BILL ANALYSIS
SB 147
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 147 (DeSaulnier)
As Amended June 29, 2009
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
HIGHER EDUCATION 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 15-0
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|Ayes:|Portantino, Conway, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Block, Cook, Fong, | |Calderon, Coto, Davis, |
| |Galgiani, Huber, Ma, | |Fuentes, Hall, Miller, |
| |Ruskin | |Nielsen, John A. Perez, |
| | | |Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Audra Strickland, |
| | | |Torlakson, |
| | | |Hill |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU) to
implement a process whereby high school career technical
education (CTE) courses would satisfy a general elective course
requirement for purposes of admission to CSU and should CSU fail
to comply with these provisions by January 1, 2014, requires CSU
to recognize courses that meet the CTE model criteria
established by the State Board of Education (SBE).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the CSU Board of Trustees (Trustees) to develop and
implement a process whereby high school CTE courses would
satisfy a general elective course requirement for purposes of
admission to CSU that meet either of the following criteria:
a) Adopt standards, in consultation with SBE, that satisfy
the completion of general elective course requirements for
CSU admission; or,
b) Base standards on the model curriculum standards
established by SBE and any additional criteria that CSU
faculty identify as necessary to prepare students for
success in coursework unique to a specific major or
educational program.
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2)Requires the CSU Trustees to recognize courses that meet the
SBE CTE model curriculum standards as satisfying the
completion of a general elective course for the purposes of
admission if, by January 1, 2014, CSU has not complied with
the provisions of this bill.
3)Requires the criteria to be developed by CSU faculty and
subject to the approval of the CSU Academic Senate, and
requires the CSU Trustees to adopt regulations based on the
recommendations of the CSU Academic Senate.
4)States that, to the extent possible, costs associated with
these activities be covered by the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Improvement Act or by other nonstate funds
available for the purposes of this section.
FISCAL EFFECT :
1)For CSU, total one-time General Fund costs of $650,000 to $1.2
million over four years. This amount assumes CSU would
contract with the University of California (UC) to perform the
required course evaluations. There are about 19,000 CTE
courses offered in California high schools that do not meet UC
and CSU admissions requirements. The cost estimate includes
$360,000 to $650,000 for evaluation staff, assuming 50% to 90%
of CTE courses are submitted for approval under CSU's new
criteria. The other major cost element would be $250,000 to
$500,000 to modify CSU's Mentor online admissions portal to
account for the new and differing admissions requirements with
UC.
2)For UC, one-time costs of $290,000 to $540,000 to modify UC's
Doorways online admissions portal to account for differing
admissions requirements with CSU.
3)There would be minor ongoing costs to both segments as
additional CTE courses are submitted from approval.
COMMENTS : Much attention has been focused on CTE in recent
years as CTE opportunities in K-12 have declined as a result of
shifting educational priorities. SB 1543 (Alarcon), Chapter
669, Statutes of 2006, required CSU and requested the UC to
adopt model uniform academic standards for CTE that satisfy the
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completion of general elective ("g") course requirements for the
purposes of admission. SB 1543 specified that if the model
academic standards were not implemented by July 1, 2008, the CSU
Trustees would be required and the UC Board of Regents would be
requested to recognize the completion of all high school courses
that meet the CTE standards adopted by SBE as satisfying the
completion of the "g" course requirement. CSU and UC satisfied
the requirements of SB 1543 in spring 2008.
In the meantime, SBE adopted model curriculum frameworks,
organized in 15 industry sectors of interrelated occupations and
that identify 58 different career pathways and the academic and
technical courses required for each pathway. During the
development of this CTE model curriculum, CSU and UC expressed
concerns that the curriculum did not include the academic
content necessary to adequately prepare students for academic
work at their institutions.
According to the California Department of Education, UC approved
nearly 900 CTE courses in 2008, with approximately 25% of all
CTE courses statewide satisfying one of the "a-g" requirements,
a 62% increase since 2005-06.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0002580