Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Education Finance , Tuesday, May 5, 2026
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Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Education Finance California State Assembly
Follow its sittingsSpeaker 1
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you both for, taking advantage of that opportunity. Anybody else who speaks on something on, on the agenda today, you'll have time at the end of today's meeting. So, with that, let's begin with issue one.
I'd ask the panel, who is going to be presenting this to come forward, the California, Labor Workforce Development Agency, Credential Career Office, chancellor's office at the community colleges, government ops, and the California Department of Education. We will hear an update on the administration's career master plan and California Education Interagency Council. So we will kick this off, I believe, with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Welcome.
Speaker 4
Thank you so much, and good morning. I'm Abby Snay. I'm the deputy secretary for workforce strategy at the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Thank you for the opportunity to brief you today on the very exciting innovation and collaboration we've been working on this last year in implementing the career education master plan. I wanna share that before I joined the state, I ran a local direct service organization in the Bay Area for forty years and worked with people in the community trying to find training programs and classes that could get them into jobs and into better jobs.
And I saw their frustration trying to navigate the separate and disjointed workforce and and education systems. I also have served as a board leader for the National Skills Coalition and seen these same frustrations playing out everywhere across the country. Since I joined secretary Knox at the labor agency in 2020, we've worked to better connect and integrate the state's workforce and education systems, and last year's adoption of the master plan for career education accelerated this work dramatically. The career education master plan lays out a blueprint for our colleges, our universities, and our workforce partners to work together in new ways to support millions of adults and youth in California who must build their skills and connect with good jobs in demand in this rapidly changing economy. The governor called for the master plan to ensure quality careers and jobs for students, whether their education journey ends at high school, postsecondary training, or a college degree.
We also know that learners will enter education and training systems at different points across their lifetime. And we see this so dramatically now with the adoption of AI, the skills required in the workforce will continue to change. And so we are creating structures to be responsive to learners and to employers. You'll hear now from our colleagues at Cradle to Career, the chancellor's office, the Department of Education, the gov ops agency, and then more from LWDA. We'll be brief, and then we'll be happy to respond to your comments.
Speaker 5
Good morning, mister chair and members. My name is Mary Anne Bates. I serve as the executive director of the California Cradle to Career Data System. The Cradle to Career Data System is powered by linking longitudinal data that CTC receives from our data partners. We first ingested data from eight partners in late twenty twenty three.
And then just a few weeks ago, in March, in our latest regular data import, we received data from 16 data providers across TK through 12 and higher education, workforce and earnings, and take up of social services. The workforce data expansion from this past year is c two c's largest to date, and LWDA was a phenomenal partner on this. CTC worked with LWDA and its four departments to add job training and workforce data to c two c for the first time. By adding over a 150 new workforce data elements to c two c, the state can better understand outcomes, pathways, and earnings for job training programs. This data, in addition to new postsecondary data from the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education and the National Student Clearinghouse will serve as an unprecedented resource with data connecting that to the t k 12 through 12 data, the job training, earnings data, and social services take up.
We expect that the data dashboards, data reports, and data files we release to be useful across the state. And in particular, we're also standing by to support the new interagency council once it is ready to request data reports from CTC. CTC builds dashboards based on the priorities of the 21 person CTC governing board. Last year, we released the student pathways dashboard on the educational pathways from high school graduation through postsecondary education and employment. Last month, we updated that dashboard as scheduled with a new year of data and accessibility and usability improvements.
We're pleased that our first dashboard has been used by more than 80,000 people, and organizations such as PPIC have used the underlying data that powers that dashboard to create their own data visualizations and reports. For greater access to the full data system, we are also building a secure data enclave, which we expect to pilot and launch this year. This enclave will allow researchers to submit research requests and unlock the full scope of the longitudinal dataset for understanding the impact of policies. This enclave is a secure privacy protected environment, so the insights and what we learn from the studies will leave the enclave, but the data stays put. Now I'd like to turn the mic over to my colleague at the chancellor's office for updates on increasing opportunities for students.
Speaker 6
Thank you. So first, I'll I'll quickly cover dual enrollment opportunities and how they fit into the master plan. So, certainly, from our perspective, it is about providing pathways to stackable and portable opportunities for students to continue or choose to access higher education or workforce training options. So we view dual enrollment as a a critical element. The governor's budget does propose funding to support the continued focus on dual enrollment.
