BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1540
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1540 (Hagman) - As Amended: March 10, 2014
[Note: This bill was double referred to the Assembly Committee
on Higher Education and was heard by that committee as it
relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : Concurrent enrollment in secondary school and
community college
SUMMARY : Expands opportunities for high school pupils to
concurrently enroll in a community college to undertake one or
more courses in computer science, and makes related changes.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the governing board of a school district to
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 courses of computer
science offered at the community college.
2)Provides that, if a course is a college-level computer science
course for credit as determined by the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges (CCC) and the course is part of
a sequence of computer science courses leading to a degree in
the subject matter covered by the sequence, then a high school
pupil taking the course shall be exempt from the 5% cap on the
number of pupils from a school that can take a community
college summer course.
3)Re-instates the exemption from the 5% cap for pupils
recommended by their principals and who are enrolled in
specified general education or occupational courses or courses
necessary to assist a pupil who has not passed the California
High School Exit Examination.
4)Re-instates the requirement for the CCC Chancellor to report
to the Department of Finance by March 1 each year on the
number of pupils recommended for concurrent enrollment who
AB 1540
Page 2
enroll in community college summer session courses and who
receive a passing grade.
5)Re-instates the prohibition against the CCC Board of Governors
including concurrent enrollment in specified summer session
courses.
6)Authorizes the governing board of a community college district
to enter into a formal partnership with one or more school
districts in its service area to provide secondary 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.
7)Permits a secondary school pupil in a district subject to a
formal partnership to attend a community college during any
session or term as a special part-time or full-time student to
take computer science courses upon notification of the
principal that the pupil has exhausted all opportunities to
enroll in an equivalent course at the high school of
attendance and, if the pupil is under 18, with parental
consent.
8)Requires the partnership agreement to outline the terms of the
partnership and provides that the agreement may include, but
not necessarily be 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.
9)Authorizes the agreements to establish protocols for
information sharing and joint facilities use.
10)Requires a copy of the agreement to be filed with the CCC
Chancellor before the start of the program.
11)Provides that a pupil shall receive community college and
high school credit for courses completed at the level
determined to be appropriate by the governing boards of the
school district and community college district pursuant to
their partnership agreement.
12)Provides that either the community college district or the
high school district, but not both, may receive apportionment
AB 1540
Page 3
credit for pupils who are concurrently enrolled pursuant to
this program.
13)Provides that, for purposes of this program, part-time
students may not enroll for more than 11 units per semester or
equivalent.
14)Exempts school and community college districts that enter
into a partnership agreement from provisions that govern the
determination of eligibility for concurrent enrollment and
from the 5% cap on summer session enrollment.
EXISTING LAW
1)Authorizes school district governing boards to permit a pupil
to concurrently attend a community college and take courses
for credit during any session or term as a part-time or
full-time student upon a determination that the pupil would
benefit from advanced academic or vocation work and with the
recommendation of the principal of the pupil's school of
attendance and consent of the pupil's parent.
2)Requires school district governing boards, if a request for
concurrent enrollment is denied, to provide in writing its
reasons for the denial within 60 days and requires the
governing board to issue the written recommendation and denial
at its next regularly scheduled board meeting that falls at
least 30 days after the request was submitted.
3)Authorizes a principal to recommend a pupil for a community
college summer session only if the pupil demonstrates adequate
preparation in the discipline to be studies and has exhausted
all opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course, if any,
at his or her school of attendance; or if the course is
necessary to assist a pupil who has not passed the California
High School Exit Examination.
4)Caps the number of pupils who can be recommend for enrollment
in a community college summer session to 5% of the enrollment
in each grade level.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Concurrent enrollment provides opportunities for
high school pupils to enroll in community college courses and
AB 1540
Page 4
earn college credit if a school district determines that the
pupil would benefit from the opportunity. It is often used to
take advanced placement, honors courses, and other advanced
courses (such as the second or third year of a foreign language)
that are not offered at the high school.
