BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1391
AUTHOR: Hancock
AMENDED: April 10, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 24, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez
NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Public Safety. A "do pass" motion should
include referral to the Senate Public Safety Committee.
SUBJECT : Community colleges: inmate education programs:
computation of
apportionments.
SUMMARY
This bill waives the open course requirement for community
college courses offered in state correctional facilities
and allow attendance hours generated by credit courses to
be funded at the credit rate, instead of the noncredit
funding rate. In addition, the bill requires the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in
collaboration with the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges to establish the Innovative Career
Technical Education Grant program, as specified.
BACKGROUND
Current law authorizes a community college district to
claim state apportionment for classes it provides to
inmates of any city, county, or city and county jail, road
camp, farm for adults, or federal correctional facility
(not for inmates in state correctional facilities). Under
current law the attendance hours generated by these
classes, whether credit or noncredit, are counted as
noncredit attendance hours for apportionment purposes.
(Education Code § 84810.5)
Classes provided to inmates of state correctional
facilities are not currently authorized for state
apportionment (funding). In addition, no funds provided
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for inmate education programs can be considered as part of
the base revenues for community college districts in
computing apportionments. (EC § 84810.5)
Courses offered to state correctional inmates must be
"distance education" courses open to the public, as well.
Under existing law, California Community College courses
offered in local and federal correctional facilities that
are not open to the public are funded at a "noncredit rate"
(which is less than a "for credit rate"), even if the
courses are actually for credit.
ANALYSIS
This bill waives the open course requirement (where
courses must be offered to the general public) for
community college courses offered in state correctional
facilities and allow attendance hours generated by credit
courses to be funded at the credit rate, instead of the
noncredit funding rate. In addition, the bill requires the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in
collaboration with the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges to establish the Innovative Career
Technical Education Grant program, as specified. More
specifically, the bill:
1) Waives open course provisions for any local community
college district that provides classes for inmates in
state correctional facilities.
2) Expands the existing authority of local community
college governing boards to claim full-time equivalent
student (FTES) for inmate education programs to
include FTES generated in state correctional
facilities.
3) Prohibits the use of the waiver of open course
provisions granted in the bill in any other context or
situation.
4) Authorizes attendance hours generated in community
college courses offered in state, city, county or
federal correctional facilities to be funded at
either: (a) the marginal credit rate for credit
courses, or (b) the noncredit rate for noncredit
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courses.
5) Deletes the prohibition on the inclusion of funds
received for inmate education programs in the base
revenue computations for community college district
apportionments.
6) Prohibits community colleges from claiming state
funding for attendance hours generated in any inmate
education class for which the college receives full
compensation for its direct education costs or through
contract or instructional agreement with another
public or private agency, individual or group of
individuals, and requires the offset of state aid for
partial compensation received from any such source.
7) Declares that the bill does not provide a source of
funds to shift, supplant or reduce costs incurred by
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in
providing inmate education.
8) Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR), in collaboration with the
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office
(CCCCO) to establish the Innovative Career Technical
Education Grant Program, as specified.
9) Specifies the general education and workforce
development goals and details regarding the
administration of the grant program be included in an
interagency agreement between CDCR and the CCC
Chancellor's office. Requires the CDCR and CCCCO to
develop metrics for evaluations of the efficacy and
success of the grant program. Requires the evaluation
reports be submitted to the Legislature every three
years beginning July 2017.
10) Requires programs developed to provide, among other
things, the following:
a) Sequences of courses leading to industry,
business, or state certification.
b) Community college courses that offer
units transferrable to the University of
California and the California State University.
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c) Information on reentry programs with job
search assistance, as specified.
d) If applicable, information about
preapprentice and state-certified apprenticeship
programs with a record of hiring participants of
the program with similar education upon their
release from incarceration.
11) Requires an unspecified amount of funding, beginning
in 2014-15 and annually thereafter, be transferred
from the CDCR to the CCCCO for the purposes of the
program. In addition, the bill requires CDCR to
provide for up to an unspecified number of grants,
with an unspecified number of these grants being
awarded for programs offered at a women's correctional
facility.
