AB 600

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt a state master plan for services to children identified as migrant children. This bill would change references from "migrant child" to "migratory child," and would require the state master plan to be developed and revised as necessary by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in consultation with the statewide parent advisory council. The bill would specify additional services and elements that would be required as part of the plan, and would require the Superintendent to develop a monitoring instrument and monitoring procedure to annually monitor each local educational agency and region receiving funds for the provision of services to migratory children. The bill would set forth the primary objectives of the state's monitoring activities, including, among others, improving educational results and outcomes for migratory children. The bill would require the Superintendent to coordinate the design of evaluations, as provided, and to monitor, provide technical assistance to, and provide guidance to, operating agencies in conducting local evaluations. The bill would require the Superintendent to periodically sponsor or conduct workshops and seminars for the education of operating agency personnel responsible for evaluation of migrant education programs, and would require the Superintendent to submit triennially to the state board, the Legislature, and the Governor a performance report regarding the migrant education programs. The bill would require the Superintendent to develop a process to ensure that all migratory youth enrolled in juvenile court schools and other alternative education placements are properly identified and receive services for which they are eligible. (2) Existing law requires migrant education programs to include prescribed components, including, but not limited to, a brief individual learning plan provided to a pupil's parent or guardian annually and each time the pupil moves to a new district. This bill would also require delivery of the plan each time a pupil experiences a change in school placement or educational program and would require migrant education programs to include the collection of individual and aggregate data with specified information relating to migratory pupils. By imposing these additional requirements on local educational agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a local educational agency or region receiving funds for the provision of services to migratory children to include as part of its refunding application an evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the program, as specified. (3) Existing law requires the Superintendent to establish the service regional system as the primary method for delivery of services to migrant children, and requires the Superintendent to review and approve plans for the effectiveness of service regions based on specified criteria. This bill would include among those criteria a written evaluation plan that describes how the operating agency whose plan is under review for approval will measure annual migratory pupil progress and overall success of its program, and would add to the conditions for direct funding of local educational agencies that the parent advisory council be actively involved in the planning, review, and improvement of the program. (4) Existing law sets forth responsibilities of parent advisory councils at the district, regional, and state levels, including, among other responsibilities, a review of individualized educational plans. This bill would add to these responsibilities a review of the aggregate data collected for migratory pupils, as specified. (5) Existing law provides that the responsibilities of a service region include, among other responsibilities, providing training for the parents and members of district, regional, and school parent advisory councils. This bill would revise that responsibility to instead provide training, support services, and technical assistance to the parents and members of district, regional, and school parent advisory councils to assist them in fulfilling their roles and responsibilities. (6) Existing law requires the Superintendent to establish a statewide parent advisory council and requires the council to meet a minimum of 6 times per year. This bill would instead require the council to meet a minimum of 9 times per year. The bill would also require the Superintendent and each operating agency, as defined, to provide certain documents in a language understandable to members of the statewide and operating agency parent advisory councils, as specified. (7) This bill would make other related changes and various conforming and nonsubstantive changes. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.