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AB-252 Advanced placement program: Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program.(2015-2016)

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AB252:v96#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 02, 2015
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 30, 2015
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 26, 2015

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2015–2016 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 252

Introduced by Assembly Member Holden

February 09, 2015

An act to add and repeal Section 52245 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 252, as amended, Holden. Advanced placement program: grant program: STEM curriculum. Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program.
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, 2021, bill would establish a grant program overseen by the department the Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program, to be administered by the State Department of Education, for purposes of awarding grants of up to $8,000 to eligible school districts to cover the costs associated with a high school of establishing or expanding its a high school advanced placement STEM curriculum, as defined. The bill would require the Superintendent to submit on or before July 1, 2021, a specified report to the Legislature describing the effectiveness of the grant program. The bill would specify that the program is to be implemented only if moneys are made available to the department from state and nonstate funding sources for purposes of the program. The bill would establish the Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program Account within the State Treasury for purposes of awarding grants pursuant to the program. The bill’s provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2022.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   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:

(1)

(a) According to a 2009 report “Technical Difficulties: Meeting California’s Workforce Needs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Fields,” there is a large disparity between the continued workforce demands for degrees in the STEM fields and a continued shortfall of STEM degrees conferred to California’s minority population.

(2)

(b) Fifty-nine percent of California’s African American pupils who have potential to thrive in an advanced placement STEM course do not take the advanced placement STEM course for which they have potential.

(3)

(c) Fifty-eight percent of California’s American Indian and Alaska Native pupils do not take the advanced placement STEM course for which they have potential.

(4)

(d) Fifty-five percent of California’s Hispanic or Latino pupils do not take the advanced placement STEM course for which they have potential.

(5)

(e) Forty-one percent of California’s female pupils do not take the advanced placement STEM course for which they have potential.

(6)

(f) More than ninety percent of colleges and universities across the country offer college credit, advanced placement, or both, for qualifying advanced placement examination scores. These credits can potentially save pupils and their families thousands of dollars in college tuition, fees, and textbook costs.

(7)

(g) Research shows that pupils who take advanced placement courses are much more likely than their peers to complete a college degree on time. Pupils have the opportunity to dig deeper into subjects that interest them, develop advanced research and communication skills, and learn to tap their creative, problem-solving, and analytical potential.

(8)

(h) Advanced placement courses give pupils access to rigorous college-level work. Advanced placement pupils build confidence and learn the essential time management and study skills needed for college and career success.

(b)It is the intent of the Legislature to establish an advanced placement STEM Access Grant Program to expand diversity in the STEM field in regards to socioeconomic standing, gender, and race.

SEC. 2.

 Section 52245 is added to the Education Code, to read:

52245.
 (a)  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 The Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program is hereby established a grant program established, to be administered by the department, for the purpose of awarding moneys to cover the costs associated with a high school establishing or expanding its advanced placement STEM curriculum. Grants
(c) (1) The Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program Account is established in the State Treasury, to be used solely for purposes of the program. Funds in the account may be used to fund grants and for administrative costs of implementing this section. Notwithstanding any other law, the State Treasury is authorized to receive and deposit into the account any gifts, grants, or donations received for purposes of this section from private persons or entities.
(2) The amount of the grant awarded by the department shall be matched by the participating school district on a dollar-for-dollar basis, or the equivalent value in services or resources.
(d) The program shall be administered in accordance with both all of the following:
(1) Grant funds may be used for one-time costs of establishing or expanding advanced placement STEM courses, including, but not limited to, teacher recruitment, professional development, instructional materials, and laboratory materials and supplies, and facilities remodeling. supplies.
(2) The grant amount shall be determined based on the cost of the type of advanced placement course in the STEM curriculum, not to exceed eight thousand dollars ($8,000) per grant application.

(c)

(3) A school district may apply to the department for a maximum of one grant per high school and ten 10 grants per school district pursuant to this section if all of the following conditions are met:

(1)

(A) The high school or school district meets either of the following criteria:

(A)

(i) Does not offer advanced placement courses in the STEM curriculum.

(B)

(ii) Offers advanced placement courses in the STEM curriculum, but those courses are oversubscribed. “Oversubscribed” means demand for the course exceeds enrollment by at least one-half of the number of pupils required for a full class.

(2)

(B) The high school has identified pupils from populations that are underrepresented in STEM courses who have demonstrated they have high potential to be successful in one or more advanced placement courses in 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.

(d)Grant applications shall be submitted on a form developed by the Superintendent and shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, an itemized budget for the establishment or expansion of the advanced placement STEM course and an agreement to provide the Superintendent with the data needed for the report required pursuant to subdivision (f).

(e)In awarding grants, the department shall give first priority to applicants with no advanced placement courses in the STEM curriculum.

(f)(1)On or before July 1, 2021, the Superintendent shall submit a report to the Legislature describing the effectiveness of the 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

the increase in the number of pupils in total, and the number of pupils by gender and pupil subgroup, as defined in Section 52052, enrolled in advanced placement courses in the STEM curriculum.

(2)A report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(g)The department shall implement this section only to the extent that moneys are

(e) The program shall be implemented only if moneys are made available to the department and the Superintendent for the purposes of this section. to fund the program. The moneys may be derived from any source, including, but not limited to, state funding, federal funding, and nonstate funding sources.

(h)

(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2021, and, as of January 1, 2022, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.