BILL ANALYSIS
AB 32
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 23, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 32 (Fuller) - As Amended: May 1, 2007
Policy Committee:
EducationVote:10-0
Higher Education
5-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes a pupil enrolled in a minimum of three high
school courses to concurrently enroll in a California Community
College (CCC) for the purpose of taking career and technical
education (CTE) classes leading to work certification, as
specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires that the CTE class must not be available at the
pupil's high school or a regional occupational center or
program (ROC/P) and the pupil must have parental permission.
2)Requires the CCC to give enrollment priority to high school
pupils who wish to attend CTE courses available in the
afternoon.
3)Requires the pupil to receive high school credit for CCC
courses that he or she completes, as specified.
4)Requires the CCC to not include enrollment growth attributable
to a high school pupil enrolled in a CTE course as part of its
annual budget request.
5)Repeals the statute exempting high school students enrolled in
CTE courses from the five percent cap for CCC summer school
enrollment.
FISCAL EFFECT
GF/98 cost pressure, likely between $762,000 and $1.5 million,
to enroll high schools pupils in a CCC for the purpose of taking
CTE courses. This assumes a five to 10 percent increase in high
AB 32
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school pupils concurrently enrolled in CTE courses at CCCs.
According to the CCC, there were 16,577 high school students
enrolled for this purpose in CCCs in the 2005-06 fiscal year.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Current law only allows pupils to participate in
concurrent enrollment during the school year if they receive
the recommendation of the principal. During the summer there
is a limitation on the number of pupils the principal may
recommend (no more than five percent of each class), unless
all exempting criteria are met (see comment #3 below).
This bill repeals restrictions on concurrent enrollment for
K-12 pupils taking CTE courses at a CCC.
2)Why provide priority to K-12 pupils enrolling in CTE courses ?
Current law requires a CCC to assign a low priority to K-12
concurrent enrollment students. However, this bill requires
CCCs to provide priority enrollment to high school pupils who
wish to attend CTE courses available in the afternoon.
The CCC system offers academic and occupational programs at
the lower division (freshman and sophomore) level, as well as
recreational courses and precollegiate basic skills
instruction. It is the nation's largest system of higher
education and accounts for about 22 percent of all community
college students in the country. Three out of four public
postsecondary students in the state are enrolled in a
California community college.
CCCs provide valuable instructional services to California
adults. In many cases, adults return to a community college
to seek higher education to improve their skills in order to
obtain a higher paying job. The committee may wish to
consider whether it is appropriate to provide a priority
enrollment for CCC attendance to high school students at the
expense of adult students.
3)In 2002, the state took statutory and budgetary action to
reduce concurrent enrollment levels after concerns were raised
about a number of CCC districts inappropriately claiming state
funding for an increasing number of concurrently enrolled high
school students. While statute still permits districts to
enroll some K-12 students, the Legislature enacted new
restrictions on concurrent enrollment to prevent districts
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from abusing the provision. As a result, the number of K-12
students concurrently enrolled in CCC, predominantly high
school students taking physical education courses, declined by
more than 100,000 students.
4)SB 1303 (Runner), Chapter 648, Statutes of 2006 , relaxed the
five percent enrollment cap on the admission of K-12 students
to a CCC summer session by waiving the cap, if a student meets
one of the following criterion: (a) the course is a lower
division, college-level course that is designated as part of
the University of California or California State University
requirements; (b) the course is a college-level occupational
course that is part of a sequence of courses leading to a
vocational degree or certificate; and (c) the course is
necessary to assist a pupil who has not passed the California
High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), if the pupil is a senior and
has completed all other graduation requirements prior to the
end of his senior year or prior to his or her summer session
enrollment at a CCC.
Prior to Chapter 648, K-12 pupils had to meet all of the
criterion, except the provisions related to the CAHSEE. This
bill repeals the provision related to vocational education and
instead, authorizes a K-12 pupil enrolled in a CTE course
sequence to enroll in a CCC, as specified.
5)Similar legislation . AB 1409 (Portantino), pending in this
committee, removes restrictions on a pupil's ability to
concurrently enroll in a K-12 public school and a CCC. This
measure also repeals the provisions that place a five percent
enrollment cap on the admission of K-12 students to a CCC
summer session to allow more students to participate.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081