AB 1602: Education.

(1)The California Library Services Act establishes the California Library Services Board and provides that its duties include, among other things, adopting rules, regulations, and general policies relating to the implementation of the act.

This bill would revise and recast the act, including, among other things, removing from the board the powers to annually submit budget proposals as part of the annual budget of the Department of Education and to develop formulas for the equitable allocation of reimbursements to public libraries, as defined, for providing specified library services.

This bill would appropriate $3,000,000 from the General Fund to the California State Library for allocation pursuant to the bill. The bill also would require the California State Library, on or before September 1, 2017, to submit a specified report on the use of those funds to the Director of Finance and the Legislature.

(2)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. The board appoints a chief executive officer known as the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Under existing law, community college districts are authorized, among other things, to maintain and operate campuses, employ faculty and other employees, and provide instruction to students.

This bill would establish the Zero-Textbook-Cost Degree Grant Program, which would require the chancellor to award grants to community college districts that meet specified criteria for developing and implementing associate degrees and career technical education certificate programs earned entirely by completing courses that eliminate conventional textbook costs by using alternative instructional materials and methodologies. The bill would require the chancellor, by June 30, 2019, to report to the Legislature, the Legislative Analysts Office, and the Department of Finance on the development and implementation of these degrees and would authorize the allocation of a portion of the funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the program so that the chancellors office may contract with a community college district to administer the program.

This bill would appropriate $7,000,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for allocation, for the 201617 fiscal year, to community college districts to enhance network infrastructure through the Telecommunications and Technology Infrastructure Program administered by the board of governors. These funds would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for the 201516 fiscal year for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

(3)Existing law authorizes a school district or community college district to receive an advance of apportionments owed to the district from the State School Fund and the Education Protection Account. Existing law requires a school district or community college district that receives an emergency apportionment to enter into a lease financing agreement with the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank for the purpose of financing the emergency apportionment and specifies various terms of the lease. Existing law appropriates $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for apportionment to the Compton Community College District as an emergency apportionment, as specified.

This bill would require that the interest rate for those emergency apportionments made to the Compton Community College District be 2.307% beginning July 1, 2016.

(4)Existing law appropriates $33,100,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for faculty and staff development activities and to provide grant funds to community college districts for improving outcomes of students who enter college needing at least one course in English as a second language or basic skills, with particular emphasis on students transitioning from high school, as specified.

This bill would make the provisions related to the appropriation inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2018.

This bill would establish the Student Success for Basic Skills Program to be administered by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The bill would require the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to allocate funds, provided in the annual Budget Act for the Student Success for Basic Skills Program, for faculty and staff development activities and to provide grant funds to community college districts for improving outcomes of students who enter college needing at least one course in English as a second language or basic skills, with particular emphasis on students transitioning from high school, as specified. The bill would, in order to be eligible to receive grant funds, require a community college district to submit to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges an application containing specified information. The bill would require the chancellor to distribute grant funds to community college districts based on certain weighted factors. The bill would require the office of the chancellor to consult with the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst to develop and recommend annual accountability measures for the program. The bill would, on or before March 15, 2020, require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analysts Office, to report on the effectiveness of the factors used to allocate funding under this program in improving outcomes for students requiring remediation. These provisions would become operative on July 1, 2017.

(5)Existing law provides, in calculating each community college districts revenue level each fiscal year, that the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges shall subtract, from the total revenues owed, certain amounts, including certain amounts received pursuant to certain provisions of existing law relating to redevelopment that, for purposes of community college revenue levels, are considered to be from property tax revenues.

This bill would appropriate, for the 201617 fiscal year, $31,695,000 from the General Fund to the board of governors for allocation to community college districts to backfill a projected shortfall in specified revenues for these districts. The bill would require the Director of Finance to determine the need for the backfill, as specified, and notify the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, or his or her designee, of the amount needed to address the revenue shortfall. The bill would allocate any funds remaining from this appropriation after final calculation of the amount of the shortfall to the reimbursement of state-mandated local program costs of community college districts. The bill would authorize the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to disburse the amount determined and to work with the Controller to allocate the funds to districts. This appropriation would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for the 201516 fiscal year for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, as specified.

