California Assembly Bill AB719 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: AB 719AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Block and Lara (Coauthor: Assembly Member Fletcher) (Coauthors: Senators Padilla and Vargas) FEBRUARY 17, 2011 An act to amend Section 56836.155 of the Education Code, relating to special education. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 719, as amended, Block. Special education: funding. Existing law, until July 1, 2011, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to make prescribed computations each fiscal year to determine an adjusted entitlement to be apportioned to each special education local plan area for each incidence of disability. This bill would instead provide that these provisions would remain in effect indefinitely by deleting the repeal date.  This bill would require the Superintendent, on or before January 31, 2012, to update the incidence multiplier used to determine the adjusted entitlement of each special education local plan area using data collected in or after 2008.  The bill would  provide that   require  the Superintendent  shall perform the prescribed calculations to determine the adjusted entitlement of each special education local plan area for the incidence of disabilities   to allocate funds increasingly based upon calculations made using the updated incidence multiplier  for the 2011-12 to  2014-15   2015-  16  fiscal years, inclusive, as specified.  This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would update the severity service multiplier that will be used in the special disabilities adjustment formula and that this change use data collected in, or after, 2008 to identify high-need special education local plan areas eligible to receive an adjusted apportionment. This   The  bill would  state the intent of the Legislature to  provide that  the calculation performed by the Superintendent, to determine an adjusted entitlement for each special education local plan area, increasingly be based upon a severity service concentration factor in the 2011-12 to 2015-16 fiscal years, inclusive, as specified   this funding is contingent upon an appropriation made in the annual Budget Act or an appropriation contained in another measure  . Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1.  (a)    The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:  (a)   (1)  Since the establishment of the Poochigian and Davis Special Education Reform Act (Ch. 854, Stats. 1997 (A.B. 602)), which changed California's special education funding structure from a resource-based to a primarily census-based approach, the state has always set aside sufficient funds to account for differing incidences of pupils with severe and high-cost disabilities across special education local plan areas.  (b)   (2)  The Legislature continues to recognize the importance of distributing special education funding with a formula that takes into account the differing incidences of severe and high-cost disabilities. For this reason, it has been, and remains, the intent of the Legislature to provide  a severity service concentration factor   an incidence multiplier  to each special education local plan area in order to mitigate the extraordinary costs for schools with particularly high concentrations of pupils with severe and high-cost disabilities.  (c)   (3)  The Legislature is committed to ensuring that the  severity service concentration factor   incidence multiplier  is based on sound data.  To this end, it is the intent of the Legislature that the severity service concentration factor for each special education local plan area be updated using data from recent years.   (d) The Legislature is committed to providing a steady transition between service concentration factors so that changes in severity status do not create devastating funding instabilities for impacted school districts. A severe reduction in state-funded services from just one year to the next has a negative effect on pupils. To this end, it is the intent of the Legislature that the transition to a new disbursement of severity service funds take place over a five-year period beginning in the 2011-12 fiscal year.   (4) The Legislature is committed to providing a steady transition when incidence multipliers are updated so that funding redistribution is steady and does not create devastating funding instabilities for impacted school districts during the time of extraordinary fiscal stress.   (b) For these reasons, it is the intent of the Legislature to do all of the following to correct the problem of outdated data, while mitigating negative effects on pupils in special education local plan areas that would otherwise suffer a severe reduction in services from one year to the next:   (1) Direct the Superintendent of Public Instruction to update incidence multipliers and the adjustment formula before January 31, 2012.   (2) Correct the distribution of the special disabilities adjustment over a five-year period, commencing with the 2011-12 fiscal year.  SEC. 2. Section 56836.155 of the Education Code is amended to read: 56836.155. (a) On or before November 2, 1998, the department, in conjunction with the Legislative Analyst's Office, shall do the following: (1) Calculate an "incidence multiplier" for each special education local plan area using the definition, methodology, and data provided in the final report submitted by the American Institutes for Research pursuant to Section 67 of Chapter 854 of the Statutes of 1997. (2) Submit the incidence multiplier for each special education local plan area and supporting data to the Department of Finance. (b) The Department of Finance shall review the incidence multiplier for each special education local plan area and the supporting data, and report any errors to the department and the Legislative Analyst's Office for correction. (c) The Department of Finance shall approve the final incidence multiplier for each special education local plan area by November 23, 1998. (d) For the 1998-99 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter to and including the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall perform the following calculation to determine the adjusted entitlement of each special education local plan area for the incidence of disabilities: (1) The incidence multiplier for the special education local plan area shall be multiplied by the statewide target amount per unit of average daily attendance for special education local plan