BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 230|
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                                    CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 230
          Author:   Carter (D), et al.
          Amended:  4/14/11 in Assembly
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  10-0, 6/8/11
          AYES:  Lowenthal, Runner, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, 
            Huff, Liu, Price, Simitian, Vargas
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Vacancy

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 5/5/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Joint educational programs:  middle college 
          high school 
                      students:  enrollment priority

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill exempts a student attending a middle 
          college high school from the requirement that California 
          Community College governing boards assign a low enrollment 
          priority to concurrent enrollment students if that student 
          is seeking to enroll in a community college course that is 
          required for the student's middle college high school 
          program.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

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          1. Authorizes the governing board of a community college 
             district to admit to any community college under its 
             jurisdiction as a special part-time or full-time student 
             in any session or term any student who is eligible to 
             attend community college, as specified. 

          2. Requires a California Community College (CCC) governing 
             board to assign concurrent enrollment students a low 
             enrollment priority to ensure that these students do not 
             displace regularly admitted students.  

          3. Finds and declares that middle college high schools have 
             proven to be a highly effective collaborative effort 
             between local school districts and community colleges, 
             and that the goal of the middle college high school is 
             to select at-risk high school students who are 
             performing below their academic potential and place them 
             in an alternative high school located on a community 
             college campus in order to reduce the likelihood that 
             they will drop out of school before graduation.

          4. Establishes middle college high schools as broad-based 
             instructional programs focusing on college preparatory 
             and school-to-work curricula, career education, work 
             experience, community service, support and motivational 
             activities, reduced adult-student ratios, flexible 
             scheduling to allow for work internships, community 
             service experiences, and work apprenticeships.  

          5. Authorizes school districts to establish and maintain 
             one or more alternative schools within the district, 
             defines alternative school for this purpose, and 
             authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for 
             the operation of an alternative school, to waive any 
             provision of the Education Code, except as specified. 

          This bill exempts a student attending a middle college high 
          school from the requirement that CCC governing boards 
          assign a low enrollment priority to concurrent enrollment 
          students if that student is seeking to enroll in a 
          community college course that is required for the student's 
          middle college high school program.

           Background 







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          Middle college high school and early college high school  .  
          Middle college high school are established in the Education 
          Code as broad-based, comprehensive instructional programs 
          focusing on college preparatory and school-to-work 
          curricula, career education, work experience, community 
          service, support and motivational activities.  Located on a 
          community college campus, middle college high schools offer 
          students at risk of educational failure the opportunity to 
          take high school classes and college classes to increase 
          the likelihood of participating pupils to qualify for 
          college upon graduation.   According to the California 
          Department of Education (CDE), middle college high schools 
          were initially federally funded through the CCC 
          Chancellor's Office. 

          The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC) 
          received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 
          and other foundation partners for the Early College High 
          School Initiative.  According to information on CDE's Web 
          site, early college high schools are small, autonomous 
          schools that blend high school and college into a single 
          education program. They are designed to offer students the 
          opportunity to achieve an Associate's Degree or two years 
          of college credit and a high school diploma, within four to 
          five years of entering ninth grade.   According to the 
          FCCC, many early college high schools have some of the 
          highest API scores, graduation and attendance rates in 
          their respective districts or regions.  The FCCC points out 
          that nationwide, attendance rates for early college high 
          school students average over 90 percent, as do 
          grade-to-grade promotion rates.  In California, the FCCC 
          serves as an intermediary for the early college high school 
          initiative, and works with 23 community college-high school 
          partnerships throughout the state that serve more than 
          5,500 youth.  The initiative works with underrepresented 
          students historically at risk for not attending college.  
          FCCC points out that it "has already seen the success of 
          many of its 23 partner schools.  In Spring 2008, six of the 
          schools celebrated their first graduations, with 157 total 
          graduates.  Of these students, nine also earned their 
          associate's degrees at the same time as their high school 
          diplomas, and 83 were slated to finish their associate's 
          degrees within the following year."  The National Center 







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          for Restructuring Education, Schools and Teaching, 
          conducted a survey study of high school students 
          participating in middle college high school and early 
          college high school and found that students from all 
          backgrounds including at-risk students performed well in 
          their college classes, and concludes that students who 
          receive support in undertaking challenging college-level 
          courses can perform well regardless of gender, 
          race/ethnicity, place of birth, and socio-economic status.  
          These programs aim to increase access to higher education 
          for students from underserved populations.  

