BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1540
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 18, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1540 (Hagman) - As Amended: March 10, 2014
[Note: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly Education
Committee and will be heard as it relates to issues under its
jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : Concurrent enrollment in secondary school and
community college.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the governing board of a school district
to authorize a pupil, at the recommendation of the appropriate
community college personnel, and with parental consent, to
attend a community college during any session or term and to
undertake one or more computer science courses offered at the
community college; adds computer science courses to the list of
courses exempted that limit the percentage of pupils who can
enroll in a community college course; authorizes the governing
board of a community college district to enter into a formal
partnership with a school district or school districts located
within its immediate service area to allow pupils to undertake
one or more computer science courses if they have exhausted all
opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course at their high
school of attendance; extends a sunset as specified; and, makes
clarifying changes to current law. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the governing board of a school district may
authorize a pupil, at the recommendation of a community
college dean of a computer science department or other
appropriate community college computer science administrator,
and with parental consent, to attend a community college
during any session or term as a special part-time or full-time
student and to undertake one or more computer science courses
offered at the community college.
2)Adds that a high school pupil recommend by his or her
principal for enrollment in a course at a community college
shall not be included in the 5% limitation of pupils allowed
to be recommended if the course is a college-level computer
science course for credit as determined by the Chancellor of
the California Community Colleges, and the course is part of a
sequence of computer science courses leading to a degree in
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the subject matter covered by the sequence.
3)Extends the sunset to January 1, 2017, for the following:
a) A high school pupil is exempted from the 5% cap if he or
she is recommended by his or her principal for enrollment
in a college-level summer session course if the course in
which the pupil wishes to enroll meets specified criteria;
b) On or before March 1 of each year, the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges (CCC) shall issue a report to
the Department of Finance as to the number of pupils
recommended beyond the 5% cap as specified; and,
c) The Board of Governors of the CCC shall not include
enrollment growth attributable to the number of pupils who
attend the CCC above the 5% cap as specified, as part of
its annual budget request for the CCC.
4)Authorizes the governing board of a community college district
to enter into a formal partnership with a school district or
school districts located within its immediate service area to
provide high school pupils who have exhausted all
opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course at the high
school of attendance with the opportunity to benefit from one
or more computer science courses offered at a community
college.
5)Specifies that a high school pupil in a district subject to a
formal partnership, upon notification of the principal of the
pupil's school of attendance that the pupil has exhausted all
opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course at the high
school of attendance, and with parental consent if the pupil
is under 18 years of age, may attend a community college
during any session or term as a special part-time or full-time
student.
6)Specifies that the partnership agreement shall outline the
terms of the partnership and may include, but is not
necessarily limited to, the scope, nature, and schedule of
courses offered, the academic readiness of pupils that is
necessary for them to benefit from the courses offered, and
the ability of pupils to benefit from those courses;
additionally, the agreement may establish protocols for
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information sharing and joint facilities use.
7)Stipulates that a copy of the partnership agreement shall be
filed with the department and with the Office of the
Chancellor of the CCC before the start of a program, as
authorized.
8)Specifies that a pupil shall receive community college and
high school credit for community college courses that he or
she completes at the level determined to be appropriate by the
governing boards of the school district and the community
college district, as established in the partnership agreement.
9)Stipulates that a community college district shall not receive
a state allowance or apportionment for an instructional
activity for which a school district has been, or shall be,
paid an allowance or apportionment.
10)Specifies that the attendance of a pupil at a community
college as a special part-time or full-time student, as
specified, is authorized attendance for which the community
college shall be credited or reimbursed as specified, provided
that no school district has received reimbursement for the
same instructional activity; and, credit for courses completed
shall be at the level determined to be appropriate by the
governing boards of the school district and the community
college district pursuant to the partnership agreement.
11)Specifies that a special part-time student may enroll in not
more than 11 units per semester, or the equivalent thereof, at
the community college he or she attends.
12)Authorizes community college districts and school districts
that enter into a partnership, as specified, shall be exempt
from specified concurrent enrollment provisions if the
governing board of the community college district determines
that enrollment of high school pupils will not significantly
displace regularly admitted students.
13)Makes minor and technical changes to existing law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the governing board of a school district, upon
recommendation of the principal of a student's school of
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attendance, and with parental consent, to authorize a student
who would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work
to attend a community college as a special part-time or
full-time student. Additionally, current law prohibited a
principal from recommending, for community college summer
session attendance, more than 5% of the total number of
students in the same grade level and exempted from the 5% cap
a student recommended by his or her principal for enrollment
in a college-level summer session course if the course in
which the pupil was enrolled met specified criteria. These
exemptions were repealed on January 1, 2014 (Education Code �
48800, et seq.).
2)Requires the CCC Chancellor's Office to report to the
Department of Finance and Legislature annually on the amount
of full-time equivalent students (FTES) claimed by each CCC
district for high school pupils enrolled in non-credit,
non-degree applicable, degree applicable (excluding physical
education), and degree applicable physical education courses;
and provides that, for purposes of receiving state
apportionments, CCC districts may only include high school
students within the CCC district's report on FTES if the
students are enrolled in courses that are open to the general
public, as specified. Additionally, current law requires the
governing board of a CCC district to assign a low enrollment
priority to special part-time or full-time students in order
to ensure that these students do not displace regularly
admitted community college students (EC � 76001 and � 76002).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Concurrent enrollment background . Concurrent
enrollment provides pupils the opportunity to enroll in college
courses and earn college credit while still enrolled in high
school. Currently, a pupil is allowed to concurrently enroll in
a CCC as a "special admit" while still attending high school, if
the pupil's school district determines that the pupil would
benefit from "advanced scholastic or vocational work."
