BILL NUMBER: AB 1985	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Williams

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2016

   An act to add Article 9 (commencing with Section 79500) to Chapter
9 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
relating to Advanced Placement credit.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1985, as introduced, Williams. Postsecondary education.
   Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, the Regents of the University of California, and
the Trustees of the California State University, with appropriate
consultation with the Academic Senates of the respective segments, to
jointly develop, maintain, and disseminate a shared core curriculum
in general education courses for the purposes of transfer.
   This bill would require the California Community Colleges to
develop, and each community college district to adopt, a uniform
policy to award a pupil who passes an Advanced Placement exam with a
score of 3 or higher credit for a course within this curriculum with
subject matter similar to that of the Advanced Placement exam.
   To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on community
college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local
program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Article 9 (commencing with Section 79500) is added to
Chapter 9 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
to read:

      Article 9.  Advanced Placement Credit


   79500.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a
uniform Advanced Placement (AP) credit policy within the California
Community Colleges.
   (b) Studies consistently find that pupils who earn AP Exam scores
of three and higher are likely to demonstrate multiple measures of
college success.
   (c) The lack of a uniform AP credit policy often serves as an
academic and financial barrier for students enrolling in California
Community Colleges and is a transfer obstacle for many pupils.
   79501.  The California Community Colleges shall develop, and each
community college district shall adopt, a uniform policy to award a
pupil who passes an Advanced Placement exam with a score of three or
higher credit for a California Intersegmental General Education
Transfer Curriculum course with subject matter similar to that of the
Advanced Placement exam.
  SEC. 2.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.