California 2011 2011-2012 Regular Session

California Assembly Bill AB1741 Introduced / Bill

Filed 02/17/2012

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1741INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla FEBRUARY 17, 2012 An act to amend Section 71020.5 of the Education Code, relating to California Community Colleges. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1741, as introduced, Bonilla. California Community Colleges: comprehensive accountability system. 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 this 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. Existing law requires the board of governors, in consultation with institutional and organizational representatives of the California Community Colleges, to develop and implement a comprehensive educational and fiscal accountability system that does specified things, including, but not limited to, defining and measuring specified accountability information. That specified accountability information includes, but is not limited to, occupational preparation relative to state and local work force needs. This bill would require the accountability information regarding occupational preparation to be also relative to regional work force needs and include student participation in career readiness programs, and would additionally require the board of governors to define and measure accountability information regarding the ratio of full-time to part-time faculty and student access to faculty office hours. To the extent the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 71020.5 of the Education Code is amended to read: 71020.5. (a)  (1)    It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to foster the creation, implementation, and phase-in of a comprehensive community college accountability system that describes the performance of community colleges in meeting the postsecondary educational needs of students. This educational and fiscal accountability system shall provide performance data on students, programs, and institutions.  It   (2)     It  is further the intent of the Legislature that this accountability system assist all participants in the community college system, including students, faculty, staff, administrators, local governing boards, the chancellor, the  state  board of governors, the public, and other interested constituencies, in identifying the educational and fiscal strengths and weaknesses of  community  colleges in order to improve educational quality in community colleges. (b) The board of governors shall develop and implement a comprehensive community college educational and fiscal accountability system. In developing and implementing this system, the board of governors shall solicit consultation from institutional and organizational representatives of the California Community Colleges, including statewide faculty and staff organizations. At a minimum, the system shall do all of the following: (1) Be consistent with the Legislature's intent as expressed in this act, Chapter 136 of the Statutes of 1987, and Chapter 1465 of the Statutes of 1986. (2) Draw from, and build upon, the system proposed in the report entitled "AB 3409 Community College Accountability Report," prepared pursuant to Chapter 1465 of the Statutes of 1986. (3) Be designed to promote student success in community colleges. (4) Define and measure, quantitatively and qualitatively, accountability information, including all of the following: (A) Student access to community colleges. (B) The extent to which the community college student body reflects proportionately the adult population of the state. (C) Student transfer rates and programs. (D) Academic standards and student achievement. (E) Student goal satisfaction and success in courses and programs. (F) Completion rates of courses and programs. (G) Occupational preparation relative to state  ,   regional,  and local work force needs and for entry-level employment, occupational advancement, and career changes of students  , including student participation in career readiness programs  . (H) Adequacy of basic skills and English as a second language courses and instruction in preparing students to succeed in collegiate level work. (I) Adequacy of, and student satisfaction with, student services. (J) The extent to which the community college work force reflects proportionately the adult population of the state. (K) Fiscal conditions of community college districts.  (L) The ratio of full-time to part-time faculty and student access to faculty office hours.  (5) Be designed to streamline the use of multiple performance measures from appropriate sources of data, including, but not limited to, matriculation evaluations, categorical program evaluations, the community college management information system, and other existing data collection and evaluation systems. (6) Provide feedback to individual colleges in order to improve access to community colleges, student performance, and educational programs where needed. (7) Produce a published report of community college accountability. (c) The Legislature finds and declares that successful implementation of a comprehensive educational and fiscal accountability system is, in part, dependent upon an adequate data collection and reporting system. The accountability system developed and implemented pursuant to this section shall be phased in, to the extent necessary, with the funding and local implementation of the community college management information system. SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.