BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 626
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
626 (Low) - As Amended April 13, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires, under specified circumstances, that
community college districts (CCDs) to provide funding
specifically to increase their full-time/part-time (FT/PT)
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faculty ratio and increase support for PT faculty, as specified.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires CCDs, when state funds are specifically appropriated
for the Student Success and Support Program (SSSP), and funds
have not been specifically designated in the budget to
increase the FT/PT faculty ratio and to support PT faculty,
if:
a) There is a district matching requirement for the SSSP
fund, to allocate one-half of districts' matching funds as
follows:
i) Districts with between 67% and 75% of credit
instruction hours taught by FT faculty in the prior
fiscal year must use up to 33% of the allocation as
needed to reach the 75% state standard for this measure.
ii) Districts with less than 67% of credit instruction
hours taught by FT faculty in the prior fiscal year must
use up to 40% of the allocation as needed to reach the
75% state standard for this measure.
iii) Requires funds remaining after the allocations in
(a) and (b), to the extent feasible, and consistent with
an applicable collective bargaining agreement, to be
divided between expenditures in support of functions
performed by FT faculty and those in support of functions
performed by PT faculty in areas that contribute to
student success.
b) There is no district matching requirement for the SSSP
funding, to allocate one-half of the state SSSP funds they
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receive as indicated in (i) or (ii), as applicable, and
(iii).
2)Specifies that, once a district has achieved at least a 75%
FT/PT faculty ratio and PT faculty are fully-supported for
those activities contributing to student success, as
determined by the district, the funds referred to in (a) and
(b) may be allocated for other purposes consistent with the
SSSP.
3)Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) Board of
Governors (BOG) to adopt regulations to implement the above.
4)States legislative intent that the BOG work with the Academic
Senate of the CCC and others to develop goals for the FT/PT
faculty ratio in noncredit instruction.
FISCAL EFFECT:
The bill could result in a reallocation of community college
funding, and would depend on (a) the amount of state funds
designated for SSSP and whether state funds are also directed
for increasing the FT/PT ratio and for supporting PT faculty,
and (b) the amount of district matching funds for SSSP. For
example, in the current-year, state SSSP funding totals $200
million, there is no designated funding to increase the FT/PT
ratio, and the districts' SSSP totals $400 million. Therefore,
under the bill, $200 million of the districts' match would have
been reallocated to increase the FT/PT ratio (almost $80
million) and to support FT and PT faculty ($120 million). (In
2014, only three districts' FT/PT ratio exceeded 75% and in only
six districts did the ratio exceed 67%.)
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The total cost statewide to reach 75% for FT/PT and to provide
more support to PT faculty would be up to several hundred
million dollars.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. The Education Code, states "The Legislature wishes
to recognize and make efforts to address longstanding policy
of the board of governors that at least 75 percent of the
hours of credit instruction in the California Community
Colleges, as a system, should be taught by full-time
instructors." As stated in the Legislative findings of this
measure, in 2014, the percent of credit courses taught by F/T
faculty statewide was only 56.14%, indicating the system has
not come close to reaching the goal of 75%.
2)Purpose. According to the author, with F/T faculty and P/T
faculty support being "essential educational priorities that
contribute to student success," "logic follows that if there
are no other state directed monies for purposes of improving
the "75/25", full-time hiring or part-time support, that SSSP
funds should be used for these purposes." The author contends
this measure follows current Education Code that outlines a
differentiated amount of spending for districts based on their
local "75/25" ratio.
3)Related Legislation. SB 373 (Pan), pending in Senate
Appropriations, caps the number of PT faculty and requires
CCDs to only hire FT faculty until they reach the 75%
threshold.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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