The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) A significant number of children under 18 years of age whose parents are migratory agricultural workers or migratory fishermen reside in California for at least a part of each year. These children, from among the least affluent segments of American society, tend to move frequently, attend school irregularly, and suffer health problems and language barriers. This results in many becoming early school dropouts, poorly prepared to enter the workforce or for academic success and upward social mobility.
(b) The problems of children of migratory agricultural parents and of migratory fisherman parents are of such magnitude and severity that local school districts have been unable to solve them with the resources normally available. It is, therefore, necessary for the state to aid local school districts through regional coordinating offices and the provision of special programs of educational and related services for these children.
(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 274, Sec. 1. (SB 331) Effective January 1, 2011.)