BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 650
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 21, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
SB 650 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: May 10, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: The College Promise
Partnership Act.
SUMMARY : Establishes the College Promise Partnership Act (Act)
authorizing the Long Beach Community College District (LBCCD)
and the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) to enter into
a Partnership governing concurrent enrollment, as specified:
1)Provides that the Partnership will provide a seamless bridge
to college for pupils not already college bound and reduce the
time needed for advanced students to complete programs,
through providing pupils with an aligned sequence of high
school coursework leading to capstone college courses.
2)Defines "capstone college course" to mean a California
Community College (CCC) course that is either (1) a
lower-division for credit course that is transferable to the
California State University or University of California, as
specified, or (2) a college-level, occupational course for
credit, as specified, that is a part of a sequence of career
technical education (CTE) courses leading to a degree or
certificate in that subject area.
3)Requires pupils electing to participate in the Partnership to
complete the augmented California Standards Test in grade 11
to determine readiness for college-level coursework and to
enroll in coursework during grade 12 to remedy any
deficiencies diagnosed by the test, and requires the parental
consent of pupils participating in the Partnership.
4)Requires LBCCD and LBUSD to design focused pathways leading to
credit in general education or a CTE certificate or degree,
including at least one capstone college course. Requires the
Partnership to coordinate the delivery of student support
services, including counseling, to participating pupils.
Requires LBCCD to participate in the Early Assessment Program
in order to participate in the Partnership.
SB 650
Page 2
5)Establishes a funding mechanism for the Partnership, providing
that LBCCD shall be credited with additional units of
full-time equivalent students (FTES) attributable to the
attendance of Partnership pupils at LBCC. Provides that LBUSD
shall be credited for attendance by Partnership pupils'
attendance at school for the minimum school day. Prohibits
LBCCD from receiving funding for an instructional activity for
which a school district has been, or shall be, paid. Provides
that LBCCD shall not receive increased allocations from the
General Fund for the Partnership.
6)Requires the LBCCD, if the LBCCD elects to enter into the
Partnership, to provide an independent evaluation of the
Partnership to the CCC Chancellor's Office and the Legislature
that addresses issues and makes recommendations surrounding
admittance, enrollment, and course registration priority
provided to pupils participating in the Partnership, and
analyzes whether the Partnership meets outlined objectives
including increasing college retention and completion rates
and improving assessment performance. Requires the report to
be submitted to the Legislature on or before December 30,
2016.
7)Requires LBCCD to report to the CCC Chancellor's Office
regarding the moneys utilized for the Partnership by November
1 of each year the Partnership is in operation.
8)Authorizes LBCCD to assign priority enrollment for
registration to any of the following groups:
a) Students pursuing and making satisfactory academic
progress toward a degree, certificate, transfer, or basic
skills objective that is declared or reaffirmed upon
enrollment in each academic term.
b) Students pursuing and making satisfactory academic
progress pursuant to an approved individual education plan
toward a career development objective that is declared or
reaffirmed upon enrollment in each academic term.
c) Students registering for precollegiate basic skills
courses in which they have been placed based upon the
diagnostic results of the Early Assessment Program or the
equivalent in accordance with the terms of the Partnership.
SB 650
Page 3
9)Sunsets all of the aforementioned provisions on June 30, 2018.
EXISTING LAW
1)Authorizes the governing board of a K-12 school district, upon
recommendation of the principal of a student's school of
attendance, and with parental consent, to allow a student who
would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work to
attend CCC as a special part-time or full-time (concurrent
enrollment) student. Prohibits a principal from recommending,
for CCC summer session attendance, more than 5% of the total
number of students in the same grade level. Exempts from the
5% cap a student recommended for enrollment in a college-level
summer session course if the course in which the pupil is
enrolled meets specified criteria. (Education Code §48800)
2)Authorizes CCC districts to enroll concurrent enrollment
students, as specified, and requires CCC governing boards to
assign these students a low-enrollment priority when
registering for courses, to ensure these students do not
displace CCC students. (EC §76001)
3)Provides that, for purposes of receiving state apportionments,
CCC districts may only include high school students within the
CCC district's report on full-time equivalent students (FTES)
if the students are enrolled in courses that are open to the
general public, as specified. Prohibits any physical
education course at a CCC from having more than 10% of its
enrollment comprised of high school students, and provides
that a CCC may not receive state apportionments for high
school students enrolled in physical education courses in
excess of 5% of the CCC district's total reported enrolled
number of high school students. (EC §76002)
4)Allows the governing board of a CCC to restrict enrollment of
K-12 school district students based on age, completion of a
specified grade level, and demonstrated eligibility. Requires
the CCCCO to report to DOF annually on the amount of FTES
claimed by each CCC district for high school students enrolled
in non-credit, non-degree-applicable, degree-applicable
(excluding physical education), and degree-applicable physical
education, pursuant to the aforementioned provisions. (EC
§76002)
SB 650
Page 4
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, likely minor, non-reimbursable costs for the
authorized partnership.
COMMENTS : Double-Referral : This bill has been double-referred
to the Assembly Education Committee.
