BILL NUMBER: SB 775	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Liu

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 67050) to Part
40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of, and to repeal Chapter 4.5
(commencing with Section 99180) of Part 65 of Division 14 of Title 3
of, the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 775, as introduced, Liu. Postsecondary education:
accountability program.
    Existing law establishes the University of California, under the
administration of the Regents of the University of California, the
California State University, under the administration of the Trustees
of the California State University, and the California Community
Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges, and private, independent institutions
of higher education as the 4 segments of postsecondary education in
this state.
   Existing law establishes a higher education accountability program
under which the University of California, the California State
University, and the California Community Colleges are required to
prepare a list of reports on a regular basis to the Legislature and
to state agencies. Under the program, the California Postsecondary
Education Commission is required to submit an annual higher education
report to the Legislature and the Governor that provides information
on significant indicators of the performance of public colleges and
universities.
   This bill would repeal the existing higher education
accountability program and require the state to establish a new
accountability framework to achieve prescribed educational and
economic goals.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 67050) is added
to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 12.5.  EDUCATIONAL AND ECONOMIC GOALS FOR CALIFORNIA
HIGHER EDUCATION


   67050.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Since the enactment of the Master Plan for Higher Education in
1960, California's system of postsecondary education has provided
access and high quality educational opportunities that have fueled
California's economic growth.
   (b) In today's global information economy, California's national
and international success as an educational and economic leader will
require strategic investments and improved management of state
resources.
   (c) Several factors, including changing demographics, rising
costs, increased competition for scarce state funding, and employer
concerns about graduates' skills, present new challenges to higher
education and state policymakers in effectively meeting the
postsecondary education needs of Californians.
   (d) Although the public segments of higher education have each
developed their own institution-specific accountability efforts,
these efforts do not combine to tell us whether the state as a whole
is on track to produce enough college educated individuals to meet
workforce needs and to effectively compete in the global information
economy, nor do they reflect statewide policy goals that cut across
all higher education segments.
   (e) Without the articulation of a shared common vision and goals,
and in the absence of a statewide focus and context, the state has
limited access to meaningful data and analyses to assess the state's
performance in key areas, in order to make critical fiscal and policy
decisions.
   (f) As public demand to ensure the state is making proper
investments in postsecondary education grows, policy and educational
leaders must collectively hold themselves accountable for connecting
the postsecondary academic and research enterprise to the state's
economic and workforce development needs, increasing its
productivity, and expanding postsecondary access for all citizens and
regions of the state to produce the economic and educational
outcomes that best serve the state's interest.
   67051.  The State of California shall establish an accountability
framework that provides the basis for an ongoing assessment of the
collective contribution of the state's system of postsecondary
education toward meeting clear and measurable educational and
economic goals.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 99180) of Part 65 of
Division 14 of Title 3 of the Education Code is repealed.