Special-admit students have typically been advanced pupils
wanting to take more challenging coursework or pupils who come
from high schools where Advanced Placement or honors courses are
not widely available. Additionally, programs such as middle
college high schools and early college high schools use
concurrent enrollment to offer instructional programs for
at-risk pupils that focus on college preparatory curricula.
AB 1540
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These programs are developed through partnerships between a
school district and a CCC. During summer session at a CCC,
principals are limited to recommending no more than 5% of their
pupils in each grade level to enroll at a CCC during a summer
session. Existing law provides certain exemptions to this
process (as aforementioned in current law above). These
exemptions expired on January 1, 2014.
This bill reinstates the exemptions and calls for them now to
sunset on January 1, 2017.
What is exempted ? Current law exempts a high school student
recommended by the principal for enrollment in a community
college summer session course from the 5% cap if:
1)The course is a lower division Intersegmental General
Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) course that applies to
the General Education breadth requirements of the California
State University (CSU).
2)The course is a college-level occupational course for credit,
and is part of a sequence of vocational or career technical
education courses that leads to a degree or certificate, as
specified.
3)The course is necessary to assist a pupil who has not passed
the California High School Exit Exam, and the student is in
the senior year, as specified.
This bill adds college-level computer science courses for credit
to the exemption list of the 5% cap.
Impact of budget cuts on CCC . General Fund reductions combined
with increased student demand has left the CCC unable to provide
course offerings to fully meet student needs. Funding for the
CCC has been cut $809 million, or 12%, over the past three
years. According to a March 2013 report by the Public Policy
Institute of California (PPIC), course offerings have declined
from 420,000 to 334,000 since 2008-86,000 or 21% of course
offerings-and most were credit courses necessary to transfer or
obtain a degree or certificate. PPIC estimates that since 2008,
600,000 students have not been able to enroll in classes, and
another 500,000 students were on waiting lists for Fall 2012
courses.
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When there is greater demand than there are course offerings,
course registration priorities play an important role in
managing enrollment by determining which groups of students are
enrolled in needed courses and which students get turned away.
Need for the bill . According to the author's office, the
technology industry is one of the fastest growing in California
and is crucial to our economy. The author states that, "Tech
companies have an increasing need for a qualified, educated
domestic workforce, yet California is far behind in educating
our students in the theories and applications of computer
science."
Computer science shortfalls . According to a May 2013 report by
Congressional Research Service, entitled, "The U.S. Science and
Engineering Workforce: Recent, Current, and Projected
Employment, Wages, and Unemployment," in 2011, there were 5.9
million scientists and engineers employed in the United States,
accounting for 4.6% of the total U.S. employment. The report
found that science and engineering (S & E) employment was
concentrated in two S & E occupational groups, computer
occupations (56%) and engineers (25%).
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects the number of S &
E jobs will grow by 1.1 million in ten years (commencing in 2010
and concluding in 2020), a growth rate that is projected to be
faster than the overall workforce. Additionally, BLS projects
that a further 1.3 million scientists and engineers will be
needed to replace those that will exit S & E occupations.
According to BLS, the number scientists and engineers needed to
meet growth and net replacement needs between 2010 and 2020 is
2.4 million, including 1.4 million in the computer occupations.
The chart below, based on a June 2013 report by the Georgetown
University Center on Education and the Workforce (Center), shows
the following projected computers and mathematical sciences
workforce needs and education levels by 2020 for California:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Less than | High | Some |Associate'|Bachelor's| Master's |
| high | school |college/no| s degree | degree |degree or |
| school | diploma | degree | | | higher |
|----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------|
|580 |7,440 |28,090 |11,510 |80,550 |47,500 |
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Center also projects that Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics (STEM) will be one of the fastest growing fields
of occupation by 2020, but will also require high levels of
postsecondary education.
Conflicting legislation . AB 1451 (Holden), scheduled to be
heard in this committee on April 1, 2014, among other things,
authorizes the governing board of a school district to authorize
a pupil, as specified, to attend a community college during any
session or term as a special part-time or full-time student and
to undertake one or more courses of career technical education
offered at the community college and authorizes the governing
board of a school district to enter into a concurrent enrollment
partnership agreement with a community college district located
within its immediate service area. This bill appears to be in
direct conflict with AB 1540.
Staff recommends, should both bills pass out of this committee,
that eventually both measures be amended to address potential
chaptering out issues.
Related Legislation . There have been many bills introduced in
the last several years that attempt to address concurrent
enrollment and the 5% cap, including, but not limited to the
following bills: AB 160 (Portantino, 2011), which was held on
the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense file, removed
certain restrictions on concurrent enrollment and authorized
school districts to enter into partnerships with CCC districts
to provide high school pupils opportunities for advanced
scholastic work, career technical or other coursework at CCC
campuses. AB 230 (Carter), Chapter 50, Statutes of 2011,
exempted a pupil attending a middle college high school from the
requirement that CCC governing boards assign a low enrollment
priority to concurrent enrollment students if that pupil is
seeking to enroll in a CCC course that is required for the
pupil's middle college high school program. SB 1437 (Padilla),
Chapter 718, Statutes of 2008, extended the sunset date from
January 1, 2009 until January 1, 2014 for which this bill seeks
to further extend the sunset. SB 1303 (Runner), Chapter 648,
Statutes of 2006, exempted from the specified 5% cap on CCC
summer session enrollment, a pupil recommended by his or her
principal if the pupil met specified criteria.
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AB 1451 (Holden), see "conflicting legislation" section of this
analysis.
Additionally, this year several STEM and computer science
specific bills have been introduced that seek to combat the
projected short falls of prepared and educated students able to
enter into the workforce in STEM related fields.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Chamber of Commerce
California Communities United Institute
Code.org
Computer Science Teachers Association
Microsoft Corporation
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960