BILL NUMBER: SB 1126 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2010
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 amended, Liu. Public postsecondary education: student
transfer: early childhood education course requirements.
education: transfer courses.
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.
This bill would require the Academic Senates of the California
Community Colleges and the California State University, and request
the Academic Senate of the University of California, to review the
lower division 8 common core courses in child development or early
education in conjunction with early childhood faculty to improve
early childhood educator program articulation, and in doing so, to
consider and make findings on specified topics, which the chairs of
the Academic Senates of the California Community Colleges and the
California State University would be required, and the chair of the
Academic Senate of the University of California would be requested,
to report to the Legislature and the Legislative Analyst's Office, on
or before December 1, 2011, along with other specified
recommendations and suggestions. The bill would require the
California State University, and request the University of
California, to deem specified transferring community college students
as having fulfilled lower division coursework requirements, and not
require these students to take more total units in child development
or early education to satisfy graduation requirements for the related
majors than other enrolled students. The bill would make the
reporting requirement inoperative on January 1, 2015, and require the
report to be submitted in compliance with specified law.
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) 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)
(b) 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.
(c) The demand for high quality child care and early education far
surpasses the number of providers and facilities currently
available. Licensed care in California is available for only 27
percent of children with parents in the labor force.
(d) Students in California face barriers as they move from
community colleges to four year institutions due to a lack of
consistency in colleges and confusing educational requirements that
slow the growth of a well educated workforce.
(e) In order for California to meet the demand for high-quality
early education programs and to address the critical shortage of
highly qualified early childhood educators in our state, the state
needs to implement research based criteria for early childhood
educators, improve articulation and transfer pathways for early
childhood educators, and ensure that policies reflect the best
practices identified by research.
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.
66746. (a) The Academic Senates of the California State
University and the California Community Colleges shall, and the
Academic Senate of the University of California is requested to,
review the lower division 8 common core courses in child development
or early education in conjunction with early childhood faculty to
improve early childhood educator program articulation. In conducting
this work, the academic senates shall consider and make findings on
all of the following:
(1) A plan to ensure that California State University and
University of California courses reflect the advanced level of early
educator competencies that will build upon the lower division 8
common core courses and other competency based coursework.
(2) The transferability of coursework from the California
Community Colleges to the California State University and the
University of California.
(3) An implementation plan for the attainment of a baccalaureate
degree in child development, early education, or a related major at
the California Community Colleges in collaboration with the
California State University or the University of California.
(b) The chairs of the Academic Senates of the California Community
Colleges and the California State University shall, and the chair of
the Academic Senate of the University of California is requested to,
report to the Legislature and the Legislative Analyst's Office, on
or before December 1, 2011, on the findings made pursuant to
subdivision (a), recommend the next steps for implementing changes to
facilitate success for students in early childhood education
programs, and suggest any statutory changes necessary to implement
their findings.
(c) The California State University shall, and the University of
California is requested to, deem transferring community college
students who have completed all lower division 8 common core courses
and general education requirements as having fulfilled lower division
coursework requirements and not require these students to take more
total units in child development or early education to satisfy
graduation requirements for the related majors than other enrolled
students.
(d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (b) is inoperative on January 1, 2015, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.