areas determined pursuant to Section 56836.11 for the fiscal year in which the computation is made. (2) The amount determined pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be added to the statewide target amount per unit of average daily attendance for special education local plan  area   areas  determined pursuant to Section 56836.11 for the fiscal year in which the computation is made. (3) Subtract the amount of funding for the special education local plan area determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 56836.08, as appropriate for the fiscal year in which the computation is made, or the statewide target amount per unit of average daily attendance for special education local plan areas determined pursuant to Section 56836.11 for the fiscal year in which the computation is made, whichever is greater, from the amount determined pursuant to paragraph (2). For the purposes of this paragraph for the 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11 fiscal years, the amount, if any, received pursuant to Section 56836.159 shall be excluded from the funding level per unit of average daily attendance for a special education local plan area. If the result is less than zero, the special education local plan area shall not receive an adjusted entitlement for the incidence of disabilities. (4) Multiply the amount determined in paragraph (3) by either the average daily attendance reported for the special education local plan area for the fiscal year in which the computation is made, as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 56836.15, or the average daily attendance reported for the special education local plan area for the prior fiscal year, as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 56836.15, whichever is less. (5) If there are insufficient funds appropriated in the fiscal year for which the computation is made for the purposes of this section, the amount received by each special education local plan area shall be prorated. (e) For the 1997-98 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall perform the calculation in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of paragraph (d) only for the purposes of making the computation in paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 56836.08, but the special education local plan area shall not receive an adjusted entitlement for the incidence of disabilities pursuant to this section for the 1997-98 fiscal year.  (f) It is the intent of the Legislature to amend this section to provide that the calculation performed by the Superintendent to determine an adjusted entitlement for each special education local plan area, pursuant to this section, take into account data collected in, or after, 2008, to identify high-need special education local plan areas eligible to receive an adjusted apportionment based upon a severity service concentration factor in the 2011-12 to 2015-16 fiscal years, inclusive. It is the intent of the Legislature that the transition between use of the current calculation pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, and the updated calculation, using a severity service concentration factor, shall take place over a five-year period in order to mitigate the effect on pupils in special education local plan areas that suffer a severe reduction in services from one year to the next.   (f) On or before January 31, 2012, the Superintendent shall update the incidence multiplier calculated pursuant to subdivision (a) using data collected in or after 2008.  (g) For the 2011-12 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall  allocate 90   allocate funds pursuant to the following:   (1)     Ninety  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d),  inclusive. It is the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 10   inclusive, as it read on January 1, 2011.   (2)     Ten  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section  be allocated pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration factor pursuant to subdivision (f).  pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, and subdivision (f).  (h) For the 2012-13 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall  allocate 75   allocate funds pursuant to the following:   (1)     Seventy-five  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d),  inclusive. It is the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 25   inclusive, as it read on January 1, 2011.   (2)     Twenty-five  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section  be allocated pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration factor pursuant to subdivision (f).   pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, and subdivision (f).  (i) For the 2013-14 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall  allocate 50   allocate funds pursuant to the following:   (1)     Fifty  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d),  inclusive. It is the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 50   inclusive, as it read on January 1, 2011.   (2)     Fifty  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section  be allocated pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration factor pursuant to subdivision (f).   pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, and subdivision (f).  (j) For the 2014-15 fiscal year only, the Superintendent shall  allocate 25   allocate funds pursuant to the following:   (1)     Twenty-five  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d),  inclusive. It is the intent of the Legislature that the remaining 75   inclusive, as it read on January 1, 2011.   (2)     Seventy-five  percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section  be allocated pursuant to a calculation using a severity service concentration factor pursuant to subdivision (f).   pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, and subdivision (f).  (k)  It is the intent of the Legislature, that for   For  the 2015-16 fiscal year  only   and each fiscal year thereafter  , the Superintendent shall allocate 100 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section pursuant to  a calculation using a severity service concentration factor pursuant to   subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, and  subdivision (f). (l) Funding for the purposes of subdivisions (g) to (k), inclusive, shall be contingent upon an appropriation made in the annual Budget Act or an appropriation contained in another measure.