BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1846
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1846 (Lopez)
As Amended May 27, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Higher |12-0 |Medina, Baker, Bloom, | |
|Education | |Chávez, Irwin, | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, | |
| | |Linder, Low, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |6-0 |O'Donnell, Kim, | |
| | |McCarty, Santiago, | |
| | |Thurmond, Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |18-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
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| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC)
Chancellor and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction's
(SPI), adult education block grant (AEBG) use of funds report to
the Director of Finance, State Board of Education, and the
Legislature, to include a summary, based on an assessment by
each consortium, regarding the extent to which funds provided to
the consortium, as specified, were insufficient to address the
demands for adult education within the service area of the
consortium.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes both the CCC and K-12 systems to offer and receive
state funding for adult education courses (Education Code (EC)
Sections 41976 and 84757).
2)Authorizes the following classes and courses to be offered by
the school districts and county superintendent of schools for
apportionment purposes from the adult education fund and
prohibits state apportionment to be made for any course or
class not specified in law:
a) Adult programs in parenting, including parent
cooperative preschools, and classes in child growth and
development, parent-child relationships, and parenting;
b) Adult programs in elementary and secondary basic skills
and other courses and classes required for the high school
diploma;
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c) Adult education programs in English as a second
language;
d) Adult education programs for immigrant eligible for
educational services in citizenship, English as a second
language, and workforce preparation classes in the basic
skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing,
mathematics, decisionmaking and problem solving skills, and
other classes required for preparation to participate in
job specific technical training;
e) Adult education programs for adults with disabilities;
f) Adult short-term career technical education programs
with high employment potential;
g) Adult programs for older adults;
h) Programs offering pre-apprenticeship training activities
conducted in coordination with one or more apprenticeship
programs approved by the Division of Apprenticeship
Standards for the occupation and geographic area;
i) Adult programs in home economics; and,
j) Adult programs in health and safety education (EC
Section 41976).
3)Authorizes a school district governing board to require a fee
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of an adult enrolled in a class for adults and prohibits the
total of the fees required and revenues derived from average
daily attendance from exceeding the estimated cost of
maintaining such classes. Current law also prohibits the
imposition of a charge of any kind for a class in English and
citizenship or a class in an elementary subject, nor for any
class which is designated as granting high school credit when
the class is taken by a person who does not hold a high school
diploma. To note: for a class in English and citizenship, a
fee may be charged only until July 1, 2015 (EC Section 52612).
4)Prohibits the local governing board of a community college
district (CCD) maintaining a noncredit course from requiring
an adult enrolled in such a course to pay nonresident tuition
or any fee or charge of any kind for a class in English and
citizenship for foreigners, a class in an elementary subject,
a class designated as granting high school credit to an
individual without a high school diploma or other adult basic
education programs and courses, as specified (EC Section
76380).
5)Charges the CCC Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) and the CDE to
jointly implement an adult education planning process;
authorizes the CCCCO and the CDE to distribute $25 million to
regional consortia to develop plans with the shared goal of
better serving the educational needs of California's adult
learners; and, specifies that the following five areas are to
be addressed in the plans:
a) Elementary and secondary basic skills, including classes
required for a high school diploma;
b) Classes and courses for immigrants in English as a
second language, citizenship, and workforce preparations;
c) Education programs for adults with disabilities;
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d) Short-term career technical education programs with high
employment potential; and,
e) Programs for pre-apprenticeship training activities (EC
Section 84830).
6)Requires the CCC Chancellor and the SPI, by September 30,
following any fiscal year for which funds are appropriated for
the AEBG program, to report about the use of the funds to the
Director of Finance, the State Board of Education, and the
Legislature. Specifies that the report shall include, among
others, a summary of the adult education plan operative for
each consortium, the distribution schedule for each
consortium, and the effectiveness of each consortium in
meeting the educational needs of adults in its respective
region (EC Section 84917).
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor and absorbable costs to the CCC for the
additional reporting requirement.
COMMENTS: Background. Adult education in California is part of
a large, complex, and diverse multi-provider system. It is a
vital and integral part of the larger educational system that
provides adults with the skills and education that enable them
to earn a high school diploma or a general educational
development (GED) certificate, become American citizens, acquire
specific job skills, learn English, and/or become independent
and productive parents and members of their community.
During 2007 - 2008, adult education was funded at $750 million;
however, due to the 2008 recession, adult education funding was
reduced to less than half of its prior levels.
Purpose of the measure. According to the author, "Today, for
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many immigrant families, adult education is a critical resource
to pursue the American dream for the student and their family.
As a state who is home to over 10 million immigrants it is
important that we build upon the investment our state has
already made to immigrant communities to provide them the
resources to integrate into our society."
State apportionment. The majority of funding for adult
education and community college noncredit comes from state
apportionment. The state provides approximately 90% of the
total funding for adult education and community college
noncredit programs. State apportionment funds are distributed
to adult schools through average daily attendance. Funding for
community college noncredit is based upon a formula per Full
Time Equivalent Student (FTES). The remaining financing,
approximately 10%, is provided by federal funds.
AB 86 Regional Consortia. The Governor, in January 2013,
proposed in his 2013-2014 budget, shifting the coordination and
administration of all adult education programs to the CCC. The
K-12 adult education program would be eliminated, but CCC could
contract with school districts to provide instruction. Due to
concerns about the timing and structure of the proposal, the
Governor's May 2013 revision of the budget withdrew the proposal
and instead maintained the current system for two years while
allocating $30 million for planning grants awarded to regional
consortia comprised of CCC and K-12 districts for the purpose of
creating plans to integrate existing programs and determine how
best to serve adult students within regions throughout the
state. The budget adopted by the Legislature reduced the
planning grants to $25 million and adopted trailer bill language
in AB 86 (Budget Committee), Chapter 48, Statutes of 2013).
AB 86 specified that the plans developed by the regional
consortia shall only include the provision of the following
programs:
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1)Elementary and secondary basic skills (GED);
2)Classes and courses for immigrants (citizenship, English as a
second language);
3)Education programs for adults with disabilities;
4)Short-term career technical education programs; and,
5)Programs for apprentices.
AB 104 (Budget Committee), Chapter 13, Statutes of 2015, AEBG.
The 2015-2016 budget allocated $500 million and created the AEBG
program to provide adult education services through regional
consortia. The Superintendent of Public Instruction and CCC
Chancellor jointly approve consortia, including governance
structures and funding allocations, with the advice of the
Executive Director of the State Board of Education.
The 71 AEBG consortia are distributing funds to enhance
consortium-wide outcomes. To note, an update on the progress of
the AEBG is due to the Governor and Legislature in September
2016.
Analysis Prepared by:
Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN: 0003257
AB 1846
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