I would just note a few key facts in here. Nearly a 165,000 students take a dual enrollment course. And of those percentages, roughly 56% are Latino, 13% Asian, 4% are black students. So we definitely have a wide representation within those within those students that are accessing dual enrollment today. I would note, though, that we do recognize that dual enrollment is not universally accessible to all high school students across the state, and there are equity gap issues that we continue to focus on in terms of closing the equity gaps and targeted strategies to expand dual enrollment.
One of the primary benefits for dual enrollment, again, is those pathways, and it expands the pie, the number of students that are accessing higher education. So we have institutions that will indicate that roughly two thirds of their dual enrollment students show up on a UC or CSU campus. So it really helps across the board. Additionally, I would shift to etranscript California, which has a total of 12,000,000 allocated to support the development of etranscript two point o. In terms of process, we have released the RFP, and we recently closed the initial response round.
We are shifting to the demonstration phase. But one key element that I want to highlight is we're consistently saying with our technology projects and community colleges that we need to take an integrated approach. So Etranscript California as well as the career passport RFP that I'll discuss in a a little bit are required to integrate and work together. So we take that integrated approach. We're trying to ensure that we're not taking technology approaches that are siloed or don't work together with our other systems.
We do within e Transcript California, the importance of it is it is revamping our systems to make it easier for transcripts to flow across our higher education institutions, and it does follow a lot of the recommendations from the Cradle to Career task force that looked at what it would mean to revamp etranscript California, and we look forward to seeing the the successful outcome of that contracting process and the implementation ultimately of etranscript two point o. And I'll turn it back over to my colleague, Mary Ann Bates.
Speaker 5
Thank you. I want to talk about a collaboration recently with the community college chancellor's office and the Scholarship Investment Board to solve the problem of siloed data. So the Scholarship Investment Board knows which people have unclaimed or unspent CalKids accounts, but they don't know who's enrolled in college. And the chancellor's office knows who's enrolled, but they don't know who has unclaimed or unspent accounts. And so we use the data that we link in the c two c dataset to send the chancellor's office reports identifying community college students who had not yet claimed their CalKids accounts.
In just our first pilot round, C2C identified over 40,000 community college students with about $20,000,000 in unclaimed scholarships. So we're going to do this routinely for the community colleges moving forward and expect to identify many more students. A few weeks ago, I was presenting to the board of governors and shared this CalCIDS collaboration, and they invited a financial aid officer from South Southwestern College in Chula Vista to join the presentation virtually. And she described how they reached out to more than a thousand students on their campus about CalKids based on that c two c linked data. And then she described that usually at that point in the year, they would receive maybe two or three CalKids checks per month.
And then she held up a stack of checks like a wad of cash that had just come in, CalKids checks for their students in response to the outreach that they had done based on the data that we had linked and shared, with the chancellor's office. So this is a great example of bridging data silos to increase opportunities for students. We're also putting the link data to work for more general intergovernmental efficiency. C two c has delivered three years of reporting data on CalGrants to the student aid commission on behalf of California's public higher education segments. And this summer, we will share with CSAC the latest batch of data based on the data we received from the segments a few weeks ago.
And so this will enable CSAC to report to the legislature on persistence enrollment and graduation data per last year's omnibus bill. This collaboration simplifies campus level reporting and provides privacy protecting safeguards to students while facilitating CSAC's critical reporting. So now I'll turn it back to vice chancellor Ferguson for more updates.
Speaker 6
Yeah. The 2526 budget provided 25,000,000 to support the development of a career passport approach. What are career passports? They are designed to provide a mechanism that enables people to attain well paid work by ensuring that the skills they built through their apprenticeships, industry credentials, military service, noncredit programs, credit for prior learning, and work experience can be recognized by employers and colleges alike. So it serves as a wallet of sorts that allows you to say, these are the skills that I've learned and earned in different settings, whether that's in the workforce, the military, on an education campus, and pulls that together and also is doing so using the terms that industry is using to hire.
So let's say we're talking about artificial intelligence. It will know, do you need to say agen tech? Do you need to say generative? So it will help you use those right terms. In terms of where we're at today, we have issued the and released the RFP to seek out responsive bidders.
I I can say that that has not closed yet, but it closes shortly the window for responses. I can also say that according to my team, there's been significant interest from the field in considering and considering submitting a bid or a response for the the proposal. So we look forward to that continuing. And, again, we've made sure that it is integrated with etranscript California, and we are making sure that we can integrate credit for prior learning as well as data that flows from the common cloud data platform and other sources into, etrans or sorry, into the career passports.
