BILL ANALYSIS
SB 511
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 8, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 511 (Committee on Education) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education
SUMMARY : Makes conforming and technical changes to several
provisions of the Education Code relating primarily to higher
education. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a parent or guardian to release individual pupil
test results of the Standardized Testing and Reporting program
to a postsecondary educational institution for the purpose of
determining readiness for college-level coursework.
2)Clarifies that participants who fail to complete the
requirements for various higher education loan assumption
programs "retain" rather than "resume" or "assume"
responsibility for any remaining loan obligations.
3)Inserts a cross reference to existing law that governs
community college clinical nursing faculty hours, which
establishes the percent of hours per week considered a
full-time assignment for all community college faculty.
EXISTING LAW assigns various duties to state and local
educational agencies and governs the operation of public
schools.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : This is one of several education "clean-up" or omnibus
bills that are annually introduced to make non-controversial
revisions in the Education Code. This education omnibus bill
corrects errors, resolves conflicts, and deletes obsolete
references that relate primarily to postsecondary education. By
agreement, education omnibus bills do not include provisions
that are opposed by the Department of Finance or any of the four
legislative caucuses. This bill makes one proposal related to
K-12 education.
SB 511
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AB 519 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 757, Statutes of 2008, a
2008-09 education budget trailer bill, chaptered out provisions
of law enacted earlier in that year by SB 946 (Scott), Chapter
473, Statutes of 2008. SB 946 establishes the California
Community Colleges Early Assessment Pilot Program, and
authorized individual results from Standardized Testing and
Reporting program tests to be provided to the office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and community
college districts in order to expand the existing Early
Assessment Program (EAP). EAP was established by the California
State University in coordination with the State Board of
Education and the California Department of Education in order to
improve admission and placement decisions for prospective
college students. A provision in SB 946, authorizing a parent
or guardian to release individual pupil test results of the STAR
program to a postsecondary educational institution for the
purpose of determining readiness for college-level coursework,
did not take effect because AB 519 amended the same Education
Code section; AB 519 was chaptered after SB 946. This bill
corrects this error by re-inserting the phrase, "determination
of readiness for college-level coursework," into statute listing
the purposes for which a parent is authorized to release a
pupil's STAR results; it was this phrase that was chaptered out.
This bill also makes two changes related solely to higher
education. The first clarifies that participants who fail to
complete the requirements for various higher education loan
assumption programs "retain" rather than "resume" or "assume"
responsibility for any remaining loan obligations. The second
increases the proportion of hours per week that an individual
employed to teach adult or community college courses may teach
and still be classified as a temporary employee; this change is
made in order to conform with other provisions of current law.
The Assembly Committee on Higher Education previously heard this
bill with respect to issues in that jurisdiction; that committee
placed this bill on its Consent Calendar and passed the bill on
a 9-0 vote.
Related legislation : SB 509 (Committee on Education), pending
in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, is an education
omnibus bill that makes various changes in the Education Code
pertaining to K-12 education. SB 512 (Committee on Education),
approved by the Assembly and pending in the Senate, is an
SB 511
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education omnibus bill that makes changes in the Education Code
pertaining to K-12 teacher credentialing.
Previous legislation : AB 519 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 757,
Statutes of 2008, a 2008-09 education budget trailer bill,
enacts several provisions related to the Budget Act of 2008. SB
946 (Scott), Chapter 473, Statutes of 2008, establishes the
California Community Colleges Early Assessment Pilot Program.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087