BILL NUMBER: AB 2449INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Furutani FEBRUARY 19, 2010 An act relating to community colleges. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2449, as introduced, Furutani. California community colleges: financing: incentives. Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law establishes community college districts, administered by a governing board, throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction to students at the community college campuses maintained by the districts. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish a framework of financial incentives to reward community colleges for improving course completion rates by community college students. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Community College Student Success Act. SEC. 2. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish a framework of financial incentives to reward California community college districts for improving course completion rates by community college students. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the framework described in subdivision (a) should do all of the following: (1) Provide financial incentives for colleges to take a more holistic and programmatic approach to help students move along academic pathways toward completing coursework. (2) Phase in incentives over a period of time that is determined to be appropriate, allowing at least two years for studying the effects of the financial incentives. (3) Reward community colleges for increasing course completion rates, but not compare colleges to each other, due to the variety of reasons for having different course completion rates. (4) Include consideration of hard-to-serve students. (5) Protect access to the community colleges for underrepresented students by increasing overall student success.