BILL NUMBER: ACR 184	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Block and Ruskin

                        AUGUST 4, 2010

   Relative to the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher
Education.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 184, as introduced, Block. Joint Committee on the Master Plan
for Higher Education.
   This measure would extend the existence of the Joint Committee on
the Master Plan for Higher Education into the 2011-12 Regular
Session, and authorize the joint committee to act until November 30,
2012, at which time its existence would terminate.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, The review by the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for
Higher Education marks the 50th anniversary of the Master Plan for
Higher Education in California (Master Plan); and
   WHEREAS, The joint committee convened in large measure because of
the widespread concern that our state's system of public higher
education is now at risk; and
   WHEREAS, The Master Plan was, and remains, a comprehensive policy
framework. Upon its advent and in the decades following, it signaled
an unparalleled commitment to higher education, of unrivaled size and
scale. Through planned and coordinated growth, it mandated the
pioneering principles of universal opportunity and universal access;
and
   WHEREAS, In our estimation, nothing has been more responsible over
the past several decades for the quality of life in California and
for California's economic prosperity than our system of higher
education; and
   WHEREAS, During the comprehensive hearings of the joint committee,
there have been no experts to argue that California's economy and
social fabric can now benefit from a contraction of either
educational opportunities or educated people. Indeed, the systematic
review of higher education, with broad public and stakeholder
testimony, confirms that California's future depends on an even more
effectively educated people. Private investment and growth are
dependent upon an ever expanding number of women and men ably
prepared to contribute and compete in the global marketplace, adding
value through their superior knowledge, imagination, and skill; and
   WHEREAS, In light of this challenge, the joint committee has
reaffirmed the essential tenets of the Master Plan: universal access,
affordability, and high quality; and
   WHEREAS, However, the joint committee also believes that the
Master Plan must be regarded as a living document. In many ways,
California has been transformed since the inception of the Master
Plan. Therefore, in order for our state and people to meet the
challenges of the 21st century, we will need the vision and courage
to ensure our system of higher education adapts when and as necessary
to meet the needs of the society that sustains it and the demands of
the new century; and
   WHEREAS, The hearings of the joint committee have demonstrated
that, after five decades of success, our system of higher education
is now threatened. The system will not continue to be effective
automatically. It requires our renewed attention, commitment, and
support; and
   WHEREAS, After objective and close scrutiny, the joint committee
has presented an agenda of needs accurately describing what our
people and state require from our system of higher education to
ensure California's success in the coming decades; and
   WHEREAS, The State of California has no articulated, comprehensive
statement of goals for California's system of higher education. The
Master Plan articulates values but not a set of public policy goals
based upon the outcomes required to meet the needs of our state and
our people. The lack of these goals makes it difficult to develop
sound systems of criteria for advancement or clear systems of
accountability; and
   WHEREAS, Statewide goals, including the workforce needs of the
state, are essential for the effective functioning of our system of
public higher education, complemented by the work of private colleges
and universities; and
   WHEREAS, In order for California to compete in the global
marketplace, replace the baby boomer generation, and ensure a
cohesive and democratic multicultural society, our state must
continue to support the unique genius of California's original 1960
Master Plan, namely its commitment to universal access for every
qualified student. This access provided our state and people the
distinction that enabled California to become the world leader in
higher education; and
   WHEREAS, Given the economic needs of our state and the
labor-market needs of our economy, universal access gives us the
greatest possibility of meeting those long-term needs. In addition,
in a state as diverse as California, the maintenance of this promise
gives hope to all Californians who wish to attain a higher education.
This hope is essential to our success and cohesion as a people; and
   WHEREAS, Affordability must be established within a clearly
articulated and agreed upon framework of shared cost, between the
student who benefits directly from a quality education and the
public, for whom the student's education is an investment for the
public good. As a practical matter in the real world, the absence of
affordability makes the achievement of universal access an impossible
dream; and
   WHEREAS, Our state must recognize the limited financial capacity
of many of our eligible students and that the nature of our response
makes their matriculation feasible; and
   WHEREAS, The state needs to consider the entirety of the costs
accruing to students and their families with regard to participating
in higher education, the manner in which we recognize and balance the
individual private and the overall social benefits of higher
education, and the extent to which we are willing to subject our
students to a future burdened by large loan debt; and
   WHEREAS, California should adopt clear metrics for measuring
whether our goals are achieved by our financial aid policies. In
designing those financial aid policies, we should evaluate the use of
incentives that can help us reach our desired outcomes; and
   WHEREAS, The pledge of California's original Master Plan included,
along with universal access and affordability, the assurance of
quality; and
   WHEREAS, Quality will be required in order for California to
provide a higher education that will serve to keep California
competitive in our global economy, especially because of the tripling
now by both our global competitors, India and the People's Republic
of China, of the annual number of doctoral degrees in science and
technology above those produced by the entire United States; and
   WHEREAS, In this regard, it is essential that the dimension of
"quality" be examined and articulated, especially according to the
definition of quality as "those capacities and skills that are
essential for preparing Californians to live and work constructively
in this 21st century"; and
   WHEREAS, Although the dimension of preparation for higher
education and workforce development is primarily the responsibility
of the state's K-12 schools, their well-being and success are
interdependent with our system of higher education, both in what
higher education demands in the way of preparation by the state's
systems of K-12 education, and because our system of higher education
prepares almost all of the educators who will operate our systems of
K-12 education; and
   WHEREAS, It is essential that our system of higher education pay
explicit attention to its roles and responsibilities as an effective
partner in adequate preparation of students for admission to, and
success in, higher education and in the effective preparation of
teachers for our systems of K-12 education; and
   WHEREAS, In addition, more could be done to bring California's
concurrent enrollment policy closer to fulfilling its potential as an
important tool in meeting the state's educational challenges.
Existing concurrent enrollment efforts are tightly focused on
college-level and advanced-education opportunities; however,
California policies could be altered to promote even greater
participation for those who are able to take college-level classes.
California would benefit from the creation of more robust local
partnerships between high schools and the California Community
College system in order to allow and encourage career-technical
education opportunities, better shared use of vocational equipment
and resources, coursework in basic skills and remediation, high
school exit exam preparation, programs targeted at dropout
intervention and prevention, instruction in English as a second
language, and other opportunities designed to meet the needs of local
communities; and
   WHEREAS, The partnership between K-12 education and higher
education should include advancement of rigorous career technical
education - especially in both K-12 systems and community colleges,
so that students who do not choose to seek a four-year degree may yet
gain the benefits of productive careers, helping eliminate the
stigma too often attached to those not seeking a four-year degree or
graduate study; and
   WHEREAS, The needs of the new millennium will require a unified
career technical education and workforce development system. Moving
forward, it is critical that entities such as government, business,
labor, community-based organizations, and other education and
workforce stakeholders come together to develop a comprehensive
approach; and
   WHEREAS, With respect to effective articulation, coordination, and
efficiency, and our state's need for coordination and efficiency in
our delivery of higher education with sufficient authority placed in
a coordinating body, the people and State of California do not have
unlimited resources to fund our system of higher education. Hence it
is essential that we have some designated agency with the role,
responsibility, and capacity for advising the Legislature and the
Governor, the segments of higher education, and the California public
with regard to essential coordination and needed efficiency in our
delivery of higher education; and
   WHEREAS, The original Master Plan expected that our three public
segments of California's higher education would operate as a system,
with prescribed differentiation of functions, yet all collaborating
to facilitate and ensure the steady progress of each and every
student from preparation through accessibility onto completion; and
   WHEREAS, The people and State of California do not have the luxury
of wasting resources and time in an unnecessarily complex system of
articulation among our segments of higher education. Our state needs
instead for all stakeholders in our respective segments to come
together and adopt an agreed-upon, clear, and effective system of
articulation, including a transfer associate degree, and this
student-centered approach will help students move more quickly toward
their goals; and
   WHEREAS, With respect to accountability, both fiscal and
programmatic, the establishment of statewide goals for California
higher education attuned to the public interest of the people and
State of California will enable increased accountability across the
entire system and within segments. This increased accountability,
with increased efficiencies, must be both fiscal and programmatic;
and
   WHEREAS, It is no longer sufficient for our primary focus to be
upon getting our students into our system of higher education. Our
systems must lead our students systematically and readily to complete
their courses of study in a timely manner. Best estimates show that,
by 2025, unless we improve our outcomes, we will fall over one
million postsecondary degrees short of the number needed for a robust
economy in a global marketplace; and
   WHEREAS, With respect to our state's need for simultaneous
commitment to quality higher education, to maintain California's
distinction and our capacity to keep California competitive in our
now globalized economy, our system must be accountable for results
without sacrificing quality; and
   WHEREAS, With respect to our state's need to close the achievement
gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students and communities,
our need for an educated populace capable of filling the necessary
jobs to maintain a globally competitive economy requires education of
disadvantaged communities traditionally underserved. The system must
be accountable for closing the achievement gap in ways that do not
require or allow restricting access to disadvantaged communities; and

