BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 650
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 650 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: June 23, 2011
ÝThis bill was referred to and heard by the Assembly Higher
Education Committee as it relates to the issues under its
jurisdiction]
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 for purposes of concurrent enrollment.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the LBCCD and the LBUSD to enter into a partnership
to provide participating pupils with an aligned sequence of
rigorous high school and college coursework leading to
capstone college courses, with consistent and jointly
established eligibility for 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 (CSU) 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)States that the purpose of the partnership shall be to provide
a seamless bridge to college for pupils not already college
bound and to reduce the time needed for advanced students to
complete programs.
4)Requires a pupil who elects to participate in the partnership
to complete the augmented California Standards Test (CST) in
grade 11 to determine readiness for college-level coursework,
and to enroll in coursework during grade 12 to remedy any
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deficiencies diagnosed by the augmented test, and requires the
consent of a parent or guardian prior to a pupil's
participation in the partnership.
5)Specifies that existing concurrent enrollment provisions do
not apply to pupils enrolled in the partnership.
6)Requires the LBCCD and the 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, and requires the LBCCD to participate in the Early
Assessment Program in order to participate in the partnership.
7)Specifies the following relative to funding for purposes of
the partnership:
a) LBCCD shall be credited with additional units of
full-time equivalent students (FTES) attributable to the
attendance of partnership pupils at LBCC;
b) LBUSD shall be credited for attendance by partnership
pupils' attendance at school for the minimum school day in
the manner prescribed by law;
c) LBCCD shall not receive funding for an instructional
activity for which a school district has been, or shall be,
paid; and,
d) LBCCD shall not receive increased allocations which are
above the regularly funded FTES enrollment cap from the
General Fund.
8)Requires the LBCCD, if the LBCCD elects to enter into the
partnership, to provide an independent evaluation of the
partnership to the California Community College (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 specified objectives including increasing
college retention and completion rates and improving
assessment performance.
9)Requires the evaluation to be submitted to the Legislature on
or before December 30, 2016, and repeals this provision on
December 30, 2019.
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10)Authorizes the governing board of the LBCCD 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 participating in the partnership, and
authorizes for purposes of receiving state apportionments, the
LBCCD to include high school pupils who attend a community
college within the district and participate in the
partnership, provided that no school district has received
reimbursement for the same instructional activity.
11)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.
12)Specifies that credit for partnership courses completed shall
be at the level determined to be appropriate by the governing
boards of the LBCCD and the LBUSD pursuant to the terms of the
partnership.
13)Authorizes LBCCD to assign priority for enrollment and course
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; and,
c) Students participating in the partnership.
14)Sunsets the provisions of this bill on June 30, 2018, and
repeals them on January 1, 2019.
15)Makes various findings and declarations relative to the Long
Beach College Promise.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the governing board of a school district, upon
recommendation of the principal of a pupil's school of
attendance, and with parental consent, to authorize a pupil
who would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work
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to attend community college as a special part-time or
full-time student.
2)Prohibits a principal from recommending, for any particular
grade level, or community college summer session attendance,
more than 5% of the total number of pupils who completed that
grade immediately prior to the time of recommendation.
3)Exempts from the 5% cap a pupil recommended by his or her
principal for enrollment in a college-level summer session
course if the course in which the pupil is enrolled meets
specified criteria and repeals these provisions on January 1,
2014.
4)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.
5)Allows the governing board of a CCC to restrict enrollment of
K-12 students based on age, completion of a specified grade
level, and demonstrated eligibility.
6)Provides that, for purposes of receiving state apportionments,
CCC districts may only include high school students within the
CCC district's report on FTES if the students are enrolled in
courses that are open to the general public, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, likely minor, non-reimbursable costs.
COMMENTS : Concurrent enrollment provides pupils the opportunity
to enroll in college courses and earn college credit while still
enrolled in high school. Currently, a pupil is allowed to
concurrently enroll in a CCC as a "special admit" while still
attending high school, if the pupil's school district determines
that the pupil would benefit from "advanced scholastic or
vocational work." Special-admit students have typically been
advanced pupils wanting to take more challenging coursework or
pupils who come from high schools where Advanced Placement or
honors courses are not widely available.
This bill establishes a local partnership between the LBUSD and
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the LBCCD for purposes of providing participating pupils a
bridge to college for pupils not already college-bound and to
reduce the time needed for advanced students to complete
programs.
Background on the Long Beach College Promise : According to
information provided by the author, the "Long Beach College
Promise" is an extension of the Long Beach Educational
Partnership, which was created in 1994 and became a national
model for its efforts to provide a "seamless education" for Long
Beach students from preschool to graduate school. On March 20,
2008, education leaders from the LBUSD, LBCC, and CSU Long Beach
(CSULB) signed the Long Beach College Promise providing all
LBUSD students the opportunity to receive a college education.
Beginning in fall 2008, the Long Beach College Promise provides
a tuition-free semester at LBCC, guaranteed college admission,
early and continued outreach, and multiple pathway support. It
appears that the Long Beach College Promise already contains
many of the same goals of the partnership established through
this bill. However, this bill seeks to give flexibility to the
LBUSD and LBCCD with regard to existing concurrent enrollment
restrictions, so as to allow for greater participation of high
school pupils in the partnership.
