|
About CSCAE
|
Reports from the Field Recovering TOPSPRO Costs Both by budget act language and the education code, TOPSPRO demographic data collection is required for all schools, all students, all year. It is a process that consumes staff time, equipment, and program resources. Unfortunately, schools currently pay these costs out of general program funds, even though California law provides a method for educational agencies to recover costs incurred by unfunded legal mandates, such as TOPSPRO. The problem is, adult education data collection is not now on the list of reimbursable programs. Help may be on the way, however. A group of adult education agencies have joined to develop and submit an application to add adult education data collection to the list of reimbursable programs. The application is called a test claim and will be submitted to the Commission on State Mandates (COSM) for a decision. Unfortunately, it can be a lengthy process. The test claim is composed of legal background and samples of materials illustrating the efforts programs must undertake to comply with the requirement. The Test Claim File is sent through a series of departments, including Finance and Education, for review and comment. If not initially approved, as seems likely, it will then go to a review panel. The entire process can take up to five years. So how does all this affect California adult education administrators? Should the claim ultimately be approved, thus adding adult education data collection to the unfunded mandate list, then the TOPSPRO collection costs incurred by every adult education agency in California can be reimbursed beginning one year prior to the original filing date, the fall of 2002. This means the first year used for calculations will be 2001/02. Costs for data collection may include personnel, equipment, materials and supplies, staff training, and teachers' stipends. It is recommended that agencies begin now to track these costs, making sure they are clearly identified as to their purpose (mandated data collection). Such record-keeping will make claims several years hence easier to document and withstand audit scrutiny. More information will be forthcoming as the Test Claim File progresses though the system. Contact Margaret Kirkpatrick at 510-644-8960.
|
