BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1390
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 19, 2000

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS 
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                  AB 1390 (Havice) - As Amended:  January 12, 2000 

          Policy Committee:                               
          EducationVote:17-1

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

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1.Establishes the Bullying Prevention Grant program to provide a  
            $5,000 grant to eligible schools in grades five and six.   
            Grant funds can be spent on locally designed programs or to  
            purchase existing bullying prevention materials and programs.

          2.Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to  
            establish and maintain guidelines for bullying prevention  
            programs.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1.Appropriates $150,000 from the GF (Prop 98) to establish the  
            Bullying Prevention Grant program at 30 schools.

          2.GF (non-Prop 98) costs, probably less than $50,000 to require  
            the SPI to develop and maintain the criteria for this grant  
            program.

           COMMENTS  

           1.Purpose  .  The author contends that recent studies found that  
            bullying activities occur most in grades 5-7.  The Center for  
            the Study and Prevention of Violence evaluated over 450  
            prevention programs.  Of these programs, the Bullying  
            Prevention Program is one of 10 programs that was found to be  
            effective in substantially reducing bullying and victimization  
            on the school campus, as well as reducing general antisocial  
            behavior such as vandalism, fighting, and truancy. 








                                                                  AB 1390
                                                                  Page  2


           2.Prior Legislation  .  Last year, the governor and Legislature  
            enacted AB 1113, the School Safety and Violence Prevention  
            Act, which provides all schools serving students in grades  
            8-12 with funding to "establish programs and strategies that  
            promote school safety and violence prevention.  Schools will  
            receive about $45 per pupil, with a minimum of $5,000 per  
            school.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jai Sookprasert / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081