California Assembly Bill AB1985 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1985AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams  (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members   Dodd,   Gallagher,   Lackey,   and Steinorth   )  FEBRUARY 16, 2016 An act to add Article 9 (commencing with Section 79500) to Chapter 9 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to Advanced Placement credit. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1985, as amended, Williams.  Postsecondary education.   Advanced Placement credit.  Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Regents of the University of California, and the Trustees of the California State University, with appropriate consultation with the Academic Senates of the respective segments, to jointly develop, maintain, and disseminate a shared core curriculum in general education courses for the purposes of transfer. This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop, and each community college district to adopt, a uniform policy to award a pupil who passes an Advanced Placement  exam with a minimum score of 3   examination  course credit for certain requirements in a  course,   course  with subject matter similar to that of the Advanced Placement  exam.   examination. The bill would require each community college campus to post the most recent policy on its Internet Web site. If a policy is not implemented for the entering class in the fall 2017 academic term, the bill would require the California Community Colleges to adopt and implement, commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, the Advanced Placement policy adopted by the California State University.  To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute 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. The Legislature finds and declares  each   all  of the following: (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a uniform Advanced Placement (AP) credit policy for general education within the California Community Colleges.  It is the intent of the Legislature that the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in collaboration with the Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges,   consider,   when adopting the uniform policy, granting course credit to a pupil who passes an Advanced Placement examination with a minimum score of three.  (b) Studies consistently find that pupils who earn AP exam scores of three and higher are likely to demonstrate multiple measures of college success. (c) The lack of a uniform AP credit policy often serves as an academic and financial barrier for students enrolling in California Community Colleges and is a transfer obstacle for many pupils. SEC. 2. Article 9 (commencing with Section 79500) is added to Chapter 9 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read: Article 9. Advanced Placement Credit 79500.  (a)    The office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall, in collaboration with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges,  develop,   do both of the following:   (1)     Develop,  and each community college district shall  adopt,   adopt and imp   lement, commencing with the entering class in the fall 2016 academic term,  a uniform policy to award a pupil who passes an Advanced Placement  exam with a minimum score of three   examination  course credit for California Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, California State University General Education Breadth, or local community college general education requirements, as appropriate for the pupil' s needs, in a course with subject matter similar to that of the Advanced Placement  exam.   examination.   (2) Periodically review and adjust the policy adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) to align it with policies of other public postsecondary educational institutions.   (b) If the policy to be adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) is not implemented for the entering class in the fall 2017 academic term, the California Community Colleges shall adopt and implement, commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, the Advanced Placement policy adopted by the California State University.   (c) Each community college campus shall post on it Internet Web site the most recent policy adopted pursuant to this section.  SEC. 3. 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.