Speaker 1
Thank you. I'm gonna pause. I know there's others who gonna speak, but I'd like to give an opportunity for mister Fong to ask some questions given his deep level of work in this space and also just to call Roll, to establish Roll, a quorum here. Miss we're gonna call roll first.
Speaker 10
Thank you so much, mister chair, and thank you so much to all the panelists. I know we're gonna hear from few more panelists coming up as well. And the interagency council, the inter education interagency council has been a big priority of mine, and I'm glad to see it kicked off the ground and to work with Debbie Cochran and and the team. And I know you've given presentations since. But we know that with just $1,500,000 budgeted, what does the administration anticipate the council will have completed by the end of this year?
Speaker 11
Thank you for the question. Mister chair, fellow committee members, my name is Justin Howard. I'm the deputy secretary for fiscal policy and administration at the government operations agency. As you correctly pointed out, the budget included 1,500,000 for the government operations agency to essentially stand up and help manage the California Education Interagency Council. To date, we've done a lot of work behind the scenes, particularly with posting and hiring positions.
So we I am pleased, as you noted, we did hire the executive officer who started officially yesterday. So she is on day two It's good. Of her role with with our agency. But more importantly with that, we've we've done a lot of other work. Particularly, we've established and modified IAs to provide accounting, budgeting support, human resource support, as well as, information technology support.
We've acquired domain names for website purposes and emails. We've established a separate program that's gonna be standalone and unique within our agency so you can track it as a separate kind of essentially as its own mini department outside of the office of the secretary. Payroll headers working with SEO and department of finance. So, essentially, what we've done to date is we've done all of the behind the scenes activity to get the office up and running. Now the legislation kinda lays out a variety of things that are supposed to be accomplished within, some specific time.
So including we gotta hold our first meeting by the June. So that's one thing that we're gonna be working, with the executive officer on getting going. Outside of that as well, there are other activities that need to be done, including entering into an MOU with CTC for accessing their data to inform the council on things that they're gonna wanna do. In addition to that, it requires the council to have a strategic plan done by, I believe I think it's the November, I think, that the statute specifies. And so those are gonna be the first things that the council's gonna need to work on to get done this calendar year.
Once that strategic plan's done, my understanding is there's supposed to be a work plan that follows the strategic plan that involves consultation with the education committee here in this assembly as well as the senate as well as interested stakeholders. So she's gonna have a lot on her plate. I can't speak to what ultimately will be into the strategic plan because that'll be informed by the council along with the executive officer as they proceed their work. But, nonetheless, we are ready to hit the ground running. Now that she's hired, we can now hire the remaining staff to support her, which we needed that first domino to go before we did the rest.
So but we are ready to go.
Speaker 10
And thank you for for that context, Justin. And as you develop the strategic plan and have consultation with the committee members and our chair and then our committee chairs up here, please feel free to reach out how we can be of assistance in this process. This is something that we wanna make sure that we're coordinating and referred from our prior presenters here. It's important to have a seamless coordination as much as possible. And that's what the goal of the interagency council is.
And I know that with everyone here, we wanna continue to push and to make sure it succeeds and does well. And so to the next question I have is, in terms of the next few years for this council, what are some of the strategic outcomes and that we would expect from
Speaker 11
this council? Think that's a great question. I don't think I'm the one who's capable of answering that. I think that's something that's gonna ultimately need developed. I know this statute kinda lays out some, like, kinda broad goals that they need to achieve.
So that's something that they will work on and incorporate into their strategic plan through conversations with folks like yourselves and other interested parties as well as the council members themselves. So a little premature for me to guess what the, you know, those will be, but, ultimately, we will lay out those for you.
Speaker 10
Thank you so much for that context. So as you build out as the team gets built out into miss Cochran and team, we're here to partner and to serve and to really make sure that we get this right and that we wanna make sure this interagency council succeeds. And so that's in partnership with everyone here. So thank you so much, mister chair. I appreciate you.
Speaker 1
Thank you, and thank you for all your work on this front. We'll continue with the panelists. Obviously, if something's been covered already, we ask you to skip over that, and then the the other two members will have questions, I'm sure. So please continue.