Concurrent enrollment restrictions : One of the most significant
changes to existing law proposed by this bill is to authorize
LBCCD to provide a priority to partnership pupils when enrolling
and registering for college courses. Existing law provides that
concurrent enrollment students receive a low enrollment priority
in order to ensure they do not displace regular CCC students.
During difficult budget times, course registration priorities
can play an important role in managing enrollment at CCCs. This
bill gives LBCCD the opportunity to prioritize students pursuing
and making satisfactory academic progress toward a degree,
certificate, transfer, basic skills, students making progress on
an individual education plan toward a career development
objective, and students participating in the partnership, so it
is unclear as to which groups of students might be impacted by
allowing partnership pupils to be amongst the three priorities
stated in this bill. It can be argued however that some
students will be affected in consideration that General Fund
reductions combined with increased student demand has left many
CCCs around the state unable to provide course offerings to
fully meet student needs. On the other hand, it can be argued
that this bill could reduce the need for remediation, as this
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partnership tries to address academic deficiencies while pupils
are still in high school.
Additionally, current law restricts summer concurrent enrollment
to 5% of the total number of high school pupils who completed a
grade immediately prior to the time of a principal making a
recommendation and provides for specified exemptions to the 5%
cap. Additionally, current law requires principal
recommendation and school board authority in order for eligible
high school pupils to attend a community college as a special
part-time or full-time student during any session or term. A
pupil that is not recommended by a principal is able to attend a
community college as a special part-time or full-time student,
the pupil's parent or guardian petitions the governing board of
the school district to authorize the attendance, and if a pupil
is not enrolled in public school, his or her parent can directly
petition the president of the CCC. This bill exempts pupils
participating in the partnership from all of these
aforementioned requirements, and instead, requires a
participating pupil to have parental consent, to complete the
augmented CST in grade 11, and to enroll in coursework in grade
12 to remedy deficiencies.
The author states, "Current law restricts Long Beach Community
College (LBCC) from admitting more high school students to take
courses at LBCC. This bill would give greater flexibility to
LBCC to admit more Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD)
seniors who are participating in the Long Beach College Promise
Program."
Previous concerns about abuses of concurrent enrollment in the
CCCs have led to some of the existing restrictions, for example,
in 2002 some community college districts were inappropriately
enrolling high school students in physical education (PE)
courses, instructors were paid twice for the same courses, state
apportionments were paid to both K-12 and the CCC for the same
courses, and CCC districts were using summer sports camps to
inflate their enrollments for significant monetary gain. Some
districts eventually admitted their illegal actions and repaid
funds. Statute now places strict limits on PE concurrent
enrollment. While this bill removes 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, concerns have been expressed that expanding concurrent
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enrollment can potentially allow for increased "double dipping"
on the part of K-12 and CCC districts. The concern is generally
that concurrent enrollment allows both the school district and
the CCC district to claim apportionments for the same student.
This bill seeks to address this concern by prohibiting LBCCD
from receiving funding for instructional activities for which a
school district has been, or shall be, paid an allowance or
apportionment.
Sunset date : According to the rules of this Committee, any bill
that proposes the creation of a pilot project shall contain a
statement of purpose of the proposed pilot project which
specifically states the goals or objectives and the length of
time of the project; any such bill shall also contain a sunset
provision not to exceed five years. This bill contains a
six-year sunset and the author points out that the reason is to
ensure the bill encompasses an entire student cohort
participating in the Long Beach College Promise. Assuming a
cohort takes 5 years to complete the program, and given that the
program started in the fall of 2008, ten years will have passed
by the time this bill sunsets, which appears to give ample time
to study the impact of the pilot program. Staff recommends an
amendment to shorten the sunset from six to five years,
consistent with this Committee's rules.
Technical amendments : To replace references to "a school
district" with "Long Beach Unified School District," as
appropriate, throughout the bill, as this bill is specific to
the LBUSD and LBCCCD.
On page 6, line 6, before "credit" add "at least one of the
following," in order to not imply that the curricular pathways
that would be offered through this bill can only lead to only
one of the following options: general education, a CTE
certificate, or a degree but rather the pathways can lead to
more than one of these pathways.
This bill was heard and passed by the Assembly Higher Education
Committee on June 21, 2011 with an 8-0 vote.
Arguments in support : The Long Beach Unified School District
writes, "All three Long Beach education institutions have
committed to working together to deliver the College Promise for
the young people and families of the Long Beach area to assess,
improve and expand high quality, world-class educational
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opportunities. SB 650 (Lowenthal) is intended to accelerate
this process by providing LBCCD with additional flexibility to
ensure even more students are adequately prepared to enter
higher education institutions and graduate or transfer to CSULB
in a timely fashion."
Related legislation : AB 160 (Portantino), pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, provides 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 on the Governor's desk, exempts
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
Long Beach Community College District
Long Beach Unified School District
Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Aviña / ED. / (916) 319-2087