This bill focuses on computer science courses and expands
opportunities for concurrent enrollment in such courses by doing
the following:
1)Authorizing school districts and community college districts
to form partnerships for the purpose of providing concurrent
enrollment in computer science courses.
2)Providing that a pupil who is concurrently enrolled in a
computer science course shall receive community college and
high school credit for successful completion of the course.
3)Exempting concurrently enrolled pupils from the 5% cap on
summer session enrollment if the pupil is enrolled in a
college-level computer science course for credit as determined
by the CCC Chancellor and the course is part of a sequence of
computer science courses leading to a degree in the subject
matter covered by the sequence.
4)Providing that a pupil who is concurrently enrolled may
general enrollment- or attendance- based apportionment revenue
for either the community college district or the high school
district, but not both. (Concurrently enrolled students
generally generate apportionment revenue for the community
college district and the school district.)
Arguments in support. According to the author's office,
technology companies have a growing need for qualified employees
in the computer fields, yet only 647 K-12 courses were offered
in computer science or computer programming in 2012-13. At the
same time, existing law limits the ability of high school
students to take such courses from community colleges because of
the cap on concurrent enrollment. The purpose of this bill is
to provide more opportunities for high school pupils to take
computer science courses to help prepare more people for the
high-tech industry.
Related legislation. AB 1530 (Chau) encourages the
Superintendent of Public instruction to develop a curriculum on
AB 1540
Page 5
computer science. AB 1764 (Olsen) permits, under specified
circumstances, a school district to award math credit for a
course in computer science, if the computer science course meets
the admission requirements for the University of California or
California State University. Both bills are pending in the
Assembly.
AB 1539 (Hagman) re: content standards
AB 2110 (Ting) re: incorporate computer science curriculum in
math, etc.
AB 1451 (Holden) re: concurrent enrollment
Legislation in prior years includes SB 338 (Scott), Chapter 786,
Statutes of 2003, which specified courses eligible for
concurrent enrollment and academic credit; and AB 967
(Canciamilla) Chapter 399, Statutes of 2005, which exempted from
the enrollment cap the enrollment of a pupil recommended by
his/her principal. SB 1146 (Morrell), which died last year in
the Senate Appropriations Committee, would have extended the
sunset date on the exemption from the 5% enrollment cap for
specified courses.
When is a high school pupil not a high school pupil? Existing
law provides various assurances to all K-12 pupils, which
include the right to a free public education taught by
credentialed teachers who have been background-checked. These
assurances do not extend to high school pupils for courses taken
while they are concurrently enrolled in a community college for
college credit. The community college courses may be taught by
non-credentialed faculty who have not submitted to a background
check. In addition, while concurrently enrolled students are
exempt from community college course fees, they may be required
to purchase textbooks and pay other fees. These provisions
apply only to students who are concurrently enrolled for college
credit.
This bill expands existing concurrent enrollment provisions by
creating a mechanism through which community college faculty can
teach a computer science course to high school pupils for high
school credit as well as college credit, potentially on a high
school campus. High schools could decide to offer computer
science courses exclusively through a partnership, leaving
pupils who want to enroll in such courses no alternative but to
be concurrently enrolled. These pupils, who in every other
respect are high school pupils taking a course for high school
AB 1540
Page 6
credit, could be taught by non-credentialed teachers who have
not been background-checked, and could be required to purchase
their own textbooks and assessed other fees, such as a lab fee.
To prevent this, staff recommends that the bill be amended to
(1) provide that high school credit cannot be earned through
concurrent enrollment in a course that is not taught by a
credentialed teacher and (2) that pupils enrolled in the courses
for high school credit cannot be assessed any fees not otherwise
permitted by law. In addition, staff recommends an amendment to
provide that, if participation in a computer science course
requires a personal computer, laptop, or other device, no pupil
shall be denied enrollment solely on the basis that he or she
does not have such a device.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CalChamber
California Communities United Institute
California School Boards Association
Microsoft
Multiple individuals
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087