State and Legislative Issues

Whereas, California Education Code §76370 states,

Whereas, Need-based financial aid is awarded to students on the basis of financial necessity rather than academic merit;

Whereas, Historically, the vast majority of students have attended public or private nonprofit colleges, and thus need-based financial aid from taxpayer dollars was thought to be an investment in individuals for the good of society and not for the benefit of private investors; and

Whereas, What is known as the “50% Law” is a reference to California Education Code §84362(d), which states that “There shall be expended during each fiscal year for payment of salaries of classroom instructors by a community college district, 50 percent of the district's current expense of education”;

Whereas, The majority of California community college students are eligible for some form of federal or state financial aid;
Whereas, Students remain in classes even when failing because they fear losing their financial aid, therefore engaging in unproductive and inefficient behaviors; and
Whereas, Students may accumulate excessive units by enrolling in and completing courses solely in order to retain their financial aid, and the Board of Governors (BOG) fee waivers set no limit on the number of units students may accrue while attending college under a BOG fee waiver;

Whereas, Current law and regulation limit community college fee-for-service instruction to community and contract education;

Whereas, Assembly Bill (AB) 515 (Brownley, February 15, 2011) proposes to allow local community college boards the authority, “without approval of the board of governors, to establish and maintain an extension program offering credit courses,” to permit colleges to collect a local fee for services for providing credit instruction to students the college is unable to serve via state apportionment; and

Whereas, The fiscal crisis in California threatens the future of California community colleges as never before;

Whereas, Budget shortfalls at the system, district, and college level threaten the ability of California community colleges to fulfill even their core missions as envisioned in the 1960 Master Plan;

Whereas, Meeting the challenges posed by the current fiscal crisis will require collaboration and creativity on the scale of that which led to the development and passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 1725 (1989); and

Whereas, California State University (CSU) system Title 5 §40409 is decades old and pre-dates the integrated teacher preparation program articulation agreements that have proliferated throughout the California Community College System since the year 2000;

Whereas, The current Title 5 regulations limit the number of education units a student may take at a community college to six that can count toward the baccalaureate degree, when currently there are articulation agreements between campuses that allow up to 12 units;

Whereas, The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) provides a review and analysis of the operations and finances of state government to the Legislature and is the office that acts as the main nonpartisan resource in fiscal matters to legislators and their staff members;

Whereas, The LAO has historically made recommendations about education in its publications, such as “The 2011-12 Budget: Prioritizing Course Enrollment at the Community Colleges”; and

Amend the resolve: Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges oppose educational legislation designed to alter the California Community Colleges’ funding structure to one based upon implementation of simplistic accountability measures of student success as the primary means of California community college funding.MSR: Referred to the Executive Committee for action as the Executive Committee deems appropriate.

Whereas, The original language in SB 1143 (Liu, 2010) predicated California community college funding on simplistic accountability measures of student success; Whereas, Performance based funding would likely have the unintended consequences of grade inflation, reduced funding for community colleges located in areas of low socio-economic status, and reduced access for students in need of remediation; andWhereas, The economic downturn has limited the type and number of course offerings, reduced overall student access, and, as a result, increased time to degree and certificate completion; Reso