BILL ANALYSIS
AB 581
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 11, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
AB 581 (Torlakson) - As Amended: May 19, 2009
SUBJECT : Community Colleges: salaries of classroom instructors.
SUMMARY : Makes various changes to existing law requiring
California Community College (CCC) districts expend 50% of their
expense of education on the salaries of classroom instructors.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Increases from 50% to 52% the percentage of the expense of
education that a CCC district must spend on instructor
salaries.
2)Expands the definition of instructor salaries to include
counselors that provide counseling services to students in the
CCC district.
3)Defines counselor to be an employee of the CCC district in a
position requiring the minimum qualifications of a counselor.
4)Defines the expenditures to be included in the numerator,
commencing with the 2010-11 fiscal year, as all expenditures
in object-of-expenditure classification 1000 pursuant to the
Budget and Accounting Manual for California Community Colleges
(BAMCCC), with the exception of:
a) Education administrators employed in an academic
position designation by the governing board of the CCC
district as having direct responsibility for supervising
the operation of or formulating policy regarding the
instructional or student services program of the college or
CCC district.
b) Prorated salaries of administrators who teach as part of
their regular workload.
c) Salaries of instructors on sabbatical leave.
5)Authorizes the CCC Board of Governors (BOG) to establish a
committee to review the CCC district auditing procedures and
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develop ways to ensure compliance with the requirement that
52% of each CCC district's current expense of education be
paid for the salaries of classroom instructors. Requires the
committee to be comprised of the CCC Chancellor, one certified
public accountant, one exclusive representative of classified
employees of a district, and one district administrator.
Requires the committee to review CCC district auditing
procedures and recommend to the board any changes to the
procedures needed to ensure compliance with the 52% standard.
EXISTING LAW: Requires each CCC district to expend 50% of its
current expense of education for payment of classroom
instructors (50% law); generally defines "current expense of
education" to include the unrestricted general fund expenditures
of a CCC district and excludes spending on student
transportation, food services and community services, leases for
plant equipment, and other costs specified in law and
regulation; establishes a process whereby a CCC district may
submit an application to the CCC Board of Governors (BOG) for an
exemption from the 50% law; and, requires the CCC BOG to report
annually to the Legislature on operation and compliance with the
50% law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background : Since 1961, California has required CCC
districts to comply with the 50% law. By requiring this
specified level of spending on instructor salaries, the
Legislature aimed to make classes smaller and improve classroom
instruction. In recent years, however, several reports have
questioned whether changes to the 50% law are appropriate and
necessary in order to improve CCC student outcomes.
In the February 2007 Institute for Higher Education Leadership &
Policy (IHELP) report "Rules of the Game: How State Policy
Creates Barriers to Degree Completion and Impedes Student
Success in the California Community Colleges," IHELP found that
the 50% law, among others, limited the ability of CCC districts
to dedicate funding to non-instructional staff such as academic
advisors, financial aid officers, information technology
consultants, health care staff, and orientation leaders, who are
often essential to the success of a student. The report notes
that, in combination with other such laws, the result is hiring
a mix of faculty and staff that may not be optimal to ensure
student success.
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In the June 2008 report, "Back to Basics: Improving College
Readiness of Community College Students," the Legislative
Analysts Office (LAO) noted that a large number of new CCC
students who are directed to counseling and orientation do not
receive these services. This stems in part from the 50% law; by
limiting CCC district flexibility to respond to their students'
needs, the 50% law can impede the ability of CCC to provide
adequate support services that improve student performance. In
order to provide CCC with the flexibility they need to provide
the best mix of services for their students, LAO recommended
amending statute to include expenditures on counseling services
as part of instructional costs.
Existing compliance process : The CCCCO currently requires a
review of compliance with the 50% law as part of the annual
independent audit submitted by each CCC district; the CCCCO
reviews the audit for findings and to confirm accurate
reporting. CCC districts out of compliance with the law must
set aside an amount equal to the apparent deficiency and may
submit an application to the CCC BOG for an exemption from the
50% law if the CCC district believes compliance would have
resulted in serious hardship to the district or the payment of
salaries in excess of salaries paid by other comparable
districts. The CCC BOG is required to grant the exemption if
the amount by which the CCC district is out of compliance with
the 50% law is less than $1,000. If the amount is $1,000 or
more, the CCC BOG may grant a full or partial exemption to the
CCC district. If the CCC district fails to submit an
application for exemption, or if the CCC BOG denies the full or
only grants a partial exemption, the deficient amount is added
to the amounts to be expended for salaries by the CCC district
during the next fiscal year.
Reports of non-compliance and ineffective oversight : In October
of 2000, the Bureau of State Audits (BSA) released an audit
"California Community Colleges: Poor Oversight by the
Chancellor's Office Allows Districts to Incorrectly Report Their
Level of Spending on Instructor Salaries". The BSA found that
CCC districts overstated their reported compliance rates and did
not correctly use the law's formula for calculating the
percentage they spent on instructor salaries. The BSA also
found that the CCCCO failed to ensure that CCC districts
understood the law's requirements or ensure that Certified
Public Accountants performing annual independent financial
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audits of the CCC district used effective procedures for
catching errors. The BSA found, while the CCCCO reported all 71
CCC districts in compliance with the 50% law in 1998-99,
compliance rates for 6 of the 10 CCC districts investigated by
the BSA fell below the 50% mark. The BSA estimated that, in
total, the six CCC districts out of compliance spent $10 million
too little on instructor salaries. The CCCCO has reported that,
with the assistance of the Association of Chief Business
Officers, they have taken action to respond to the
recommendations made by the BSA.
Purpose of this bill : The author asserts that counselors are a
vital part of orientation for new students, assisting them with
the selection of the right classes and serving as mentors to
students to make sure they are on track in meeting their
graduation requirements. The author believes that this bill
will produce the fiscal flexibility necessary to provide
students with the appropriate mix of classroom instruction and
counseling services.
Does this bill respond to concerns raised in recent reports? As
indicated above, several recent reports have found the 50% law
to inhibit a CCC district's ability to improve student outcomes.
This bill allows counselors to be included as part of
instructor salaries, as recommended by LAO, but also increases
the amount required to be spent on instructor salaries from 50%
to 52% of education expenses. It is unclear if this bill will
provide enough flexibility to accomplish its intended goal.
Related Legislation : AB 1157 (Block) of 2009, which was not
pursued by the author, would have defined classroom instructors
to include counselors and would require that, commencing with
the 2010-11 fiscal year, 52% of each district's current expense
of education be expended for salaries of classroom instructors.
AB 906 (Eng) of 2007, which was held in Senate Education
Committee, would have increased from 50% law to 53% and included
the salaries of counselors and librarians, among other changes
to 50% law.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Teachers Association (Sponsor)
AB 581
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Opposition
Association of California Community College Administrators
California Community Colleges' Association of Chief Business
Officials
California Federation of Teachers
Community College League of California
Napa Valley College
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960