BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1385
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1385 (Ting)
As Amended May 5, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+--------------------+-----------------------|
|Higher |9-3 |Medina, Bloom, |Baker, Chávez, Harper |
|Education | |Irwin, Levine, | |
| | |Linder, Low, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, | |
| | |Williams | |
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SUMMARY: Prohibits the accrediting agency for California
Community Colleges (CCCs) from imposing a special assessment on
CCCs for legal fees for any lawsuit, unless there has been an
affirmative vote of the majority of the chief executive officers,
or their designees, of all of the CCCs. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits the CCC accrediting agency from imposing a special
assessment on CCCs for the accrediting agency's legal fees for
any lawsuit, unless there has been an affirmative vote of the
majority of the chief executive officers, or their designees, of
all of the CCCs.
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2)Provides that each CCC, as represented by its chief executive
officer, or his or her designee, shall be eligible to cast a
vote on the assessment.
3)Provides that this provision does not apply to the accrediting
agency's activities that are related to private educational
institutions in the state or educational institutions outside of
the state.
4)Provides that this section does not affect the authority of the
United States Department of Education regarding educational
institutions.
5)Sets aside the provisions of this bill if it is determined by
the CCC Chancellor that federal criteria for recognition of an
accrediting agency prohibits a recognized accrediting agency
from complying with the requirements.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the CCC Board of Governors (BOG) to provide general
supervision over the CCC and requires the BOG to prescribe
minimum standards for CCC formation and operation (Education
Code Section 66700).
2)Requires the BOG to develop minimum standards governing academic
standards, employment policies and shared governance; evaluate
CCC fiscal and educational effectiveness and provide assistance
when districts encounter management difficulties; administer
state funding and establish minimum conditions entitling CCC
districts to receive state funds; requires the CCC BOG, in
determining if a CCC district satisfies the minimum conditions
for receipt of apportionment funding, to review the
accreditation status of the CCCs within that district review and
approve educational programs (Education Code Section 70901).
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3)Requires the accrediting agency for CCCs to report to the
appropriate policy and budget subcommittees of the Legislature
upon the issuance of a decision that affects the accreditation
status of a community college and, on a biannual basis, any
accreditation policy changes that affect the accreditation
process or status for a CCC; and, requires the CCC Chancellor's
Office to ensure that the appropriate policy and budget
subcommittees are provided the aforementioned required
information (Education Code Sections 72208).
4)BOG regulations (5 California Code of Regulation Section 51016)
require CCCs to be accredited by the Accrediting Commission for
Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). However, BOG recently
approved regulatory changes to remove the explicit requirement
of accreditation by the ACCJC. The regulatory change would
provide that accreditation shall be determined only by an
accrediting agency approved recommended by the CCC Chancellor
and approved by the BOG. The BOG is authorized to approve only
an accreditor recognized and approved by the United States
Secretary of the Department of Education (USDE) under the Higher
Education Act of 1965 acting within the agency's scope of
recognition by the Secretary.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. According to the author, CCCs
are being "forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund
the ACCJC's legal bills" following its decision to terminate the
accreditation of City College of San Francisco (CCSF). The author
notes that CCCs were assessed a 5% special assessment for 2014-15;
ACCJC is expected to issue a similar assessment in 2015-16 for
CCSF-associated legal fees. The author also argues, Judge Karnow
"ultimately ruled that the ACCJC had violated the due process
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rights of CCSF when they departed from the ACCJC's evaluation team
findings and identified 10 additional deficiencies without
providing details to the college or affording them to opportunity
to respond before the ACCJC made the decision to revoke their
accreditation." The author notes that, even though ACCJC was
found to have violated the law, CCCs, and ultimately the state,
are forced to fund the legal defense or face the threat of loss of
accreditation. The author believes that if ACCJC continues to
take such actions, the state will be forced to continue to fund
ACCJC legal defenses. This bill is designed to ensure CCCs, and
ultimately California taxpayers, are not forced to fund ACCJC
legal costs without the approval of the majority of CCC chief
executive officers.
Federal criteria for recognition. The USDE provides recognition
of accrediting agencies. In order for an institution to
participate in federal financial aid programs an institution must
be accredited by a recognized accrediting agency. Accrediting
agencies are required pursuant to federal regulations to meet
several outlined criteria for recognition, including requiring the
accrediting agency to be separate and independent, meaning, among
other requirements, that the agency develops and determines its
own budget with no review or consultation with any other entity or
organization (34 Code of Federal Regulation Section 602.14(b)(5)).
An alternative approval by the USDE Secretary is available, but
that alternative also requires the agency to have budgetary and
administrative autonomy (34 Code of Federal Regulation Section
602.14(d)(3)).
Analysis Prepared by:
Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN:
0000271
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