BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 267
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 6, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                     SB 267 (Pavley) - As Amended:  July 1, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                             EducationVote:5-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes an eligible pupil with a disability to  
          participate in the alternative means of demonstrating the level  
          of academic achievement in the content standards required for  
          passage of the California high school exit examination (CAHSEE),  
          until the State Board of Education (SBE) implements an  
          alternative assessment. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          No additional General Fund/Proposition 98 costs to school  
          districts to comply with this measure.  School districts have  
          implemented the CAHSEE exemption process for eligible pupils  
          with disabilities since 2009.     

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  The CAHSEE was established in 2000 and took effect  
          with the class of 2006.  This exam assesses pupils in  
          English-language arts and mathematics and must be passed in  
          order to receive a high school diploma.  In 2002 a lawsuit was  
          filed that challenged the CAHSEE as an invalid and  
          discriminatory test for pupils with disabilities.  A settlement  
          agreement was reached in 2005 that exempted pupils with  
          disabilities from having to meet the CAHSEE requirement in the  
          classes of 2006 and 2007.  

          In response to the lawsuit, AB 2040 (Nunez), Chapter 666,  
          Statutes of 2008 established the option for an alternative  
          assessment for eligible pupils with disabilities, commencing  
          January 1, 2011.  The alternative assessment was not developed  
          by this date so AB 1705 (Silva), Chapter 192, Statutes of 2012  








                                                                  SB 267
                                                                  Page  2

          extended the deadline to July 1, 2015.  

          A 2013 Independent Evaluation of the CAHSEE, prepared by the  
          Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO), recommended the  
          Legislature, the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and  
          the State Board of Education (SBE) decide how the CAHSEE  
          requirement for all students might ultimately be changed in  
          light of the implementation of the common core state standards  
          and related assessments. The report recommended a review and  
          proposed revisions by the 2015-2016 school year.  Given the  
          uncertainty around the future of the CAHSEE, this bill proposes  
          to extend participation in an alternative assessment  
          indefinitely, until the SBE is able to incorporate the  
          alternative assessment for special education students within its  
          broader overhaul of the CAHSEE.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081