BILL NUMBER: SB 1126 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 66745) to Chapter
9.2 of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
relating to public postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1126, as introduced, Liu. Public postsecondary education:
student transfer: early childhood education course requirements.
Existing law establishes the segments of the public postsecondary
education system in the state, including the University of California
administered by the Regents of the University of California, the
California State University administered by the Trustees of the
California State University, and the California Community Colleges
administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges.
Existing law requires the board of governors, the regents, and the
trustees to jointly develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core
curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of student
transfer and prescribes related requirements. These provisions are
applicable to the University of California only to the extent that
the regents, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable.
This bill would require the Trustees of the California State
University, and request the Regents of the University of California,
in conjunction with the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, to develop articulation and transfer program
agreements for early childhood education and related majors. The bill
would require those agreements to include a waiver of course
requirements for those majors for completion of similar courses at a
community college and to count those courses toward the completion of
minimum upper division requirements for those majors. The bill would
make related findings and declarations.
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. Article 3 (commencing with Section 66745) is added to
Chapter 9.2 of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education
Code, to read:
Article 3. Early Childhood Education Transfer Requirements
66745. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Early childhood educators play a critical role in the
development of children. The Child and Family Policy Center has found
that the early childhood education workforce, which includes
directors, teachers, assistant teachers, and providers, includes
approximately 130,000 people, predominately female, who educate and
care for 750,000 infants and preschoolers.
(b) The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment has found
that the demand for high-quality child care and early education far
exceeds the number of providers and facilities currently available.
(c) A study conducted by First 5 California estimates that more
than 50 percent of children under the age of five require the care of
someone other than their parents. The same study found that children
who participate in high-quality child care and education do better
in reading and math and are more likely to graduate from high school,
go to college, and develop better emotional and social skills.
(d) The Child Care Law Center has determined that early care and
education is a critical area for societal investment to ensure equity
and opportunity for all children, to support low-income families,
and to fight poverty.
(e) Early childhood education students are more likely to be
educated at California Community Colleges. Only 18 of the early
childhood teacher preparation programs and the baccalaureate programs
offered by the California State University are geared toward early
childhood education teacher training.
(f) According to the Office of the Chancellor of the California
State University, of the 430,000 students enrolled in the system for
the fall 2009 semester, only 377 are majoring in early childhood
education.
(g) One hundred three California Community Colleges offer child
development or early childhood education majors, making them more
accessible than the California State University system.
66746. (a) The Trustees of the California State University shall,
and the Regents of the University of California are requested to, in
conjunction with the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges, develop articulation agreements and transfer program
agreements for early childhood education and related majors. These
agreements are subject to the following requirements:
(1) Course requirements for the completion of a major in early
childhood education, or a related major, shall be waived by the
destination campus of the California State University or University
of California, to the extent that a student has satisfactorily
completed similar coursework at the community college from which the
student transferred.
(2) Courses waived pursuant to paragraph (1) shall count toward
the completion of minimum upper division requirements for the early
childhood education major or a related major.
(b) The trustees and the board of governors shall, and the regents
are requested to, in consultation with the appropriate faculty,
develop criteria for determining both of the following for purposes
of this section:
(1) Whether a major is related to early childhood education.
(2) Whether coursework completed at a community college is similar
to a required course at a campus of the University of California or
the California State University.