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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