BILL ANALYSIS
AB 78
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 78 (Portantino) - As Amended: April 28, 2008
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote: 9-0
Education 10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill removes restrictions on a pupil's ability to
concurrently enroll in a K-12 public school and a California
community college (CCC). Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes a school district to enter into an agreement with a
CCC district to provide secondary pupils--who have exhausted
all opportunities to enroll in equivalent K-12 course
offerings--with advanced scholastic, career technical
education (CTE), or other coursework opportunities at a CCC
campus.
2)Removes the existing requirement that secondary school pupils
be recommended by their school principal to take courses at a
CCC and instead authorizes such pupils to take CCC courses
after notifying their principal that they had exhausted all
opportunities to enroll in equivalent courses in the district.
3)Repeals provisions that limit the admission of K-12 students
to a CCC summer session to 5% of the enrollment in each
secondary school class.
4)Requires the Chancellor's Office of the CCC, by January 2011
and annually thereafter, to report the number of pupils
enrolling per (1), the courses enrolled in, and the number of
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pupils receiving a passing grade.
5)Prohibits a CCC district from receiving funding for
instructional services for which a school district has been,
or will be, paid.
6)Removes the requirement that a CCC district assign a low
priority for registration or enrollment for concurrently
enrolled students and instead, prohibits a CCC district from
assigning a high priority for registration or enrollment of
concurrently enrolled students.
FISCAL EFFECT
GF/98 cost pressure, likely between $16 million and $24 million,
to enroll high schools pupils in a CCC for the purpose of taking
advanced scholastic, career technical education (CTE), or other
coursework. This assumes a 10% to 15% increase in high school
pupils concurrently at CCCs. There were about 125,000 such
students at CCCs in the 2006-07 fiscal year.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, this bill seeks to provide
a statutory framework that moves concurrent enrollment closer
to fulfilling its potential, as an important tool in meeting
the state's educational challenges, by removing the existing
statutory barriers. The bill's most significant action is to
remove the restriction that high school principals may not
approve summer concurrent enrollment for more than 5% of the
students who just completed any year in that high school. This
provision, which dates from the 1970s, has no apparent current
policy foundation and serves as a significant barrier for
joint use of K-12 and CCC resources and facilities.
2)Recent Concurrent Enrollment Controversy . In 2002, the state
took statutory and budgetary action to reduce concurrent
enrollment levels after concerns were raised about a number of
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CCC districts inappropriately claiming state funding for an
increasing number of concurrently enrolled high school
students. While statute still permits districts to enroll some
K-12 students, the Legislature enacted new restrictions on
concurrent enrollment to prevent districts from abusing the
provision. As a result, the number of K-12 students
concurrently enrolled in CCC, predominantly high school
students taking physical education courses, declined by more
than 100,000 students. This bill does not change the
limitations regarding physical education courses.
3)Related Legislation . AB 555 (Furutani), pending in this
committee, contains similar provisions but is limited to only
five specified CCC districts.
4)Prior Legislation . AB 1409 (Portantino) of 2007, which was
similar to this bill, was held in Senate Appropriations.
SB 1303 (Runner)/Chapter 648 of 2006, relaxed the 5% summer
enrollment cap for students meeting one of several specified
criteria. AB 78 repeals these provisions.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081