Speaker 4
So I think I can pick up again and talk a bit about regional coordination. The Labor and Workforce Development Agency has focused on deepening coordination at the regional level between the community colleges and the public workforce system. And this year, right now, we are leveraging federal dollars to support, excuse me, 10 workforce development boards across the state to work more closely with community colleges to build programs that meet employer need and move people into good jobs through apprenticeships, through work based learning, through internships, and whole new training pipelines. LWDA is approving recommendations as we speak and should be very soon announcing these 10 funded programs. We are also excited, and I think as another reflection of this coordination with the chancellor's office, that we will be joining forces with the chancellor's office to support these regional partnerships through technical assistance with a very heavy focus on employer partnerships.
I'm also pleased to let you know about a regional demonstration project that's in full gear in LA in partnership with Unite LA, which is focusing on opportunity youth as a population, on health career pathways as an occupation, and has been at the local level pulling together teams of community colleges, community based organizations, workforce boards with heavy involvement and real involvement of young people themselves to identify where the pain points occur in a learner's journey and have them work on changes to reduce or eliminate those pain points and ensure that more young people build the skills and credentials and certificates to enter the truly expanding field of health care with its great career pathways for people. So I think I can wrap us up. We want to thank you again for having us here today. And we are really looking ahead to the leadership that the new CEIC will provide in the next year. And we'll continue to deepen this collaboration and together support the millions of adults and youth in California in achieving their dreams.
So thank you, and we are all open to additional questions.
Speaker 1
Thank you. Appreciate you all being here on the presentations. Do you wanna kick us off, doctor Patel?
Speaker 8
I have kind of a tangent question as it relates to you touched upon, mister Ferguson, dual enrollment. And I know we have a whole panel on dual enrollment. But in that conversation, where do APs fit in?
Speaker 6
So AP and IB are generally outside of the dual enrollment sphere, but you can receive credit. And we're certainly thinking through opportunities around credit for prior learning as to how we can look at AP or IB and say, can we use credit for prior learning to also issue credit for AP or IB where appropriate? But they're focused on the same core goal. We don't view it as a competition. We view it as, you know, whatever pathway is best for that student to enter the workforce or enter higher education.
So we remain supportive of all pathways and opportunities for our students to engage in higher education.
Speaker 8
Yeah. So I think from an adult perspective, we may not see it as competing interest from us. But from a student perspective, certainly, they're weighing the positives and negatives of weighted grades, weighted GPAs, admission to college, etcetera, as compared to a direct college transcript. And I think if there was some guidance for our young people as they enter into high school around that, the values of that, making those choices, it it would certainly be helpful because, as you know, one of the things I keep talking about is youth mental health and I think some of those downward pressures they're experiencing because of these choices that they're having to make as early as ninth grade, whether they go into an IV program or whether they start taking AP classes as freshmen in high school. This is constantly on the minds of, you know, how is this gonna play into their pathway to college or their pathway to their career.
So I I hope that we can kind of take a look at that a little more closely and carefully within that framework of, you know, college to career or cradle to career. Another question I have is within, this interagency that we're setting up for education, and we have the labor work labor work and workforce development. We're partnering with our local EDCs as well. Right? Just so I I have clarity, like, the systems are coming together for that.
Speaker 4
When we talk about the public workforce system, that includes the local AJCCs, the local EDD offices, all as part of a a seamless system.
Speaker 1
Just follow-up on that. I I think doctor Patel is referring to the local economic development councils and the regions. Is that is that coordination happening?
Speaker 4
the governor's jobs first initiative, we are seeing greater coordination with economic development at the local level. So yes.
Speaker 1
Okay. I I think thank you. I think we I think we caught that the the strategic plan will be ready in in November. Is that the date?
Speaker 1
I think we'll be working with the two chairs to see if we can have a maybe a hearing on that from the two perspectives of t k 12 and and higher ed. So looking forward to that. In addition to the in addition to the the strategic framework or strategic plan, what are some of the other outcomes that are expected this year for the council?
Speaker 11
Well, I mean, I think that's gonna be the first big outcome is getting that because that's gonna set basically the North Star for the effort that's gonna be underway here, which I'm not the expert in this field by any means, but it sounds like it's a big endeavor. So besides that, the other outcomes that we expect this year, hopefully, to be fully staffed and functioning and responsive and holding multiple commission council meetings to provide the necessary guidance and directions.
Speaker 1
So it it it sounds and it makes sense that for the first the the you know, for this time, it's it's really the setup what will be the council itself to then lead to actual work product in the next years. Is there as part of the strategic plan, will there be a short term, medium term, long term goals that are gonna be adopted, or are you gonna wait for this to come forward and then the council already fully formed?