(6)Existing law establishes the California Distance Learning Policy, which sets forth the guiding goal and principles for the utilization of technology in postsecondary education.

This bill would appropriate $20,000,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for allocation to community college districts to expedite and enhance the adaptation and development of courses that are available through the online course exchange of the Online Education Initiative. This appropriation would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution for the 201415 fiscal year, as specified.

(7)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 throughout the state and authorizes them to operate campuses and provide instruction to students.

This bill would establish the Awards for Innovation in Higher Education Program, under the administration of the Committee on Awards for Innovation in Higher Education, composed of specified members, to award funds appropriated for the program in the Budget Act of 2016 to community colleges for implementing innovations that reduce the time it takes students to complete degrees and credentials or reduce the total cost of attendance for students, as specified.

This bill would also establish the Strong Workforce Program, to provide funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts. The program would require consortia to collaborate with local educational agencies and other interested bodies that meet certain requirements for purposes of expanding the availability of quality community college career technical education and workforce development courses, programs, pathways, credentials, certificates, and degrees for community college students. The bill would authorize a portion of funds appropriated for the program to be allocated by the board of governors to a community college district for purposes of administering and improving the program, as provided. The bill would require the chancellors office, among other things, to (A) implement performance accountability outcome measures for the program, (B) post on its Internet Web site regional plans required under the program, along with updates to those plans, (C) solicit feedback from each consortium on recommendations for improving the program, and (D) report, commencing in 2018, to the Legislature by the January 1 immediately subsequent to the fiscal year that the report addresses, data summarizing the performance accountability outcome measures, a summary of the recommendations received from consortia, and recommendations for future allocations to consortia, as specified.

(8) Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to provide the San Francisco Community College District with certain revenues in the 201415, 201516, and 201617 fiscal years if the number of full-time equivalent students (FTES) of the community college district decreases from the 201213 fiscal year and certain conditions are satisfied, including that the board of governors finds the community college district or one of its campuses is in imminent jeopardy of losing its accreditation.

This bill would provide that for 5 fiscal years beginning with the 201718 fiscal year, the San Francisco Community College District shall be entitled to restoration of any reduction in apportionment revenue due to decreases in FTES if there is a subsequent increase in FTES.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Francisco Community College District.

(9)Existing law establishes the Adult Education Block Grant Program under the administration of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The program requires the chancellor and the Superintendent, with the advice of the Executive Director of the State Board of Education, to divide the state into adult education regions and approve one adult education consortium in each adult education region, as specified.

Existing law requires the chancellor and the Superintendent, with the advice of the executive director, to approve, for each consortium, rules and procedures that adhere to prescribed conditions. Existing law authorizes the members of the consortium to designate a member to serve as the fund administrator to receive and distribute funds from the program.

This bill would add to these rules and procedures a requirement that, in its decisionmaking process, the consortium consider input provided by pupils, teachers employed by local educational agencies, community college faculty, principals, administrators, classified staff, and the local bargaining units of the school districts and community college districts before it makes a decision. The bill would require a member, if chosen to be the fund administrator, to commit to developing a process to apportion funds to each member of the consortium pursuant to the consortiums plan within 45 days of receiving funds appropriated for the program.

(10)Existing law requires, as a condition for the receipt of an apportionment of funds from the Adult Education Block Grant Program for a fiscal year, that members of a consortium, approved for the program, approve an adult education plan, as specified. Existing law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to report to the Director of Finance, the State Board of Education, and the Legislature, by September 30 following any fiscal year for which funds are appropriated for the program, about the use of these funds and outcomes for adults statewide and in each adult education region established under the program. Existing law requires the chancellor and the Superintendent to establish common assessments and policies regarding placement of adults seeking education and workforce services into adult education programs, as specified.

This bill would require the chancellor and the Superintendent to submit preliminary reports on or before October 30 following each fiscal year for which funds are appropriated, and final reports on or before February 1 of the following year, about the use of available funds and outcomes for adults statewide and in each adult education region. The bill, no later than August 1, 2017, would require the chancellor and the Superintendent to report to the Director of Finance, the State Board of Education, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on options for integrating the assessments described above into a specified common assessment system, compliance of the assessments with federal and state funding requirements for adult education programs, estimated costs and timelines for the assessments, and changes in policies that may be needed to avoid duplicate assessments.

