BILL NUMBER: SB 721INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal FEBRUARY 18, 2011 An act to add Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 67050) to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 721, as introduced, Lowenthal. California higher education: educational and economic goals. Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as the 3 segments of postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes a higher education accountability program under which the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges are required to prepare a list of reports on a regular basis and present those reports to the Legislature and to state agencies. Under the program, the California Postsecondary Education Commission is required to submit annually a higher education report to the Legislature and the Governor that provides information on significant indicators of the performance of public colleges and universities. This bill would require an undesignated state entity to establish an additional accountability framework for achieving prescribed educational and economic goals. The bill would require that the framework so established be guided by stated principles. The bill would require this framework to measure the collective performance of the state's system of higher education in successfully serving students by answering 6 statewide policy questions. The bill would make various legislative findings and declarations. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 67050) is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read: CHAPTER 13. EDUCATIONAL AND ECONOMIC GOALS FOR CALIFORNIA HIGHER EDUCATION 67050. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Since the enactment of the Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960, California's system of postsecondary education has provided access and high-quality educational opportunities that have fueled California's economic growth. (b) In today's global information economy, California's national and international success as an educational and economic leader will require strategic investments and improved management of state resources. (c) Several factors, including changing demographics, rising costs, increased competition for scarce state funding, and employer concerns about graduates' skills, present new challenges to higher education and state policymakers in effectively meeting the postsecondary education needs of Californians. (d) Although the public segments of higher education have each developed their own institution-specific accountability efforts, these efforts do not combine to tell us whether the state as a whole is on track to produce enough college educated individuals to meet workforce needs and to effectively compete in the global information economy, nor do they reflect statewide policy goals that cut across all higher education segments. (e) Without the articulation of a shared common vision and goals, and in the absence of a statewide focus and context, the state has limited access to meaningful data and analyses to assess the state's performance in key areas in order to make critical fiscal and policy decisions. (f) As public demand to ensure the state is making proper investments in postsecondary education grows, policy and educational leaders must collectively hold themselves accountable for connecting the postsecondary academic and research enterprise to the state's economic and workforce development needs, increasing the state's productivity, and expanding postsecondary access for all citizens and regions of the state to produce the economic and educational outcomes that best serve the state's interest. (g) In order to achieve the educational and economic outcomes necessary to ensure the state's success, it is the intent of the Legislature that data-driven budget and policy decisions within higher education be guided by each of the following goals: (1) Increased educational attainment and successful transition across all education levels. In the best performing state in the nation, for every 100 pupils in grade 9, 91 graduate from high school, 57 directly enter college, and 27 graduate within 150 percent of program time. However, in California, for every 100 pupils in grade 9, 71 graduate from high school, 31 directly enter college, and 17 graduate within 150 percent of program time, placing California 27th in the nation. Goal: by 2020, California will have improved its educational pipeline numbers sufficiently so that it is among the top 10 states in the nation for the successful movement of students through this pipeline. (2) Meeting the state's economic development, workforce development, and civic capacity needs. Current projections by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education indicate that California residents will have the largest drop in projected per capita income in the nation over the next two decades, and will fall below the national average by 2012. Goal: by 2020, California will be at the average per capita income of the top 10 new economy states as determined using the State New Economy Index developed by the Progressive Policy Institute. (3) Closure of the achievement gap and increased learning at all levels. In 2005, California ranked 33rd among states in the percentage of persons between 18 and 24 years of age, inclusive, with a high school diploma, 31st in the percentage of persons between 25 and 64 years of age, inclusive, with an associate degree, and 14th in the percentage of persons between 25 and 64 years of age, inclusive, with a bachelor's or higher degree. Goal: by 2020, California will be in the top 10 states nationally for the percentages of its age groups with degrees and certificates conferred. 67051. The State of California shall establish an accountability framework that provides the basis for a biennial assessment of the collective contribution of the state's system of postsecondary education toward meeting the clear and measurable educational and economic goals established pursuant to Section 67050. The accountability framework developed to monitor progress toward these goals shall be guided by all of the following principles: (a) A state-level accountability framework is designed to help policymakers develop, maintain, and fund a postsecondary education system that meets the state's goals, recognizes the differentiated missions of each segment of postsecondary education, and guides the segments toward maintaining effective institutions consistent with state goals and institutional missions. (b) Policymakers and governing boards are collectively accountable for meeting public goals for higher education, in accordance with all of the following: (1) Monitoring progress toward meeting state goals is largely the responsibility of state policymakers. (2) Monitoring the performance of individual colleges and universities is primarily the responsibility of institutional governing boards. (3) Institutional governing boards have ongoing responsibility for monitoring the progress toward meeting statewide policy goals of individual colleges and universities, for meeting segmental and institutional missions and goals, for ensuring the quality of the students' education, and for providing information to students and parents regarding enrollment, retention, and student success. (c) The state-level reporting system shall be designed to contain only data that helps policymakers to assess progress toward meeting state goals and to make appropriate policy and funding decisions. Specific indicators may change as better data are identified for assessing progress toward meeting state goals. (d) In establishing an accountability framework for higher education, it is the intent of the Legislature to build upon existing higher education data, information systems, reports, and processes, including, but not limited to, the reporting process established in Section 84754.5, and improve upon these efforts to measure collective progress toward common vision and goals. (e) Rather than envisioning a particular level of higher education funding to move toward the statewide educational and economic policy goals established pursuant to Section 67050, it is the intent of the Legislature that the framework established pursuant to this chapter help ensure the effective and efficient use of whatever funding is provided to higher education. 67051.5. It is the intent of the Legislature that, after sufficient opportunity for deliberation and analysis, the information gathered under the framework established pursuant to this chapter be utilized by the Governor and the Legislature to do all of the following through appropriate actions: (a) Establish clear and measurable goals in various areas, including, but not limited to, enrollment, completion, time-to-degree, efficiency in facilities utilization, transfer, and access. (b) Establish a timeline for phasing in the Legislature's and the Governor's expectations for the achievement of these goals. (c) Develop policy and budget proposals that include appropriate funding mechanisms, where appropriate, for achieving these goals, including, but not limited to, incentive funding, differential funding, or the reallocation of existing resources, or all of these. 67052. The state shall utilize the accountability framework established pursuant to this chapter to measure progress toward its articulated educational and economic goals by collecting and reporting information that answers all of the following six statewide policy questions: (a) Are enough Californians prepared for postsecondary education? (b) Are enough Californians going to college? (c) Is the state's postsecondary education system affordable to all Californians? (d) Are enough Californians successfully completing certificates and degrees? (e) Are college graduates prepared for life and work in California? (f) Are California's people, communities, and economy benefiting?