BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 173
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 173 (Liu)
As Amended August 19, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :36-1
EDUCATION 6-0 HIGHER EDUCATION 11-0
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Ch�vez, |Ayes:|Williams, Fong, Fox, |
| |Nazarian, Weber, Williams | |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, |
| | | |Linder, Medina, Olsen, |
| | | |Quirk-Silva, Weber, Wilk |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |
| |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | |
| |Holden, Jones, Linder, | | |
| |Pan, Quirk, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, | | |
| |Weber | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
and the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office
(CCCCO), as part of the report and recommendations required of
the regional consortia, established pursuant to Education Code
(EC) Section 84830, to jointly develop and issue guidelines and
policy recommendations to the Legislature regarding adult
education in the areas of assessment, performance
accountability, and fee policies; and, requires that the CCCCO
and the CDE annually report on the number and types of adult
education courses being taught, including noncredit courses, and
the number of students being served. Specifically, this bill :
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1)Requires the CCCCO, in conjunction with the CDE, to jointly
develop and issue policy guidelines regarding assessments to
be used by community college districts and school districts
for purposes of placement in adult education courses offered,
as specified.
2)Requires the CCCCO and the CDE, as part of the report and
recommendations required of the regional consortia, to jointly
develop and issue policy recommendations to the Legislature
that do the following:
a) Jointly establish and implement a comprehensive
accountability system for adult education courses; and,
b) Develop recommendations for all adult education funded
providers for assessment, evaluation, and data collection
to document participant outcomes and placement and other
measures they deem appropriate. Specifies that
accountability measures may include receipt of a secondary
school diploma or its recognized equivalent, placement in a
postsecondary educational institution, training, and
employment. Requires all funded programs to annually
submit demographic and other student-level outcome
information.
3)Requires the CCCCO and the CDE, as part of the report and
recommendations required of the regional consortia, to
coordinate and issue both of the following:
a) Recommendations, including recommendations as to whether
or not fees should be assessed, and fee policy guidelines
to be used by school districts and community college
districts regarding the authority to charge fees for
courses offered, as specified; declares that with respect
to these recommendations and guidelines, it is the intent
of the Legislature that:
i) Registration and course fees be equivalent across
all programs;
ii) Fees not generate income beyond the cost of
providing the courses; and,
iii) Fees not create a barrier to student access to adult
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education programs.
b) Recommendations and policy guidelines regarding the use
of a single student identifier to be used by school
districts and community college districts for purposes of
developing a comprehensive accountability system pursuant
to the requirements of EC Section 84830.
4)Requires the CCCCO, in conjunction with the CDE, to annually
report on the number and types of courses being taught and the
number of students being served with funding provided to the
regional consortia; and, specifies that the CCCCO shall
annually report on the number and types of noncredit courses
being taught and the number of students being served with
funding provided to the community colleges for the courses
offered as specified.
5)Specifies that the CCCCO shall identify any deficits in course
offerings based upon levels, types, and needs for adult
education programs identified in the consortia plans submitted
as required under existing law.
6)Requires, by July 1, 2016, the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing (CTC) and the Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges (CCC) to meet to review their current
requirements for noncredit adult education and adult education
instructors, and develop and submit recommendations to the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature
for modifying or establishing reciprocity standards for
instructors of adult education courses.
7)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to evaluate the
guidelines for the accountability system established under
current law.
8)Defines "chancellor's office" as the Office of the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges, and "department" to mean
the CDE.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time administrative costs to the CTC in the range of
$150,000 to $200,000 (special funds) to review, develop, and
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recommend reciprocity standards for adult education
instruction by July 1, 2016.
2)General Fund administrative costs to CCCCO in the range of
$80,000 to $100,000 to identify deficits in course offerings,
as specified.
3)General Fund administrative costs to CDE of approximately
$75,000 to implement the reporting requirements of the bill.
COMMENTS : Adult education in California is part of a large,
complex, and diverse multi-provider system. It is a vital and
integral part of the larger educational system that provides
adults with the skills and education that enable them to earn a
high school diploma or a general educational development (GED)
certificate, become United States citizens, acquire specific job
skills, learn English, and/or become independent and productive
parents and members of their community. Adult education is
provided by a number of delivery systems, but the two main
providers are school districts and the CCCs.
AB 86 (Section 76, Article 3): In January 2013, the Governor
proposed in his 2013-14 budget shifting the coordination and
administration of all adult education programs to the CCC. The
K-12 adult education program would be eliminated, but CCC could
contract with school districts to provide instruction. Due to
concerns about the timing and structure of the proposal, the
Governor's May 2013 revision of the budget withdrew the proposal
and instead maintained the current system for two years while
allocating $25 million (AB 86 (Budget Committee), Chapter 48,
Statutes of 2013) for planning grants awarded to regional
consortia comprised of CCC and K-12 districts for the purpose of
creating plans to integrate existing programs and determine how
best to serve adult students within regions throughout the
state.
The CCCO and the CDE are required to submit a joint status
report by March 1, 2014, and a final report by March 1, 2015.
The intent of the Governor is to provide some level of
additional funding to provide adult education services through
the regional consortia beginning in 2015-16. CCCs may continue
to earn revenue limit funding, but because categorical funds are
eliminated through the Local Control Funding Formula, school
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districts choosing to continue their adult education programs
would do so using their base funds.
This bill enhances the reporting requirements of the AB 86
report due on March 1, 2015, to the Governor and the
Legislature.
Assessment: CCC and the adult schools administered by school
districts use assessments for enrollment and placements. While
the CCC is required to only use assessment tools approved by the
CCCCO for advisory purposes and not for placement of students in
classes, adult schools can use any assessments they choose and
can use them for minimum qualifications to enroll in a class or
to determine appropriate class placement. This bill directs
CCCCO and the CDE to develop assessment policy guidelines to be
used by both systems for purposes of placement in CCC adult
education and K-12 courses.
Accountability: This bill requires the CCCCO and the CDE to
jointly develop guidelines and procedures for all adult
education funded providers for assessment, evaluation and data
collection to document participant outcomes and placement, and
other performance measures they deem appropriate, such as
whether the student received a secondary school diploma,
placement in a postsecondary educational institution, or became
employed.
The CCCCO already has an in-depth data collection system that
was augmented by the Student Success Scorecard released in April
2013. The scorecard was a recommendation of the Student Success
Task Force, enacted by SB 1143 (Liu), Chapter 409, Statutes of
2010. The scorecard provides performance data that includes
completion and persistence rates that can be broken down by
student demographics.
Fee policies: This bill requires the CCCCO and the CDE to
jointly develop fee policy guidelines to be used by CCCs and
school districts regarding the authority to charge fees for
courses offered as specified.
Data reporting: This bill requires the CCCCO, in conjunction
with the CDE, to annually report on the number and types of
courses being taught, and the number of students being serviced
with funding provide to the regional consortia and with funding
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provided to the CCCs for all noncredit courses offered.
Additionally, this bill requires the CCCCO to identify any
deficits in course offerings based upon levels, types, and needs
for adult education programs as identified in the consortia
plans submitted as part of the AB 86 planning process.
Teacher qualifications: CCC adult education instructors are
required to have a bachelor or master's degree depending on the
type of course taught, while K-12 adult school teachers are
required to have a teaching credential. This bill directs the
Academic Senate for the CCC and the CTC to review the
requirements for noncredit adult education and adult school
instructors, and develop and submit recommendations to the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by
July 1, 2016, for modifying or establishing reciprocity
standards for instructors of adult education courses.
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
and
Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960
FN: 0005101