This bill would appropriate, for the 201617 fiscal year, $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for allocation. For this purpose, the bill would require the chancellor and the Superintendent to jointly select a community college district, school district, county office of education, or adult education consortium to provide statewide leadership, as defined, for community college districts and local educational agencies participating in the Adult Education Block Grant Program. The bill would provide that the selected community college district or local educational agency would expend funds received to support the statewide leadership activities identified in the bill and to provide leadership activities in the 201617, 201718, and 201819 fiscal years.

This appropriation would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for the 201617 fiscal year for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

(11)Existing law establishes the Career Technical Education Pathways Program, which requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to assist economic and workforce regional development centers and consortia, community colleges, middle schools, high schools, and regional occupational centers and programs to improve linkages and career technical education pathways between high schools and community colleges, as specified. Existing law provides that the program becomes inoperative on July 1, 2016, and as of January 1, 2017, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends the dates on which the program becomes inoperative and is repealed.

This bill would change the dates on which the program becomes inoperative and is repealed to July 1, 2017, and January 1, 2018, respectively. This bill would therefore extend the operation of the program by one year.

(12)Existing law requires the University of California and the California State University to report biennially to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on their respective total costs of education, as specified.

This bill would require the University of California and the California State University to include in these reports information on their costs based on the methodology developed by the National Association of College and University Business Officers in its February 2002 report and other methodologies determined by the university. The bill would fix 2 cross references.

(13) Existing law establishes the Middle Class Scholarship Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission. Existing law requires $116,000,000 for the 201617 fiscal year and $159,000,000 for the 201718 fiscal year to be transferred, upon order of the Director of Finance, from the General Fund to the Middle Class Scholarship Fund. Existing law appropriates these moneys to the commission for allocation pursuant to the Middle Class Scholarship Program.

This bill would reduce the amounts for transfer and appropriation for the Middle Class Scholarship Fund to $74,000,000 for the 201617 fiscal year and $117,000,000 for the 201718 fiscal year, thereby making an appropriation.

(14)The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. Existing law defines unduplicated pupils as any pupil who is an English language learner, foster youth, or eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

This bill would require the university, if funds are appropriated in the Budget Act of 2016 to the university, to adopt a plan to improve the universitys admission, enrollment, and graduation of students who were enrolled in schools identified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction as having at least 75% of the schools total enrollment in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, consist of unduplicated pupils. The bill would require the university to submit to the Director of Finance and the Legislature an evaluation of the costs and benefits of providing application fee waivers for these students by no later than December 15, 2016. Commencing in 2017, the bill would require the university to submit to the director and the Legislature the number of these students who were admitted and who were enrolled, disaggregated by campus, by no later than November 30 of each year.

Existing law, until June 30, 2017, requests the Regents of the University of California, with the approval of the Concurrence Committee, to establish and maintain cooperative endeavors designed to accomplish specified purposes related to teacher professional development.

This bill would extend the operation of these provisions relating to teacher professional development indefinitely.

(15)Existing law establishes and funds various research centers and programs in conjunction with the University of California.

This bill would enact the California Firearm Violence Research Act. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the Regents of the University of California establish and administer a Firearm Violence Research Center to research firearm-related violence. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature regarding the principles by which the university would administer the center and award research funds, as prescribed. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the university report, on or before December 31, 2017, and every 5 years thereafter, specified information regarding the activities of the center and information pertaining to research grants. The bill would require the center and the grant recipients to provide copies of their research publications to the Legislature and specified agencies. The bill would specify that its provisions would apply to the university only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make any of the provisions of the bill applicable to the university.

(16)The Budget Act of 2015 appropriated specified funds to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for increasing the number of full-time faculty within the community college system. The act required these funds to be allocated to all community college districts on a specified basis by modifying each districts budget formula.

This bill would amend the Budget Act of 2015 to require all community college districts, including districts that have offsetting local revenues that exceed the funding calculated pursuant to the districts budget formula, to receive this funding.

