BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1369
AUTHOR: Block
AMENDED: April 10, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 24, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Disability Services Program (DSP).
SUMMARY
This bill requires that the Board of Governor (BOG) rules
and regulations provide for the use of DSP funds to ensure
students receive academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and
services required by federal and state nondiscrimination
laws, clarifies the educational programs for which the
funding can be used, expands program evaluation
requirements, and requires the Board of Governors to
request annual budget funding for the DSP sufficient to
meet the requirements established by the bill on a
statewide basis.
BACKGROUND
Current law requires the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges to adopt rules and
regulations for the administration and funding of
educational programs and support services to be provided to
disabled students by community college districts. These
regulations are required to provide for the apportionment
of funding to districts to offset the direct excess cost of
providing specialized support services or instruction, or
both, to disabled students enrolled in state supported
educational programs or courses.
Current law defines "direct excess costs" as those which
exceed the combined total of the average cost to the
district of providing services to non-disabled students
times the number of students served in the disabled
students program, the indirect cost of providing facilities
and administrative support, the revenue from ADA in special
classes, and other funds received from federal, state or
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local sources. Current law authorizes the BOG to authorize
the Chancellor to designate up to 3 percent of the funds
allocated for this purpose for program development and
program accountability. (Education Code � 84850)
Current law, states the Legislature recognizes its
responsibility to provide and adequately fund postsecondary
programs and services for disabled students attending a
public postsecondary institution. To meet this
responsibility, the Legislature sets forth the following
principles for public postsecondary institutions and
budgetary control agencies to observe in providing
postsecondary programs and services for students with
disabilities, including but not limited to:
The state funded activity shall be consistent with
the stated purpose of programs and services for
disabled students provided by the California
Community Colleges, the California State University,
or the University of California, as governed by the
statutes, regulations, and guidelines of the
community colleges, state university, or the
University of California.
The state funded activity shall not duplicate
services or instruction that is available to all
students, either on campus or in the community.
The state funded activity shall be directly related
to the functional limitations of the verifiable
disabilities of the students to be served.
The state funded activity shall be directly related
to these students' full access to and participation
in the educational process.
The state funded activity shall have as its goals the
independence of disabled students and the maximum
integration of these students with other students.
The state funded activity shall be provided in the
most integrated setting possible, consistent with
state and federal law, state policy and funding
requirements, and missions and policies of the
postsecondary segment, and shall be based on
identified student needs. (EC � 67310-67312)
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ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Renames the program for serving students with
disabilities as the "Disability Services Program,"
makes corresponding changes throughout the bill, and
references those served by the program as "students
with disabilities" and makes the following additional
changes to the current program:
a) Changes the purpose of the funds
provided to each district from offsetting the
direct excess cost of "providing specialized
support services and instruction" to " ensuring
that these students receive academic adjustments,
auxiliary aids, and services required under
federal and state non-discrimination laws"
including, among others, the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
b) Enhances the definition of direct
excess costs to be those exceeding the cost of
the district to provide "comparable" services to
nondisabled students and replaces "special
classes with "educational assistance courses."
c) Modifies the types of services and
courses for which this funding can be used. More
specifically it:
i) Requires that a
community college prioritize the use of
funds received under the program to ensure
that federal and state nondiscrimination law
requirements are satisfied for students with
disabilities who are enrolled to earn
degrees, career technical certificates,
transfer preparation, or career development
or advancement.
ii) Declares the district's ongoing
responsibility for complying with federal
and state nondiscrimination laws with
respect to students pursuing educational
objectives other than those delineated in
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(i).
iii) Authorizes the use of funds to
provide other specialized service or for
educational assistance courses if services
and courses are consistent with the BOG
regulations, further specified statutory
goals of promoting student independence and
maximum integration, and they are provided
in the most integrated setting possible.
iv) Prohibits the use of these funds
to provide services to students in classes,
courses, or programs that do not receive
state support.
d) Modifies program evaluation,
development, and accountability authorities and
requirements. Specifically it:
i) Expands the
requirements to be met by a district, as a
condition of receiving these funds, to
include cooperation in the conduct of
program evaluations and to promptly take any
corrective action required by the
Chancellor.
ii) Requires the BOG to require the
Chancellor to use at least one/half of one
percent of the allocated funds for purposes
of conducting, or contracting to conduct, an
evaluation of program effectiveness and
expands the requirements of the evaluation
to include a determination whether the
statutory requirements established by the
bill have been satisfied.
iii) Requires each community college
operating a Disabled Services Program to
participate in a peer-based onsite
evaluation during the self-study year of
each accreditation cycle.
iv) Authorizes the use of these funds
to compensate and reimburse onsite
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evaluation teams.
v) Reduces the maximum
amount that the Chancellor is authorized to
designate for program development and
accountability from 3 percent to 2
percent.
