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| SPONSOR: | Martinez, Ken | DATE TYPED: | 2-19-01 | HB | 398 | ||
| SHORT TITLE: | Dropout Prevention Pilot Program | SB | |||||
| ANALYST: | Segura | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY01 | FY02 | FY01 | FY02 | ||
| $ 246.0 | Rec | GF | |||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
State Department of Education (SDE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 398 amends the Public School Code to include a dropout prevention pilot program.
Significant Issues
The bill proposes a pilot program that would:
-Include 10 public high schools;
-Run from July1,2001 to July 2005;
-Require the SDE to install a telephone in every classroom of each high school participating in the program;
-Require principals of each high school participating in the pilot to provide each teacher with the work and home telephone numbers of the parents or legal guardian of each student; and
-Require teachers to call the parents or legal guardian of each student absent from class.
The bill directs SDE to seek private-enterprise-government partnerships with telephone companies to minimize the cost of installing telephone lines.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
House Bill 398 appropriates $246.0 from the general fund and is recurring. The appropriation is for the purpose of installing telephone lines in each of the high schools participating in the pilot.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
According to SDE, the department would administer the funding for the installation of telephone lines and staff time would be needed to identifying private enterprise-government partners and reporting to the LESC yearly concerning changes in the dropout rate.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The SDE suggests the following alternatives:
Provide additional funding for the purchase of equipment and service fees throughout the pilot. Allow the appropriation to be used for additional staff within each pilot to : identify whether a student's absence is excused; notify parents when a student has an unexcused absence; and collect data for use in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the pilot.
RS/njw