Attorney General No.

SA1998RF0022

Secretary of State No.

828

Description

EDUCATION. PUBLIC FUNDING OF PRIVATE AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. STUDENT TESTING FOR GRANTS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Provides annual state-funded tax-free grants of $3,000 or $3,200 per child to parents of children in non-public schooling, including private and parochial schools and non-traditional programs, who pass applicable grade-level examination. Offers bi-monthly examinations to confirm grant eligibility. Authorizes state loans to eligible grant recipients. Establishes mandatory annual grade-level examinations for public school grades 1-12 to assess skills in English, mathematics, geography, physical science, history, civics. Passing score required for most public school pupils before advancement to next grade. Requires performance reports. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: This measure would result in significant annual costs to the State to provide grants to non-public school pupils, to administer the testing and reporting system, and to reimburse local school districts for state-mandated costs associated with testing and reporting. The measure would also result in some offsetting savings from students leaving the public school system. The measure's net fiscal impact on the State would ultimately depend in large part on how people respond to its provisions. For example: (a) if the measure results in only a slight increase in the number of students repeating grades but has a significant impact on the number of students leaving public schools, it could result in net costs of up to several hundreds of millions of dollars annually in later years under the measure; or (b) alternatively, if the measure significantly increases the number of students repeating grades and has a smaller effect on public school students leaving public schools, it could result in net later year costs in the billions of dollars annually.

Proponents

David Barulich Committee To End Social Promotion, 1041 Rutland Avenue, Los Angeles, Ca 90042 (323) 257-1827

Date

1-15-1999

Document Type

Initiative

Qualified

Failed to Qualify

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