2) Requires the Board of Governors to annually request
sufficient budget funding for the Disability Services
Program to carry the purposes and requirements
outlined by the bill on a statewide basis.
3) Declares the Legislature's intent that adequate
funding be provided through the annual budget process
to the Disability Services Program to ensure each
college can provide students with the services needed
to meet federal and state nondiscrimination law
requirements and to further their participation in the
Student Success and Support Program.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, this bill
would align statutes regarding the provision of
services to students with disabilities with the
federal Americans with Disabilities Act. It would
also align the DSPS program with the Student Success
Act by requiring colleges to give priority to serving
students with disabilities who enroll to earn degrees,
career technical certificates, transfer preparation or
career advancement. Finally, the objective of the
legislation is to ensure that colleges have the
resources to provide students with disabilities with
the accommodations and services they need to be
successful in completing their educational objectives.
2) Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) provide
support services and educational accommodations to
students with disabilities so that they can have full
and equal access to the community college experience.
In addition, many colleges provide specialized
instruction as part of their DSPS program. Examples
of these services include: test-proctoring; assessment
for learning disabilities; specialized counseling;
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interpreter or captioning services for
hearing-impaired or deaf students; mobility
assistance; note-taker services; reader services;
speech services; transcription services; on-campus
transportation; specialized tutoring; access to
adaptive equipment; job development/placement;
registration assistance; and special parking and
specialized instruction.
3) Technical amendments . This bill amends the reporting
requirements under the Student Success Act provisions
to replace "disaggregated" with "desegregated." Staff
recommends the bill be amended to reinstate current
law to reflect the appropriate term for reporting
demographic information.
This bill directs the Board of Governors to make
specific funding requests of the Legislature. This
function is generally performed by the Chancellor.
Staff recommends the bill be amended on page 12 line
37 to replace "Board of Governors" with "Chancellor's
Office."
4) Net effect ? This bill statutorily establishes
requirements that the DSP provide services "required"
by federal and state law. But does federal law
"require" these services? Federal regulations
specify that postsecondary education institutions must
ensure that a disabled student is not denied the
benefits of, excluded from participation in, or
otherwise subjected to discrimination because of the
absence of educational auxiliary aids for students
with specified impairments. The regulations also make
it clear that the institution need not provide
attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers
for personal use or study, or other devices or
services of a personal nature. Could the provisions
of this bill be interpreted to go beyond these
requirements?
Legislative Counsel has identified potential mandated
costs, likely as the result of imposing the
requirements of federal law at the state level. To the
extent that insufficient federal funds are available
for the purposes outlined in the bill, or that the
provisions of the bill go beyond the requirements of
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federal law, responsibility for funding these costs
would fall to the State.
Staff recommends the bill be amended on page 8, lines
3-10, to instead "provide students with disabilities
enrolled in state-supported educational programs
academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and services, as
appropriate, consistent with the requirements of
federal and state nondiscrimination laws, including
but not limited to:" and to make conforming changes to
the findings and declaration on page 10, lines 21-28.
Staff further recommends that the bill be amended on
Page 8, line 35, to strike the word "comparable" to
ensure that the new calculation of costs does not
establish a higher threshold of service than that
required under current law.
5) Prior legislation . SB 705 (Block, 2013) held in Senate
Appropriations appropriated $50 million, from an
unspecified source, to the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges to be allocated: (1)
$25 million for Disabled Students Programs and
Services, and (2) $25 million for Extended Opportunity
Programs and Services (EOPS).
SUPPORT
Association of California State Employees with Disabilities
California Association for Postsecondary Education and
Disability
Disability Rights California
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
(NASW-CA)
Nine letters from individuals
OPPOSITION
None received.