BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 1050 (De León) - Postsecondary education:  college readiness
          
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          |Version: May 10, 2016           |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0          |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: May 16, 2016      |Consultant: Jillian Kissee      |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          
          Bill  
          Summary:  This bill: (1) establishes the K-12 College Readiness  
          Block Grant, contingent upon funding provided by statute or the  
          annual budget act, to provide one-time funding to K-12 districts  
          to prepare high school pupils for admission to college; (2)  
          requires, as a condition of annual budget act funding, as  
          specified, that the University of California (UC) develop and  
          implement a plan and timeline for increasing the enrollment of  
          resident students, especially those from high schools which have  
          75 percent or greater enrollment of students that are English  
          learners, low-income, or foster youth; and (3) requests that the  
          UC establish a California subject matter project to provide  
          appropriate school personnel with strategies for improving  
          college readiness, as specified.  


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           Block Grant: Funding will ultimately depend upon the  







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            availability of one-time funding available for this purpose.   
            Anticipated costs in the low hundreds of millions spent over  
            three years.  (Proposition 98) 
           UC: The actual costs of the UC-related requirements in this  
            bill will depend upon the amount of enrollment funding that  
            would be provided in the annual budget act.  The requirement  
            for each campus to increase enrollment, and significantly  
            increase LCFF Plus students, over 2015-16 levels could cost  
            $50 million according to the UC, assuming an additional 5,000  
            students over two years at a rate of $10,000.  In addition, UC  
            cites costs of about $1 million for new counselors related to  
            the bill's required expansion of targeted support and  
            retention services for unduplicated students.  Costs related  
            to carry out the subject matter project requirements are  
            estimated to be $7 million.  (General Fund)
           CDE:  Anticipated costs of up to $157,000 over two years for  
            staff to implement the requirements of this bill and apportion  
            block grant funds.  (General Fund)  
           Sunset removal: $8.4 million cost pressure to continue funding  
            existing California Subject Matter Projects ($5 million  
            General Fund; $3.4 million Federal funds as of the 2015-16  
            Budget Act)




          Background:  Existing law implements the LCFF which, among other things,  
          provides for a calculation of the amount of funding to be  
          provided for an "unduplicated pupil."  An "unduplicated pupil"  
          is defined for this purpose as a student enrolled in a school  
          district or a charter school who is either classified as an  
          English learner, eligible for a free or reduced-price meal, or  
          is a foster youth.  A pupil is only counted once for purposes of  
          this calculation even if a single pupil is classified as an  
          English learner, is eligible for a free or reduced-price meal  
          and is a foster youth.  (Education Code § 42238.02)

          Existing law authorizes the UC to establish and maintain Subject  
          Matter Projects for the purpose of developing and enhancing  
          teachers' subject matter knowledge in the following six  
          specified areas:  writing, reading and literature, mathematics,  
          science, history-social science, and world history and  
          international studies. The Regents of the UC with the approval  
          of an intersegmental Concurrence Committee establish and  








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          maintain the projects with funds appropriated in the Budget Act.  
           Current law authorizes the UC to establish other subject matter  
          projects and prohibits funds allocated in the Budget Act funds  
          from being used for subject matter projects not specified in  
          law.  Current law makes the subject matter projects inoperative  
          on June 30, 2017.  
          (Education Code § 99200 - 99206)

          According to the author, strategies to increase the number of  
          college graduates requires strengthening of the relationship  
          between the K-12 system and the state's public universities.   
          This bill attempts to incentivize the two systems to work  
          together to create a pipeline from high school to our four-year  
          university system and ensure that all California high school  
          students, regardless of family income, have access to rigorous  
          coursework, quality counseling services, and exposure to college  
          through partnerships between high schools and higher education  
          institutions.


          Proposed Law:  
            This bill:
          CDE Requirements


                 Requires the CDE to: (1) annually develop and post on  
               its website a list of high schools with 75 percent or  
               greater enrollment of unduplicated students (English  
               learner, low-income, or foster youth); and (2) compile and  
               report to the Legislature information reported by block  
               grant recipients on the number of students serviced and the  
               number of students admitted to a postsecondary institution,  
               including the University of California (UC) and the  
               California State University (CSU).


