Pupils: military families.

(1) Existing law authorizes a school district of choice, as defined, to give priority for attendance to children of military personnel, if the school district elected to accept transfer pupils by a resolution adopted by the governing board of the school district prior to April 1, 2005. This bill would ratify the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to, among other things, facilitate the enrollment, placement, advancement, and transfer of the academic records of the children of military families for the purpose of removing barriers to their educational success due to the frequent moves and deployment of their parents. The compact would establish the Interstate Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to provide for dispute resolution among member states, promulgate rules, and take other actions necessary for the administration of the compact. The compact would only become effective upon ratification by a minimum of 10 states. The bill would authorize the Superintendent of Public Instruction to accept nonstate funding, to be available upon appropriation, to offset the cost of the annual assessment required by the charter. The bill would require the Superintendent to reconvene a task force initially convened pursuant to a provision of existing law to review, and make recommendations regarding, the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The bill would require this task force to be reconvened on or after July 1, 2012, and on or before September 1, 2012, and to issue a final report of findings and conclusions on prescribed topics to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature no later than December 1, 2012. By requiring local educational agencies to perform additional duties regarding the children of military families, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 these statutory provisions.