Speaker 11
Well, the council is prescribed in statute as there's a list of individuals that sit on the council. So now that we have the executive officer, we will then convene the first council meeting here before the June as prescribed by statute. As for short term, medium term, long term goals, I'll I can just speak from my experience in doing strategic plans in general as to you know, which may be different from this strategic plan. But generally speaking, those are the types of things that would be in a strategic plan. You would identify those things that you can accomplish in a range of periods of time, whether they be short, medium, or long term.
So I would expect potentially to see those things in this plan, but until they work on the plan, I really can't be definitive here to give you a concrete answer.
Speaker 1
Sure. You know, one of the things we've been hearing a lot in this committee, but also in policy committees, is that perhaps it's time to revisit the master plan for higher education. Where does that fit in to this work? How is that topic of conversation or is it just, the moment, not really not really the focus?
Speaker 11
I don't know if any of us are capable of answering that question Right. At this table, but, I mean, we can definitely take that back to the administration and, you know, pose that question back to you.
Speaker 1
I we're we're hearing chancellors, presidents, the three segments mentioned that in this committee. And and I think it's I I think there is an an omission in the in the career master plan as to the issues related to to the master plan for higher education, and I think it definitely should be part of the conversation.
Speaker 11
I do wanna if I may I just do wanna emphasize the fact that as we do develop this strategic plan, the committees are gonna be involved because the statute expressly states that we are to engage both the assembly and senate education committees. So we will be working closely with your staff and interested members in developing that strategic plan. So I just wanna make sure
Speaker 1
that's clear. We should expect to hear throughout the summer from yeah. Okay. Then we some bigger
Speaker 14
With the Department of Education. Will I say there's a value add for the Hire Master Plan in the student pathways dashboard because we are building on our t k through 12 for the bigger picture of our students, and the dashboard does include information on wage earnings by degree type. So AA, BA, community college certificate. So it is building out into the master plan, so we'll have details that we think are valuable both for for that aspect as well as for on the cradle to career. So the the data is has its limitations of what we do and don't collect for building off of our t k through 12, but we do think that the value add there helps inform the master plan.
Speaker 1
Oh, thank you. We've also, at this committee, heard from the three segments. And once again, last week, in a second for a second time with the UC on the issue of common course numbering. They bring that up in light of the etranscript, which is obviously having the capability to to easily transmit information is absolutely critical and good. However, you know, it still comes down to whether those courses mean anything to the three segments or what they mean, I should say, for each one of the three segments, which happens to be different things for the diff for all three of them.
How is that how maybe we can talk about common common course numbering as it relates to this work here. Anything that you can add from the community colleges perspective on where that what role that plays in all this?
Speaker 6
Yeah. I think what it'll come down to for the coordinating body is the focus on course articulation and program articulation. That really is the underpinnings of common course numbering. It's how do the courses translate from one system to another? How do the the courses translate or the work for, say, IPAV apply from one system to another?
So I think to your to your broader issue, certainly, that can be a function that the coordinating committee could look at. But I think I would, you know, sort of say there are two sort of high level thoughts that come to mind. First, you know, thinking of it strategically as one system of education in California, and that's TK all the way through 20. And then secondarily, thinking of it as a focus on our students and meeting community need because at the end of the day, our systems are here to support our communities, to support our economy, to see good outcomes for our communities. And just would say as those sort of broad north stars, those would be, you know, a couple things that I'd ask be considered as you work through that that master plan.
Speaker 1
Can you all correct me on this? But the I believe the statute does not have any does not grant any authority to the council on any of these issues. Is that correct? There's no authority there?
Speaker 11
Generally speaking, it requires to make recommendations, but there's no force of effect of those recommendations. So to the extent that council came forward and they had statutory change, they would ask for the legislature to take action on any recommendation. But you're correct. There's they cannot basically force something to implement something.
Speaker 1
What, are the reporting what are the reporting requirements for the council? Is there an annual report to the legislature? Is it what what's
Speaker 11
of my head, don't recall Okay. The reporting requirements, but I do know that there you know, the council has to meet at a minimum twice a year. It can meet more frequently, and those are all public hearings. And, you know, there'll be frequent report outs as part of any public hearing
Speaker 1
place. Note everything we're talking about is it's the right conversation, but if it just stays with the council and with with no authority, then we're gonna be missing opportunities, you know, on a regular basis when conversations at this level are happening with the sort of deep deep level of of discussion that is often, unfortunately, not necessarily the case through legislative processes or or otherwise. And so I think that's something we should make sure we take a look at to make sure we're getting that there's there's reports with recommendations that we get them and that they are, at the minimum, acknowledged and as necessary pursued by the by the legislature if it requires legislative action. So I think that work remains to be done. I think I think that's it on my end.