12) Requires the CDCR, in consultation with the CCCCO, to
determine the amount of grant awards, as specified.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office,
inmate education, both academic and career technical
education are key to giving inmates the skills and
social support in finding employment upon release from
prison. While some higher education and community
organizations provide career skills development
opportunities to inmates, fewer collaborations to date
have resulted on hands-on sequences of courses leading
to industry or state certifications known to be
important in seeking subsequent employment. This
measure will allow community colleges to collect funds
for inmate programs within prisons and work in
collaboration with the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation. Community college
expertise and faculty connections to workforce
networks of employers with a track record of hiring
formerly incarcerated men and women are key components
to the inmate education proposals within this measure.
2) RAND study provides basis for moving toward meaningful
collaborative approach . In 2013, the Rand Corporation
released a study entitled:
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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education
- the report included "?.A common thread among
instructional delivery methods is that - programs with
courses taught by college instructors, programs with
courses taught by instructors external to the
correctional facility, and programs that have a
post-release component - can connect inmates both
directly and indirectly with the outside community.
In addition, college instructors and instructors
external to the correctional facility can potentially
infuse the program with approaches, exercises, and
standards being used in more traditional instructional
settings. Programs with post-release components can
provide continuity of support that can assist inmates
as they continue on in education and/or enter the
workforce in the months immediately after they are
released.
3) Elimination of Board of Governors (BOG) discretion .
This bill requires that open course provisions be
waived, eliminating the discretion of the BOG to
oversee, through regulation, the appropriate payment
of apportionment for inmate education programs. It is
unclear why it is necessary to amend current law in
this regard, since local community college districts
may already claim apportionment for inmate education
programs notwithstanding open course provisions.
4) Would CCCs shift course offerings to the richer FTES
funded rates? As of March 2011, credit courses are
currently funded at the rate of $4,565 per FTES and
noncredit courses at $2,745 per FTES, a difference of
$1,834. Would colleges begin to reclassify some
existing noncredit courses as credit, without a
sufficient educational basis?
5) California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) typically is funded to provide
inmate education in state correctional facilities.
However, in the past, as a result of an unallocated
reductions, cost overruns, or general deficiencies in
other areas of their budget the CDCR's has temporarily
suspended or cut back on the amount and level of
educational program offered within their institutions.
According to the CDCR Office of Correctional
Education, academic courses through the 12th grade are
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available at most of their institutions, and 15
different vocational trades are taught within CDCR
facilities.
Would the offering of credit funded instruction by
community colleges make it easier for CDCR to scale
back its rehabilitative programs? Previous
legislation similar to this bill raised issues
surrounding the possible supplanting of CDCR's inmate
education effort. This bill contains language
specifying these provisions shall not be construed as
providing a source of funds to shift, supplant or
reduce the current CDCR efforts.
6) Prior Legislation .
AB 216 (Swanson, 2011) was similar in the funding
aspects to this measure. This measure passed from
this Committee on a 9-0 vote.
AB 216 was held on the Senate Appropriations suspense
file.
AB 1702 (Swanson, 2010). This measure passed from this
Committee on an 8-0 vote. AB 1702 was held on the
Senate Appropriations suspense file.
SB 574 (Hancock, 2009). This measure passed from this
Committee on a 9-0 vote. SB 574 was ultimately held
on the Senate Appropriations suspense file.
SB 413 (Scott, 2008) was nearly identical to SB 574.
SB 413 was vetoed by the Governor whose veto message
read in pertinent part:
"This bill is substantively similar to a bill I
previously vetoed in a prior legislative session.
While I respect the author's attempt to get
community colleges to play a role in improving
instructional delivery to correctional inmates,
this bill as drafted appears to create
inappropriate fiscal incentives for community
colleges, state prisons, local correctional
agencies, and other contracting entities that may
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lead to supplanting current funding provided
through the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation."
SUPPORT
Community College League of California
Kern Community College District
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Peralta Community College District
Rio Hondo Community College District
South Orange County Community College District
West Kern Community College District
Yuba Community College District
OPPOSITION
None on file.