BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        SB 195|
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                                 UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 195
          Author:   Liu (D)
          Amended:  9/6/13
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  8-1, 4/17/13
          AYES:  Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Jackson,  
            Monning
          NOES:  Huff

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  6-1, 5/23/13
          AYES:  De León, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters

           SENATE FLOOR  :  30-8, 5/28/13
          AYES:  Beall, Block, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De  
            León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez,  
            Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Pavley,  
            Price, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
          NOES:  Anderson, Berryhill, Emmerson, Fuller, Huff, Knight,  
            Nielsen, Walters
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Padilla, Vacancy

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  Not available


           SUBJECT  :    Postsecondary Education Statewide Goals

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill establishes legislative intent that budget  
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          and policy decisions regarding postsecondary education generally  
          adhere to the goals of:  (1) improving student access and  
          success; (2) better aligning degrees and credentials with the  
          state's economic, workforce, and civic needs; and (3) ensuring  
          the effective and efficient use of resources.  This bill  
          establishes legislative intent that performance metrics be  
          developed for the purpose of monitoring progress toward meeting  
          the aforementioned goals and informing the annual state budget  
          process.

           Assembly Amendments  eliminate a working group established by the  
          bill to develop metrics and targets, and make technical and  
          clarifying changes.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law establishes the Donahoe Higher  
          Education Act (Donahoe Act) which outlines the laws under which  
          postsecondary educational institutions operate in California. 

          Within the Donahoe Act, existing law establishes findings and  
          declarations based on the periodic review of the Master Plan for  
          Higher Education (Master Plan) by the Legislature.  Existing law  
          declares the intent of the Legislature to outline in statute,  
          clear, concise, statewide goals and outcomes for effective  
          implementation of the Master Plan, attuned to the public  
          interest of the people and State of California, and to expect  
          the system as a whole and the higher education segments to be  
          accountable for attaining those goals.  Additionally, consistent  
          with the spirit of the original master plan and subsequent  
          updates, existing law declares the intent of the Legislature  
          that the governing boards be given ample discretion in  
          implementing policies and programs necessary to attain those  
          goals. 

          This bill establishes legislative intent that budget and policy  
          decisions regarding postsecondary education generally adhere to  
          the goals of:  (1) improving student access and success; (2)  
          better aligning degrees and credentials with the state's  
          economic, workforce, and civic needs; and (3) ensuring the  
          effective and efficient use of resources.  This bill establishes  
          legislative intent that performance metrics be developed for the  
          purpose of monitoring progress toward meeting the aforementioned  
          goals and informing the annual state budget process.

           Comments

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          According to the Senate Education Committee:

           History/need for this bill  .   There has been a growing trend  
          toward state accountability systems for higher education using  
          different approaches and indicators.  Nearly all states  
          (including Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Florida and  
          Washington) have some form of mandated statewide accountability  
          program for higher education that includes goals, performance  
          measures, and various degrees of performance funding.  

          In the past decade, the Senate has engaged in the following  
          activities relative to higher education accountability:

          1. In 2002, the Senate commissioned a study of national trends  
             in higher education accountability.  The resulting report,  
             "An Accountability Framework for California Higher Education:  
              Informing Public Policy and Improving Outcome," provided the  
             initial framework for developing an integrated system of  
             accountability for higher education in California and was the  
             basis for several legislative efforts to implement such a  
             framework from 2004 to 2011.

          2. On January 31, 2007, the Senate Education Committee held an  
             informational hearing on Higher Education Accountability.   
             National experts testified on trends in higher education  
             accountability as well as California's specific challenges in  
             meeting the educational and economic needs of its citizenry. 

          3. On March 20, 2013, the Senate Education Committee held an  
             informational hearing on "Higher Education Accountability:   
             Statewide Goals and Metrics."  National experts testified  
             about various state efforts to implement goals and metrics;  
             using progress outcome, efficiency and effectiveness metrics  
             to measure performance; potential data sources, models for  
             implementation and oversight, and the roles of both the  
             Governor and Legislature in developing goals and metrics. 

          According to a 2010 Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO)  
          publication, "The Master Plan at 50:  Greater than the Sum of  
          its Parts," California, which set the gold standard for higher  
          education planning in 1960, now stands alone among sizeable  
          states in its lack of established goals, a statewide plan, and  
          an accountability system for higher education.

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           Prior Legislation
           
          AB 1901 (Ruskin, Chapter 201, Statutes of 2010) codified the  
          findings and principles that emerged from the 2010 Review of the  
          Master Plan for Higher Education and declared the Legislature's  
          intent to statutorily outline clear, concise, statewide goals  
          and outcomes for effective implementation of the Master Plan and  
          the expectation of the higher education system as a whole to be  
          accountable for attaining those goals.
           
          AB 2 (Portantino, 2011) and AB 218 (Portantino, 2009),  
          essentially identical bills, would have required that the state  
          establish an accountability framework to biennially assess and  
          report on the collective progress of the state's system of  
          postsecondary education in meeting specified educational and  
          economic goals.  Both bills were held under submission in the  
          Senate Appropriations Committee. 

          SB 325 (Scott, 2007), also nearly identical to AB 2 and AB 218,  
          was passed by the Legislature and vetoed by Governor  
          Schwarzenegger in 2008.  The Governor's veto message read,  
          "While I respect the author's intent to establish a statewide  
          system of accountability for postsecondary education and a  
          framework to assess the collective contribution of California's  
          institutions of higher education toward meeting statewide  
          economic and educational goals, this bill falls short in  
          providing any framework for incentives or consequences that  
          would modify behavior to meet any policy objectives.  I believe  
          our public education systems should be held accountable for  
          achieving results, including our higher education segments, and  
          would consider a measure in the future that provides adequate  
          mechanisms that will effectuate tangible gains in student  
          outcomes and operational efficiencies."

          SB 1331 (Alpert, 2004), passed by the Legislature and vetoed by  
          Governor Schwarzenegger in 2004, would have established a  
          California Postsecondary Education Accountability structure to  
          provide an annual assessment of how the state is meeting  
          identified statewide public policy goals in higher education.   
          The Governor's veto message read in pertinent part, "While I  
          favor accountability for all levels of education, this bill  
          mainly establishes only a reporting structure for four broad  
          policy goals rather than providing for outcomes, such as  

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          performance based measures, historically associated with  
          accountability systems."

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

          Unknown

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  9/10/13)

          Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
          Campaign for College Opportunity
          Long Beach Community College District
          University of California
          Valley Industry and Commerce Association

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, the  
          goals established by this bill will be the basis for  
          establishing metrics and targets and for assessing progress in  
          meeting California's educational and workforce needs.  The  
          author's office notes that the current fiscal climate makes it  
          especially important that California be clear about priorities  
          for the use of the public funding provided to our institutions.   
          According to the author, "If we are clear about the goals and  
          the measures, we can then be clearer about the budget and policy  
          decisions necessary to support our higher education system in  
          meeting our goals."


          PQ:k  9/10/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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