Doctor. Patel, do you have any other questions? No? Okay. Alright.
Well, thank you. Appreciate the panel. Thank you for this. We will hold this is an informational item only, so we will move on to related, as we heard a little bit of exchange on this, on dual enrollment. Panel will hear the January budget proposal, which provides an additional $100,000,000 for dual enrollment programs.
So we'll first hear the proposal from Department of Finance. We'll then hear from the legislative analyst office on their assessment of the proposal. We have the California Community College Chancellor's Office here, and again, the California Department of Education to provide questions or follow-up on any questions from the members. Let's let's kick it off with Department of Finance with the proposal. Welcome.
Speaker 15
Good morning, chair members. Melody Jimenez with the Department of Finance. Today, I will be providing an overview of the administration's proposal related to the dual enrollment opportunities grant program. In the 2022 budget act, the state provided 200,000,000 one time proposition 98 general fund for the dual enrollment opportunities grant program. This program provides grants to local educational agencies or LEAs to establish or expand dual enrollment and dual credit programs.
There are two primary programs supported by this funding. Number one, the middle college and early college high schools, and number two, the college and career access pathways or CCAP. Middle college and early college high schools are formal partnerships between schools and higher education student institutions such as community colleges, CSUs, and UCs. These high schools are intended to support students who are underrepresented in post secondary education or who may be at risk of not completing high school. CCAPs are partnership agreements between school districts and community colleges that allow cohorts of students to take college level courses through several pathways on a high school campus.
While these dual enrollment programs are different, they all share the same goal of expanding access to college and career pathways for high school students. The governor's budget builds on this prior investment by including an additional 100,000,000 of one time proposition 98 general fund available through 06/30/2029 to support more grants to LEAs. The proposal also includes several notable programmatic changes to the dual enrollment opportunities grant program, and I'd like to highlight four changes in particular. One, it clarifies that regional occupational centers and programs are eligible to participate. Two, it provides an additional 50,000 in grant funding for LEAs that expand dual enrollment opportunities for justice involved youth in county operated facilities.
Three, it prioritizes funding for LEAs that have higher than the state average of unduplicated pupils in an effort to capture LEAs that have the highest need students. And four, it clarifies that grant funds may be used for teacher professional development, specifically to help teachers meet the minimum qualifications to teach dual enrollment courses. In addition to changes to the dual enrollment opportunities grant program in particular, the governor's budget also proposes related changes to the daily instructional minute requirement. Specifically, it would reduce the requirement from two hundred and forty minutes to one hundred and eighty minutes for students participating in CCAP or other dual enrollment programs offered through partnerships with higher education institutions. This change aligns with the existing minute requirements for middle college and early college high schools where students are already counted as a full day of attendance at a hundred and eighty minutes rather than three fourths.
By providing greater flexibility in daily instructional minutes, this change is intended to remove barriers and expand access to dual enrollment opportunities. Overall, this proposed investment and these policy changes will help schools increase access to college and career pathways for high school students. That concludes my remarks. I'm also joined here by my colleague, Amber Alexander, from the Department of Finance, and we're happy to answer any questions.
Speaker 16
Thank you, mister chair. Good morning, mister chair, members of the committee. Michael Oferos with the legislative analyst office. So we're recommending that the legislature reject the 100,000,000 in one time funding as we think that it would not address any barriers to implementing dual enrollment programs. We note that it is not clear whether there are any, fiscal barriers to implementing dual enrollment as the state's funding model currently benefits both schools and community colleges.
We have seen participation in CCAP programs in particular increase significantly in recent years. Full time equivalent enrollment in CCAP programs grew 82% from 2020, 2021, and twenty twenty three, twenty four from about 13,000, full time equivalent students to over 24,000. The state has also taken action recently that has made it easier for school districts to implement dual enrollment programs by allowing them to partner with other community colleges outside of the local service area. Lastly, we also note that the LEAs can use funding from the proposed discretionary block grant to expand dual enrollment to enrollment programs for the same purposes. So LEAs that are interested in using one time funding to expand or implement dual enrollment can use funding from the block grant for those purposes.