          K-12 College Readiness Block Grant


          Contingent up on funding provided in the budget act, establishes  
          the K-12 College Readiness Block Grant to prepare high school  
          students, particularly unduplicated students to be eligible for  
          admission into a postsecondary institution, and increasing the  
          four-year-college-going rates of these students.  A school  








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          district or charter school is required to spend these funds on  
          specified activities, such as: 


                 Professional development opportunities to improve  
               student A-G completion rates, student college-going rates,  
               and college readiness of students, including the  
               development of honors and Advanced Placement courses;


                 Counseling services to students and their families  
               regarding college admission requirements and financial aid  
               programs;


                 Materials that support college readiness, including  
               materials that support high performance on assessments  
               required for admittance to a postsecondary institution;


                 Comprehensive advising plans to support student  
               completion of A-G requirements;


                 Partnerships between high schools and postsecondary  
               institutions that support student transition to  
               postsecondary education; and


                 Access to coursework or other opportunities to satisfy  
               A-G requirements to all students.


          As a condition for receiving block grant funds, requires a  
          school district or charter school to develop a plan describing  
          how the funds will be spent and how the funds will supplement  
          and not supplant funding for existing programs and services to  
          ensure college readiness.  Requires information in the plan  
          regarding how it aligns to the school district's or charter  
          school's local control and accountability plan and a description  
          of the extent to which all students will have access to A-G  
          courses.










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          UC Admissions for California Resident Students


                 Requires UC to develop an implementation plan and  
               timeline, as a condition of receiving funding in the budget  
               act for enrolling more resident students at the UC than the  
               2015-16 fiscal year, to do the following:


                 Ensure each UC campus increases the admission of  
               resident undergraduate students and AB 540 students  
               admitted each year above those admitted in the 2015-16  
               academic year, and significantly increases the number of  
               Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Plus students.


                 Identify an applicant's status as a LCFF Plus student in  
               his or her application files and direct all campuses to  
               give supplemental consideration in the admissions process  
               to LCFF Plus students consistent with the UC admission  
               policy.


                 Identify resident LCFF Plus student applicants who have  
               fulfilled minimum admission requirements but do not meet  
               the criteria for guaranteed admission to the UC as a  
               high-priority group within the Entitled to Review applicant  
               pool (residents applicants entitled to a comprehensive  
               review).


                 Examine the costs and benefits of extending the  
               eligibility for an application fee waiver to high school  
               graduates from schools that LCFF Plus students attend, and  
               increase the number of campuses covered under the fee  
               waiver policy for this group of applicants.


                 Expand targeted support and retention services for  
               unduplicated students, including enrolled LCFF Plus  
               students that facilitate completion of an undergraduate  
               degree within four years.










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          As a condition of receiving enrollment funds, requires UC to  
          report on various outcomes and services provided related to LCFF  
          Plus students.







          New California College Readiness Subject Matter Project 
                 Requests the UC Regents to establish the California  
               College Readiness Project to provide administrators,  
               counselors, and teachers with strategies, as specified for  
               improving A-G course completion rates, college-going rates,  
               and college readiness of students who attend schools in  
               LEAs eligible for additional funding generated by  
               unduplicated students pursuant to the state's LCFF.


                 Establishes that school personnel employed by LEAs  
               eligible for eligible for supplemental or concentration  
               grant funding generated by unduplicated students pursuant  
               to the state's LCFF receive priority for admission to any  
               programs offered by the California College Readiness  
               Project.


          Finally, removes the sunset of existing California Subject  
          Matter Projects.


          Staff Comments:  Staff notes timeline issues in which CDE will  
          not have the required data to report to the Legislature by April  
          30, 2017 on the number of students served by the block grant and  
          the number admitted to a postsecondary institution, as the first  
          year of funding will not be complete by then.  




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