BILL NUMBER: SB 219 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 731
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 14, 2007
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 14, 2007
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 11, 2007
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 17, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Senators Steinberg and Romero
FEBRUARY 9, 2007
An act to add Section 52052.1 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil achievement.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 219, Steinberg. Pupil achievement: Academic Performance Index:
alternative education.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
with approval of the State Board of Education, to develop the
Academic Performance Index (API) consisting of a variety of
indicators currently reported to the State Department of Education to
track the achievement of schools and their pupils. Statutory
provisions establish a specific calculation for graduation rates to
be included within the API and require the Superintendent to provide
an annual report to the Legislature on graduation and dropout rates
in California. The Superintendent is required to establish an
advisory committee to advise the Superintendent and the state board
on all matters relative to the creation of the API and implementation
of the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program and
the High Achieving/Improving Schools Program.
This bill, beginning July 1, 2011, would require that the API
include additional information regarding test scores and other
accountability data of pupils who were referred by the school or
school district of residence to an alternative education program and
school and school district dropout rates. The bill would require the
advisory committee to recommend to the Superintendent and the state
board certain matters relative to the assignment of the
accountability data on pupils in alternative education programs. The
requirements imposed by the bill would become operative only if local
educational agencies receive a per pupil allocation prior to the
2010-11 fiscal year for implementation of the California Longitudinal
Pupil Achievement Data System.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The high number of children leaving school without completing
their high school education poses a serious threat to children, their
families, schools, and communities, and the competitiveness and
well-being of the California economy. The potential adverse impacts
of the high school dropout crisis include a strain on the social
welfare system and a shortage of well educated Californians to fuel
the 21st century economy.
(2) New research suggests that fewer than 70 percent of 9th
graders in California, and fewer than 50 percent of 9th graders in
some school districts, graduate from high school. More than 150,000
California high school pupils may be leaving high school each year
without a diploma.
(3) If the dropout crisis is left unchecked, demographic trends
suggest that the rate of future dropouts will increase. Latinos are
more than twice as likely as whites to leave school before
graduation. The Department of Finance estimates that the public
school enrollment of Latinos will increase by 18 percent in the next
10 years. The Public Policy Institute of California predicts there
will be twice as many high school dropouts in California in 2025 as
there will be jobs to support them.
(4) The high school dropout crisis will have detrimental effects
on some of the largest industries in California, including computer
technology and software engineering, health care, manufacturing,
biotechnology, the building and automotive trades, entertainment, and
other sectors that rely on an adequately educated workforce with a
minimum of a high school education.
(5) Dropouts impose substantial social costs on the state. They
are less likely than high school graduates to be employed. The jobs
they do find pay substantially lower wages. As a result, dropouts pay
lower taxes and are more likely to require public welfare support.
Dropouts also have poorer health and are more likely to require
public health support.
(6) Dropouts are more likely to commit crimes and become
incarcerated. More than 80 percent of the prisoners in California in
2005 did not graduate from high school. In 2006, each inmate cost
California taxpayers an average of thirty-four thousand one hundred
fifty dollars ($34,150), according to the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation.
(7) Families and communities play an important role in keeping
children on track toward high school graduation. However, schools are
responsible for creating programs that engage children of different
backgrounds, interests, and skill levels, and for keeping a close
watch on truancy, course failure, and behavior problems that are the
markers of a pupil at risk for dropping out of school.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
reflect the public's fundamental expectation that public schools
engage pupils, keep them on track for graduation, and prepare them
for success after high school in college or immediate entry into a
career.
SEC. 2. Section 52052.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
52052.1. (a) Beginning July 1, 2011, in addition to the test
scores specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision
(a) of Section 52052, the Academic Performance Index (API) for a
school or school district shall do all of the following:
(1) Include the test scores and other accountability data of
enrolled pupils who were referred by the school or school district of
residence to an alternative education program, including community,
community day, and continuation high schools and independent study,
and be calculated by assigning all accountability data on pupils in
alternative education programs, including community, community day,
and continuation high schools and independent study, to the school
and school district of residence to ensure that placement decisions
are in the best interests of affected pupils. If a pupil is referred
to an alternative education program by a juvenile court judge or
other correctional or judicial official, or if the pupil is expelled
pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 48915, the test
scores of that pupil shall remain with the alternative education
program and with the school district or county office of education
serving that pupil. This section does not prohibit the alternative
education program from counting the test scores of those pupils
served in their alternative education program. It is the intent of
the Legislature that these alternative education programs remain
accountable to the pupils they serve.
(2) Exclude the test scores or other data of those pupils exempt
pursuant to federal statute or federal regulation.
(3) Include school and school district dropout rates for pupils
who drop out of school while enrolled in grade 8 or 9. If reliable
data is not available by July 1, 2011, the Superintendent, on or
before that date, shall report to the Legislature the reasons for the
delay and date he or she anticipates the specified dropout rates
will be included in the API.
(b) The advisory committee established pursuant to Section 52052.5
shall recommend to the Superintendent and the state board all of the
following:
(1) The length of time for which the accountability data on pupils
in alternative education programs shall be assigned to the school
and school district of residence pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a).
(2) Whether it is appropriate to assign accountability data to the
school or the school district, pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), if the pupil never attended the school of residence
or has been absent for more than one year from the school district of
residence due to placement in another school or school district or
out of state.
(c) This section shall become operative only if local educational
agencies receive a per pupil allocation prior to the 2010-11 fiscal
year for implementation of the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System established pursuant to Section 60900.