BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 421
AUTHOR: Hernandez
AMENDED: April 2, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 10, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo
SUBJECT : International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.
SUMMARY
This bill allows the International Baccalaureate (IB)
Diploma program to satisfy the existing course requirements
necessary to receive a high school diploma. In addition,
this bill establishes a grant program to cover the costs of
advanced placement fees or IB examination fees for eligible
economically disadvantaged high school students.
BACKGROUND
Current law allows high schools to offer the IB Diploma
program, a comprehensive and rigorous two-year curriculum
leading to an IB diploma. Candidates who participate in an
IB Diploma program are actively engaged in a liberal arts
curriculum that includes a critical thinking class, a
minimum of 150 hours of participation in extracurricular
activities and community services, and a research paper of
4,000 words. The program provides students with a balanced
education, facilitates geographic and cultural mobility,
and promotes international understanding. The IB program
is governed and monitored by the IB Organization in Geneva,
Switzerland, and there are currently about 100 schools
statewide that offer IB programs, with some programs at the
elementary and middle school level. A school wishing to
offer an IB program must first be authorized by the IB
Organization.
Current law also authorizes reimbursement to districts for
the costs of IB exam fees paid to the College Board on
behalf of income-eligible students and grants of up to
$25,000 per school for IB programs to use for professional
development required by the program. To the extent that
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funds provided by the annual budget or another statute are
insufficient to fully fund all IB grant applicants, current
law requires that the funds first be allocated to schools
that received funding in the prior fiscal year, then to
schools with the highest percentage of low-income students.
ANALYSIS
This bill allows the IB Diploma program to satisfy the
existing course requirements necessary to receive a high
school diploma. This bill also establishes a grant program
for the purpose of awarding grants to cover the costs of
advanced placement fees or IB examination fees for eligible
economically disadvantaged high school students. More
specifically, for purposes of the grant program, this bill:
1) Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to
administer the program.
2) Defines an eligible economically disadvantaged high
school pupil as a pupil who is either from a family
whose annual household income is below 200 percent of
the federal poverty level or a pupil who is eligible
for a federal free or reduced-price meal program.
3) Allows a school district to apply to the SDE for grant
funding based on the number of economically
disadvantaged pupils in the school district enrolled
in advanced placement courses who will take the next
offered advanced placement examination.
4) Allows an eligible economically disadvantaged high
school pupil who is enrolled in an advanced placement
or IB course to apply for a grant. A pupil who
receives a grant shall pay $5 of the examination fee.
5) Allows school districts and county superintendents of
schools to join together to participate.
6) Provides that the grants may not be used to supplant
fee waivers available to low-income pupils who take
advanced placement or IB examinations.
7) Requires the SDE to prorate grants based upon the
ratio of the total amount requested to the total
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amount budgeted by the state if total school district
applications exceed the total funds available.
8) Allows the SDE to enter into a contract with the
provider of advanced placement or IB examinations to
facilitate program administration and school district
reimbursement.
9) Requires the SDE to make every effort to obtain and
allocate federal funding for purposes of this program
before expending any state funds.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office,
an impediment to more students participating in IB
programs is the lack of time available for students to
pursue both an IB Diploma and also meet the additional
course requirements imposed by their school district
for graduation. They indicate that while the depth of
knowledge and skills required for the completion of an
IB Diploma exceeds the requirements for a high school
diploma, students must take and meet both sets of
standards. Students may have a difficult time taking
all the required courses during the school year.
2) Importance of Physical Education? Current law
requires students to complete two courses in physical
education, among other course requirements, to receive
a high school diploma unless a student is granted an
exemption. Current law also requires 400 minutes each
10 school days (6 hours and 40 minutes every two
weeks). Because IB Diploma programs do not require
physical education courses, this bill would
effectively allow students to graduate from high
school without completing these courses. Would this
be prudent given recent efforts by the state to
improve the health and physical fitness of school
children (e.g., the Superintendent's Childhood Obesity
and Diabetes Task Force, establishment of stricter
food standards for schools, and the ban on the sale of
sodas on school campuses)?
3) Discretion for the IB Organization to determine school
curriculum . This bill allows the IB Diploma program
to satisfy the existing course requirements necessary
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to receive a high school diploma. Notwithstanding the
reputation for the quality and rigor associated with
IB diploma programs, the determination of statewide
coursework requirements for high school graduation is
made by the Legislature along with other coursework
requirements adopted by the governing boards of local
school districts. By providing the IB Diploma as an
option for graduation, the IB Organization, a
non-profit foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland,
would have the ability to determine public high school
coursework requirements for IB students. Further, the
State Board of Education recently adopted the common
core standards in mathematics and English language
arts which will significantly affect state policies
related to student assessment and accountability,
curriculum frameworks, instructional materials,
teacher preparation and evaluation, etc., when fully
implemented. To the extent that IB Diploma programs
do not fully incorporate the state's common core
standards, this could have significant implications on
student assessment, accountability, and other policies
that will be modified as a result of common core
implementation.
Therefore, staff recommends that the bill be amended
to remove the provisions allowing an IB Diploma
program to satisfy high school diploma requirements.
4) Governor's Local Control Funding Formula : As part of
the 2013-14 Governor's Budget, the Administration
proposes to restructure the existing K-12 finance
system and eliminate over 40 existing programs while
also repealing, what the administration determines are
countless "discretionary" provisions of statute, while
implementing a new formula known as the Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF would consolidate
the vast majority of state categorical programs and
revenue limit apportionments into a single source of
funding (12 categorical programs, including Special
Education, Child Nutrition, Preschool, and After
School programs, would be excluded). The LCFF
proposal would also eliminate the statutory and
programmatic requirements for almost all existing
categorical programs - the programs would be deemed
"discretionary" and programs in any of these areas
would be dependent on local district discretion. To
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the extent that the LCFF or a modified version of it
is adopted as part of the budget, the majority of
currently required categorical activities would be
left to local districts' discretion. Therefore, the
changes proposed by this bill for the IB program could
be diluted, eliminated, rendered obsolete or
discretionary at the local level.
SUPPORT
California Association of IB World Schools
OPPOSITION
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.