(17)Existing law requires the California State University, and requests the University of California, to establish a model uniform set of academic standards for high school courses for purposes of recognition for admission to the California State University and to the University of California, respectively. These uniform set of academic standards are commonly referred to as the a-g subject requirements.

This bill would establish the A-G Success Initiative and would appropriate the sum of $4,000,000 from the General Fund to the University of California to be used for the development of online classes and curriculum for at least 45 middle and high school courses that would be aligned with the academic content and state standards adopted by the State Board of Education and approved by the University of California for purposes of satisfying the a-g subject requirements. The bill would condition the receipt of these moneys on the University of California soliciting comments from the representatives of local educational agencies regarding the specific online classes and curriculum to be developed, submitting a report, no later than January 1, 2017, to the Legislature and specified persons on the specific online classes and curriculum selected for development, making the developed online classes and curriculum available no later than January 1, 2018, and conducting outreach specifically to pupils from groups underrepresented in higher education regarding options for satisfying the a-g subject requirements. The bill would require that the developed online classes and curriculum be free for California public school pupils and teachers.

(18)Existing law, commencing with the 201314 academic year, requires the California State University to report, by March 15 of each year, on specified performance measures, including various calculations of graduation rates, for the preceding academic year.

This bill would appropriate $35,000,000 from the General Fund to the Trustees of the California State University upon the trustees taking, by September 30, 2016, specified actions to improve the 4-year graduation rate and the 2-year transfer graduation rate at the university, including actions to improve those graduation rates for low-income students, underrepresented minority students, and first-generation college students. To receive this appropriation, the bill would require the trustees to commit to submitting reports, at least annually, to the Director of Finance and the Legislature regarding progress in improving its 4-year graduation rates and 2-year transfer graduation rates.

The bill would require, by no later than November 30, 2016, the trustees to identify and report to the director and the Legislature state laws that impede the university from improving its 4-year graduation rates and the 2-year graduation rates.

(19)Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and Research in the Governors Office that constitutes the comprehensive state planning agency and serves the Governor and his or her Cabinet as staff for long-range planning or research.

This bill would establish, until January 1, 2020, the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine in the office for the purpose of developing, implementing, awarding funding to, and evaluating demonstration projects on precision medicine in collaboration with public, nonprofit, and private entities, as specified. The bill would specify criteria that would make a project eligible to receive funds, and would require the office to develop and post on a publicly available Internet Web site guidelines regarding the application for and use of awarded funds. The bill would require the office to establish standards that require a grant to be subject to an intellectual property agreement, as specified. The bill would require the office to annually report to the Legislature to update and provide evaluations on selected demonstration projects, as specified. The bill would authorize the office to receive nonstate funds in furtherance of the initiative, and would authorize up to 30 percent of any amount appropriated to the office for precision medicine to be held by the office until an equivalent amount of nonstate matching funds is identified and received. The bill would authorize the office to use up to 10% of any amount appropriated to the office for precision medicine for administrative costs.

The bill would require the office to recruit a precision medicine expert selection committee to represent various precision medicine-related skills and would authorize the Legislature to make nominations for the selection committee to the office for consideration. The bill, except as specified, would require the selection committee to comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. The bill would require the selection committee to report on the award of funding as prescribed and post the report on the Internet Web site.

Existing law authorizes the Department of General Services to carry out various powers and duties relating to assisting a state agency in the management and development of intellectual property developed by state employees or with state funding.

This bill would provide that those provisions do not apply to an intellectual property agreement entered into by the initiative.

Existing law generally requires state agencies to obtain at least 3 competitive bids for each contract for services. Under existing law, this requirement does not apply under certain circumstances, including, until January 1, 2019, to a subcontract for the limited purpose of researching or developing precision medicine included in an interagency agreement that is in effect pursuant to an amount appropriated to the office under a specific budget item, including a contract between the office, the Regents of the University of California, or an auxiliary organization of the California State University.

This bill would extend that competitive bidding exemption until January 1, 2020, and expand the exemption to include such a subcontract in an interagency agreement in effect pursuant to an amount appropriated to the office for precision medicine.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(20)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.