BILL NUMBER: SCR 34INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Ducheny APRIL 20, 2009 Relative to Educational Opportunity Programs and Services Month. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 34, as introduced, Ducheny. Community colleges: educational opportunity programs. This measure would designate the month of October 2009 as Educational Opportunity Programs and Services Month to honor the mission and purposes of the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services through the celebration and coordination of activities that advance educational equity principles. Fiscal committee: yes. WHEREAS, In the California Community Colleges system the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) was established in 1969 to initiate access and retention efforts for first-generation, low-income, educationally disadvantaged, and historically underrepresented students; and WHEREAS, EOPS has served over 2,500,000 students at 110 campuses of the California Community Colleges, and these students have made a positive impact on the business, economic, educational, and cultural fabric of the State of California; and WHEREAS, EOPS provides academic and transitional support services for nearly 110,000 students, and these services ensure educational access and justice, financial and academic support, opportunities to attain a college degree, and strategies that enable community college students to transfer to baccalaureate institutions; and WHEREAS, EOPS has provided dynamic and innovative services in early outreach programs serving hundreds of thousands of potential EOPS applicants and summer bridge learning communities, and community building efforts that retain program students who impact the larger campus communities; and WHEREAS, The Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) Program was added in 1982 to expand services for welfare-dependent, single-parent EOPS students, and CARE has provided higher education access and supportive services, such as counseling, book services, tutoring, peer support, child care, transportation, school supplies, classes, and other activities addressing the special needs of 160,000 low-income, single-parent students; and WHEREAS, EOPS and CARE are successful programs that bring hope, vision, guidance, and activism to underserved communities, that heighten the awareness of educational pathways and sociocultural opportunities, and that invest in developing the leaders of tomorrow; and WHEREAS, EOPS trains, develops, and produces expertise in faculty and staff, thus enhancing the quality of services, organizational structures, and research on low-income, first-generation, and historically underrepresented students; and WHEREAS, EOPS has successfully developed local partnerships among community-based organizations, public agencies, legislative institutions, universities, and kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, public school systems; and WHEREAS, EOPS ensures a diverse and representative voice for thousands of community members whose goal is to participate in, and enrich, the public education of California; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby expresses its congratulations and appreciation to the California Community Colleges Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, for its historic and continued success in realizing the intent of landmark legislation, and the vision of the California Master Plan for Higher Education, in attaining educational equity goals and objectives; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature declares October 2009 as Educational Opportunity Programs and Services Month to honor the mission and purposes of the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services through the celebration and coordination of activities that advance educational equity principles; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the governing board of each community college district in the state.