bill is one of a package of five
bills sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris that deal with
truancy. The other bills are:
AB 1672 (Holden), which requires School Attendance
Review Boards (SARBs) to report annually on referral rates
to county offices of education and expands these reports to
include information on student enrollment, absence and
truancy rates, district attorney referrals and SARB
intervention outcomes.
AB 1643 (Buchanan), which requires that every county
create a SARB.
AB 2141 (Hall), which requires that when a parent or
student is referred to a district attorney's office or any
other agency engaged in prosecution or charges are
considered to enforce state school attendance laws, the
prosecuting agency must provide a report on the outcome of
the referral.
SB 1107 (Monning), which requires the Attorney General
to issue an annual report on elementary school truancy and
chronic absenteeism.
This bill provides that it would become operative only if
legislation is enacted to require an annual report on elementary
school truancy and chronic absenteeism. Enactment of SB 1107
(Monning) would fulfill that requirement.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
Association of Black Correctional Workers
Attorney General Kamala Harris
California Teachers Association
Children Now
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City and County of San Francisco, Office of the District
Attorney
City of Los Angeles
Continuing the Dream
County of Santa Barbara District Attorney
Eagle Software
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, California
Fresno Unified School District
Glendale Unified School District
Hoover Intergenerational Care, Inc.
Lawndale Elementary School District
Los Angeles County District Attorney
Los Angeles Unified School District
Special Needs Network
Stockton Unified School District Superintendent
Western Center on Law & Poverty
One individual
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087