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 SB 650 Page 2 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. SB 650 Page 3 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 SB 650 Page 4 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 SB 650 Page 5 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 SB 650 Page 6 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 SB 650 Page 7 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 SB 650 Page 8 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