   WHEREAS, With respect to our state's need for utilizing technology
to meet our fiscal and programmatic challenges, as new technologies
arise, we must be flexible and open to new methods of higher
education delivery and to the use of data systems that both provide
information about outcomes and create efficiency in operations; and
   WHEREAS, Transparency must be increased as part of an
accountability system focused on meeting statewide goals. It will
help us to find the optimum balance between administrative costs,
teaching costs, and other expenses; and
   WHEREAS, With respect to sufficient financing, the test of our
goals, aspirations, commitment and of our capacity to ensure the
future well-being of the people and State of California is to be
found in the arena of funding, and whether and how we in the
California Legislature, together with the Governor and the people of
California, prove willing and able to provide the funding essential
to our meeting the needs of the California system of higher
education; and
   WHEREAS, With our state's need to establish and articulate the
nexus between public investment and public benefit, California needs
a sound financing mechanism aligned with statewide goals to ensure
that our state's needs are met. In determining the respective funding
commitments, a clear nexus must be established between public
financing and the economic benefits to the state, so that both the
level of public investment and the return on that investment are
articulated and verifiable; and
   WHEREAS, With respect to our state's need for the support of the
people of California for the joint committee's public agenda of needs
for California higher education, it is essential, as the joint
committee files its report with findings and recommendations with
respect to the future of California higher education, and does its
very best to shepherd its recommendations into enactment and
successful implementation, that the importance of a comprehensive
strategic action plan for enlisting the active and ardent commitment
and support of the people of California be recognized. Toward that
end, the joint committee's agenda of needs for higher education must
clearly articulate the correlation between public investment and
public benefit; and
   WHEREAS, The Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher
Education recommends that its existence be extended into the 2011-12
Regular Session, until November 30, 2012, to continue the work it has
accomplished thus far; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved, by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for
Higher Education is continued in existence and authorized to act
until November 30, 2012, at which time the committee's existence
shall terminate; and be it further
   Resolved, That the joint committee shall submit a report on its
activities to the Legislature during the 2011-12 Regular Session; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.