California Assembly Bill AB1940 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1940AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2014 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Holden FEBRUARY 19, 2014 An act to add and repeal Section 52245 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1940, as amended, Holden. Advanced placement program:  pilot  grant program: STEM  courses.   curriculu   m.  Existing law contains legislative findings and declarations stating that advanced placement courses, among other things, help to improve the overall curriculum at schools where they are provided and provide a cost-effective means for high school pupils to obtain college-level coursework experience. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually update the information on advanced placement available on the Internet Web site of the State Department of Education to include current information on the various means available to school districts to offer or access advanced placement courses, and to annually communicate with high schools that offer advanced placement courses in fewer than 5 subjects and inform them of the various options for making advanced placement courses and other rigorous courses available to pupils who may benefit from them. This bill, until July 1,  2017  2021  , would establish a  pilot  grant program overseen by the department for purposes of awarding grants to cover the costs associated with a high school establishing or expanding its advanced placement  STEM  curriculum  in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as specified   , as defined . The bill would require the Superintendent  and the College Board  to submit no later than July 1,  2017   2021  , a specified report to the Legislature describing the effectiveness of the  pilot  grant program. 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. Section 52245 is added to the Education Code, to read: 52245. (a)  There   For purposes of this section, "STEM curriculum" means courses in any of the following subject areas:   (1) Biology.   (2) Calculus.   (3) Chemistry.   (4) Computer science.   (5) Environmental science.   (6) Physics.   (7) Statistics.   (b)     There  is hereby established a  pilot  grant program for the purpose of awarding  grants   moneys  to cover the costs associated with a high school establishing or expanding its advanced placement  curriculum in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics   STEM cirriculum  .  (b)   (c)  A high school may apply to the department for grant funding pursuant to this section if all of the following conditions are met: (1) The high school meets either of the following criteria: (A) Does not offer advanced placement courses in  mathematics or science   the STEM curriculum  . (B) Offers advanced placement courses in  mathematics or science   the STEM curriculum  , but those courses are sufficiently oversubscribed. (2) The high school has identified pupils who have demonstrated  through their scores on the preliminary SAT that  they have high potential to be successful in one or more advanced placement courses in  science, technology, engineering, or mathematics  the STEM curriculum. The high school may identify pupils using any means it deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, a pupil's score on the preliminary SAT  .  (c)   (d)  (1) No later than July 1,  2017   2021  , the Superintendent  and the College Board  shall submit a report to the Legislature describing the effectiveness of the  pilot  grant program established pursuant to this section.  The Superintendent is encouraged to consult with the College Board in preparing the report pursuant to this subdivision.  The report shall include both of the following: (A) Number of pupils who have access to advanced placement courses in  science, technology, engineering, and mathematics   the STEM curriculum  . (B) Success rates in the advanced placement courses in  science, technology, engineering, and mathematics   the STEM curriculum  that include core demographics, including, but not limited to, gender and race. (2) A report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.  (e) The department shall implement this section only to the extent that moneys are available to the department and the Superintendent for the purposes of this section. The moneys may be derived from any source, including, but not limited to, state funding, federal funding, and nonstate funding sources.   (d)   (f)  This section shall become inoperative on July 1,  2017   2021  , and, as of January 1,  2018   2022  , is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1,  2018   2022  , deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.