AB 3136: Special education funding.

Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to determine the amount of funding to be provided for each special education local plan area in accordance with specified calculations. Existing law requires the Superintendent, for the 201314 fiscal year, to compute an equalization adjustment for each special education local plan area for purposes of increasing the funding rates for special education local plan areas with funding rates below the 90th percentile, as specified.

This bill would increase that percentile to the 95th percentile and would require the Superintendent to compute that equalization adjustment commencing with the first fiscal year after funds are apportioned pursuant to a specified formula and for each fiscal year thereafter in which an equalization appropriation is made, as specified. The bill would require the Superintendent to make certain computations following each year in which an equalization appropriation is made.

The bill would establish the high-cost service allowance for the purpose of providing supplemental funding to a special education local plan area on the basis of the number of pupils with severe disabilities and the number pupils with both deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, or multiple disabilities, and would require the Superintendent to make specified computations that would determine the high-cost service allowance for each special education local plan area.

The bill would require, commencing with the first fiscal year after funds are apportioned pursuant to a specified formula, a special education local plan area that reports serving children 3 or 4 years of age who meet the definition of an individual with exceptional needs to count 3 times all units of average daily attendance generated by children enrolled in kindergarten less those children eligible for transitional kindergarten, for purposes of calculating units of average daily attendance, except as provided. By adding to the duties of special education local plan areas, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law defines average daily attendance reported for the special education local plan area for purposes of these and other provisions to mean the total number of units of average daily attendance reported in the school district or districts and in the county office of education or offices, county offices of education, or portion of an office, a county office of education that is a part of more than one special education local plan area, as specified.

The bill would revise that definition to mean the total number of units of average daily attendance reported for the current school year or the prior school year, whichever is greater, in those same entities, as specified.

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 the statutory provisions noted above.