With that, happy to answer any questions.
Speaker 6
Yeah. Chris Ferguson, executive vice chancellor of finance and strategic initiatives at the California Community College chancellor's office. So why does we're certainly strong supporters of the proposed investment. Why does it matter to us? And that is because by connecting high school learning to college level coursework, dual enrollment extends academic pathways, reduces excess units, and accelerates students' progress toward a credential, a certificate, a degree in a very timely manner and at a a lower cost point as a result.
But that said, we do understand that participation participation in dual enrollment is increasing, we note that low income and rural students often face barriers to access, underscoring the need for targeted strategies. So as you as you can contemplate the proposed investment, you know, we would certainly ask for consideration around how do we best provide statewide technical assistance to schools that may not be engaged in dual enrollment programs now. It it could, you know, include AP or IB as well, but just to ensure that we're maximizing the return to our students and helping those school districts that may not know how to establish the program or how the relationships or the CCAP agreements are developed. So, again, we remain highly supportive of dual enrollment. We have as a strategy within our overall vision of seeing that every high school student is able to take at least 12 units of transferable coursework.
Last year, this committee and the legislature and the state enacted changes to ensure the dual enrollment courses count for purposes of a through g when applying to UC and CSU. So, again, we remain highly supportive of dual enrollment. And with that, if you, at the appropriate time, happy to answer any questions that may be out there.
Speaker 14
Yeah. Kimberly Rosenberg on behalf of state superintendent of public destruction, Tony Thurman in CDE. Just piggybacking off of what my colleague from community colleges said, we think this is a good investment on a really strong foundation that we've built. We we do think that there are some barriers in our rural and small for the technical assistant needs. So we are recommending that 10,000,000 of that 100,000,000 go to to establish a dual enrollment technical assistance system.
We get questions regularly when they change their schedule, how to adjust, how to become an earlier middle school or early college middle college. So the interest is there. The growth is there, and we we believe that this is a strong investment. We do in response to the questions about the expansion grants, we don't think it's necessary for expansion grants to mirror the funding levels of planning our startup grants, given that they're relatively modest awards. We think the funds are already limited to the capacity to support program development and that maintaining equivalent funding levels for expansion reflects the reality that scaling early college, middle college programs entail.
There's significant in cost, staffing, coordination, student support services, and instructional alignment. The latter one is alignment often is a barrier that they ask us for assistance in and is why we are really supportive of the recommendation to align the instructional minutes to that of the dual enrollment for middle college, early college. We do wanna speak to the flexibility. There was a question on caps. We think it's really important as we are hitting our community college capacity constraints that the flexibility remain for our c capital enrollment for California State University because we're seeing them explore expanding partnerships with our LEAs, and this flexibility allows us to grow and expand out those programs with our CSU partners.
We think that the lowering the minimum instructional day requirement for c capital enrollment from two 40 to one eighty would bring it into alignment with established standard for middle college, early college programs, And then more importantly, it would provide the needed flexibility at the local level, enabling high schools to schedule dual enrollment courses more effectively. A lot of times when they have to shift lunch or they have staffing needs they need to stagger, that's where they run into an inability to expand their programming because instructional minutes of their day don't align with the transportation that's needed to get students to those other programs. So we welcome that change and think that it makes sense in aligning the two programs. With that, I'll be available for any questions you have. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Okay. Thank you all all of you. I'm gonna begin by asking some some pretty basic questions, and, hopefully, you all can help me better understand where we're at and where we're headed here. The let's start with the issue of the instructional minutes. I'm trying to understand why this is significant.
I I I thought we already ensured that ADA was fully covered for those enrolled duly enrolled students. What what does this change do for either districts or for the community college? What what does this impact?
Speaker 15
Melody Jimenez with the Department of Finance. So the intent is to align instructional minute requirements across all dual enrollment models so that all schools can obtain a full ADA for students participating in dual enrollment. It's also intended to remove remove barriers and provide more flexibility in providing dual enrollment.
Speaker 1
So there are some dual enrollment programs where the one eighty is required, middle college, I heard, and others where it's not required or where it's 240 is required?
Speaker 15
So currently, the statutory requirement for a minimum school day in a high school is two hundred and forty minutes.
Speaker 1
Okay. A 180 is three one hour courses, and two and forty is four hour four one hour courses. So it'd be a three three minimum of three per per school day. Is is that typically what we're seeing maybe for the department that that's what typically a student is experiencing?
