BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1940
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Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1940 (Holden) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a grant program to expand science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) advanced
placement (AP) programs in high schools. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Authorizes a high school that meets the following conditions
to apply to the California Department of Education (CDE) for
grant funding:
a) Offers no AP courses in any STEM curriculum areas or, if
such courses are offered, these courses are sufficiently
oversubscribed.
b) Identifies pupils with a high potential to be successful
in one or more of the STEM AP courses. Authorizes the high
school to use any means appropriate to identify pupils,
including a pupil's score on the Preliminary Scholastic
Aptitude Test (PSAT).
2)Requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to submit a report to the Legislature that describes the
effectiveness of this program. The SPI is encouraged to
consult the College Board in preparation of this report.
3)Makes this measure inoperative on July 1, 2021 and repeals
this measure, unless otherwise extended, January 1, 2022.
4)Makes the program and reporting requirements contingent upon
funding to CDE and the SPI, including but not limited to,
state, federal or non-state funding.
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown GF/Proposition 98 costs, potentially in the range of
$500,000 to $12 million, assuming average start-up costs of
$6,100 to $8,200 per AP course. According to CDE, there are
1,505 schools that could qualify for funding. According to
the author, 90 schools would qualify for the grant funding.
The bill does not provide specific grant amounts and does not
limit the number of grants awarded. The bill makes program
and reporting requirements contingent upon state, federal or
non-state funding. No specific funding source has been
identified to fund the program established in this bill.
2)Administrative costs of approximately $125,000 to CDE to
implement the program.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill seeks to expand AP course offerings, with
the goal of exposing more students to college opportunities.
According to the author, qualifying AP Exam scores are
recognized by more than 90% of colleges and universities
across the country for college credit, advanced placement, or
both, thereby potentially saving students and their families
thousands of dollars in college tuition, fees, and textbook
costs. This bill is intended to increase participation of
pupils in underserved communities in AP STEM programs by
offering schools a one-time grant.
2)Use of funding unclear . In the fall of 2013, the College
Board implemented the AP STEM Access Program and provided
one-time grant awards to 322 schools nationally; 49 schools in
California received funding from this program. The program,
funded through a $5 million grant from Google, focused on
expanding AP course offerings to typically underrepresented
minority and female students who have demonstrated strong
academic potential to enroll in and explore these areas of
study and related careers. According to the College Board,
grants ranged from $1,200 to $9,000 to start new classes and
AB 1940
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assist with one-time expenses, such as classroom materials,
textbooks, lab equipment, graphing calculators, etc.
This bill establishes a similar program with a broader range
of schools. The bill does not provide specific grant amounts
or allowable expenditures. The committee may wish to consider
further defining the allocation and use of funding. The
committee may also wish to consider giving priority to
grantees that did not receive funding from the national AP
STEM Access Program.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081