           Comments

           Middle college high schools and early college high schools 
          operate in a similar manner to provide high school pupils 
          opportunities to take college courses while still in high 
          school as part of an integrated program.  Pupils 
          participating in these programs are considered special 
          part-time or full-time students for purposes of attending a 
          community college to fulfill the college aspect of the 
          program.  Because current law assigns high school pupils 
          who seek CCC concurrent enrollment a low enrollment 
          priority, pupils that are part of a middle college high 
          school or early college high school program, fall under 
          this low enrollment priority category.  According to 
          information provided by the author's office, pupils 
          attending middle college high school and early college high 
          school programs are encountering difficulty in enrolling in 
          the necessary community college classes they need to meet 
          the dual degree coursework requirement of such programs and 
          thus there has been a decrease in the number of students 
          completing the full mission of these programs.  The 
          author's office also points out that middle college high 
          schools and early college high schools are experiencing a 
          drop in the number of new student applications due to 
          pupils' difficulty in enrolling in community college 
          courses.  

          This bill seeks to exempt a middle college high school 
          pupil from being assigned a "low-enrollment priority" by a 
          community college, if the pupil is seeking to enroll in a 
          community college course that is required for that pupil's 
          middle college high school program.  The intent of the bill 







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          is to give pupils in these programs increased access to CCC 
          courses and expand their opportunities to complete the 
          middle college high school program.

          Budget cuts and increased student demand has left CCCs 
          unable to provide course offerings to fully meet the needs 
          of all students seeking CCC enrollment.  According to the 
          CCC Chancellor's Office, in 2009-10, the CCC system took a 
          $520 million (8%) budget cut which resulted statewide in 
          38,000 fewer course sections being offered and 140,000 
          first-time students being turned away.  Furthermore, the 
          CCC reductions in the 2011-12 Budget will mean an 
          anticipated 350,000 students will be turned away next year. 
           Because there is more demand than there are course 
          offerings, course registration priorities play an important 
          role in managing CCC enrollment.  Enrollment priorities 
          determine which groups of students are enrolled in courses 
          and which students get turned away.  Existing law requires 
          CCC to assign high school pupils a low enrollment priority 
          in order to ensure they do not displace regularly admitted 
          CCC students.  This bill creates a narrow exemption from 
          the low enrollment priority for students attending a middle 
          college high school, if the student is seeking to enroll in 
          a community college course that is required for the 
          student's middle college high school program.  The proposal 
          does not give middle college high school students priority 
          in CCC enrollment but rather gives CCCs some flexibility in 
          the priority assignment for middle college high school 
          students.   

           Related Legislation

           AB 160 (Portantino), 2011-12 Session, removes certain 
          restrictions on concurrent enrollment and authorizes school 
          districts to enter into partnerships with community college 
          districts to provide high school pupils opportunities for 
          advanced scholastic work, career technical or other 
          coursework at a community college campus.  (In Senate 
          Education Committee) 

          AB 194 (Beall), 2011-12 Session, requires each campus of 
          the California State University and the CCCs, and requests 
          the University of California, to give priority in 
          enrollment in classes to foster youth and to former foster 







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          youth up to 24 years of age.  (In Senate Appropriations 
          Committee) 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/9/11)

          American Federation of State, County and Municipal 
          Employees, AFL-CIO
          California Community College Chancellor's Office
          Los Angeles Unified-Harbor Teacher Prep Academy
          Rancho Santiago Community College District
          Regional Council of Rural Counties
          San Bernardino Community College District
          Superintendent, San Bernardino Unified School District

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The Regional Council of Rural 
          Counties writes, "AB 230 recognizes that middle high school 
          students are part of a specialized program and would 
          eliminate their low enrollment priority by allowing those 
          students to register for community college classes without 
          limitations.  Often rural areas lack comprehensive 
          educational programs and resources.  Enrollment 
          opportunities, such as those provided by AB 230, would 
          increase student access to advanced courses and alternative 
          learning opportunities."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 5/5/11
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, 
            Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, 
            Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, 
            Jeffries, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, 
            Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, 
            Nestande, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, 
            Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, 
            John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Furutani, Garrick, Gorell, Jones, 







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            Nielsen, Vacancy


          CPM:mw  6/9/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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