Purpose of this bill : Concurrent enrollment refers to the
practice of allowing students to take college courses and earn
college credit while still in high school. Historically,
concurrent enrollment has been used by academically advanced
high school students who need an additional challenge, students
who were likely to attend college anyway. Certainly, concurrent
enrollment still serves this purpose. However, more recently
regionally-based programs have been developed to target
underserved student populations less likely to attend college.
These programs often blend high school and college coursework to
allow students to simultaneously earn a high school diploma and
credit toward a college degree.
Since 1994 the Long Beach Educational Partnership has worked on
a regional level to provide a "seamless education" for Long
Beach students from preschool to graduate school. In 2008, the
Partnership, with the support and commitments of LBUSD, LBCCD,
and California State University Long Beach (CSULB), implemented
the Promise, providing all LBUSD students a guarantee of the
opportunity to receive a college education. The Promise
provides a variety of educational benefits and services to LBUSD
students, including concurrent enrollment opportunities, a
tuition free semester at LBCCD, guaranteed college admission,
early and continued outreach, and multiple pathway support.
According to the author, existing law restricts LBCCD from
admitting additional high school students to take college
courses. This bill would allow LBCCD, upon entering into a
Partnership with LBUSD, to accept more high school seniors who
are participating in the Promise to take LBCCD courses. Through
providing LBCCD additional flexibility to accept Promise
students, this bill aims to create a model program for
increasing college attendance and completion rates.
Background : California's existing laws do not specifically
outline a strategy for concurrent enrollment. Additionally, the
state has erected specific barriers that might inhibit the
creation and growth of more comprehensive practices. These
SB 650
Page 5
barriers exist, at least partially, because of a history of
improper concurrent enrollment practices at some locations. For
example, in 2002, the state took action to reduce concurrent
enrollment levels after concerns were raised about a number of
CCC districts claiming state funding for high school students
taking physical education courses. While this bill would remove
some barriers to concurrent enrollment for pupils participating
in the Partnership, this bill does not change the limitations
regarding physical education (PE) courses. In addition to
concerns about PE abuses, in the past concerns have been
expressed, most notably by DOF, that expanding concurrent
enrollment will allow for increased "double dipping" on the part
of K-12 and CCC districts. The concern is generally that
concurrent enrollment allows both the K-12 school district and
the CCC district to claim apportionments for the same student
(double dip). This bill addresses this concern by explicitly
prohibiting LBCCD from receiving funding for instructional
activity for which LBUSD was already paid.
Summer concurrent enrollment restrictions : One restriction
addressed by this bill is the prohibition on high school
principals approving summer concurrent enrollment for more than
5% of the students in any given grade level. It is important to
note that in recent years the Legislature has approved
exemptions to this limitation for college-level transferable
courses, college-level occupational credit courses that are part
of a degree or certificate program requirement (numerous CTE
courses), and courses to assist high school seniors who have not
yet passed the California High School Exit Examination. These
exemptions appear to cover the vast majority of courses that
would likely be included in the Partnership. Falling under the
5% limitation would likely be Partnership students seeking
enrollment in basic skills courses.
Enrollment registration priority : Nothing in existing law would
prohibit LBCCD and LAUSD from entering into a Partnership
similar to that outlined in this bill. In fact, as previously
noted, the Promise already contains many of the same goals of
the Partnership. The primary change to existing law proposed by
this bill is to authorize LBCCD to provide a priority to
Partnership pupils when registering for college courses. When
there is greater demand than there are course offerings, course
registration priorities play an important role in managing
enrollment by determining which groups of students are enrolled
in needed courses and which students get turned away. As
SB 650
Page 6
previously noted, existing law provides that concurrent
enrollment students receive a low enrollment priority in order
to ensure they do not displace regular CCC students. This bill
does not specify what level of priority LBCCD would provide to
Partnership pupils, so it is unknown which groups of students
might be impacted by moving Partnership pupils up the
registration priority ladder. It is clear, however, that some
students will be affected: General Fund reductions combined with
increased student demand has left CCCs unable to provide course
offerings to fully meet student needs. An approximated 140,000
students have been turned away from CCCs, over 95% of all
classes are at capacity, and estimated 10,000-15,000 students
are on wait lists for courses. An anticipated 350,000 students
will be turned away next year. The Committee may wish to
consider if it is appropriate to authorize LBCCD to prioritize
Partnership students over traditional CCC students.
Proposed amendments : Committee staff recommends several
technical and clarifying amendments, consistent with the
author's stated intent.
Related legislation : AB 160 (Portantino), pending in the Senate
Education Committee, would provide specified exemptions from
concurrent enrollment laws for community college districts that
enter into partnership agreements with local school districts to
provide concurrent enrollment opportunities for high school
students. AB 230 (Carter), pending in the Senate Education
Committee, would exempt students attending middle college high
schools from the requirement that CCC governing boards assign
low enrollment priority to concurrent enrollment students.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Long Beach City College
Long Beach Unified School District
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
SB 650
Page 7
319-3960