Speaker 14
Yeah. It it's often the case when the college course is during the school day. They cannot meet that two hundred and forty minute barrier unless the course is outside outside of it. So they have to have kind of an alternative schedule. So this would align where they can still receive their full apportionment and meet the instructional minutes needed.
Speaker 1
Have we identified this as a barrier for some schools? Is this something that was raised during the last round of technical support for people who wanna do this program?
Speaker 14
We have received a number of outreach on this issue, especially because it creates a significant scheduling constraint. The timing of when they place lunch to ensure that the students that would be able to participate get their instructional minutes in advance of that, and also the transportation they provide sometimes for the students to get to the school to take those courses. So it is a barrier. We have heard feedback from So the field
Speaker 14
I I believe that this was something that the feedback's been consistent across the board. I would like to take credit for it, but I don't believe it.
Speaker 1
So what is what is the feedback loop on on these? Like, how how are we regularly getting input from the implementers of this at the local level as to what works and doesn't work?
Speaker 17
I can I can take that? Amber Alexander with the Department of Finance. With respect specifically to the prior state investments in dual enrollment, there is reporting requirements and the department just recently issued this past fall the first report based off of their experience with the initial dual enrollment grant providing both information on participation and reach as well as some preliminary information around use of funds. Because of timing, and I'll let CD confirm if there's anything more to date, but because of timing of that report, it did not get into direct impacts of that investment on student outcomes, but that is supposed to be covered in the subsequent report. And those reporting requirements do carry over into the additional investment that the administration is proposing.
Speaker 1
So is the the reporting requirements the only feedback we're getting that is formalized? Obviously, there's always a lot of people who have thoughts and feelings about programs you implement, but how are we getting feedback in a formal way to make sure that the investments are resulting in the things that we are hoping they result in and that we are adapting things like required instructional minutes and and some of the other likely technical issues. Like, I know there's a policy vehicle on requirement of a principal signature, which I had heard personally on the ground became challenging. There must be more of those. So how is that how is that coming forward to to who?
Who's who's who's in charge of this?
Speaker 17
I think there are a number of ways in which that feedback is being presented. So there's certainly the more formalized reporting requirements that are in some of the statutory language that's been put forward over the years. There are also opportunities through things like the California Workforce Joint Pathways Advisory Committee, conversations at the State Board of Education, conversations I know that the chancellor's office has as well on things like developments of state plans and, you know, just generally for education space, which touched upon dual enrollment. Certainly efforts that were spoke to in the prior panel, I know our colleague with the chancellor's office was able to emphasize some of the dual enrollment conversations happening through that venue. And then there was also, you know, just kind of the informal outreach that that we've received from the field both from districts and from interest holders in the dual enrollment space.
Speaker 1
Mhmm. So today, we heard some public testimony that was new to me on the issue of adult learners, and that it sounds like they they are currently districts are not currently allowed to do you does anybody know of sort of a response to this issue of adults dual enrollment and and some concern there? Is is are are school districts who's being shortchanged? What is what is the dynamic here?
Speaker 6
Yeah. I wouldn't say that I wouldn't term it as school being shortchanged, but it is accurate to say that adult students are not eligible to participate in a dual enrollment program right now. That said, nothing would preclude that adult student from also enrolling in any number of the the courses or programs offered by a community college, whether that's, you know, a noncredit program, a career development, career pathway, noncredit program, or a credit program at one of our institutions. That said, we are highly supportive if we were to open up access to dual enrollment programs for adults. We do think that dual enrollment leads to and we have some, you know, older reports out of current community college just with the show it leads to more college going culture, greater number of students participating in college and university programming.
And then if I could just very quickly to the instructional minute change, we're highly supportive of this change as well because what it does do is it creates more flexibility to schedule CCAP courses based on school days. And I would also add, if it's helpful, when we think of dual enrollment, there are several pathways when it comes to dual enrollment. We've got the CCAP pathway, the college and career access pathway. There's a traditional dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment pathway through for an individual through their school to then access courses or programs offered by a community college. There are middle and early college high schools that have that same access built into it as well.
So there are a few different areas of focus when it comes to dual enrollment. The core focus by far of recent has been CCAP agreements and CCAP dual enrollment because that's course based or effectively cohort based. So it makes it a bit easier to offer to students Mhmm. As well as for those students to enroll and take those courses when they're available on their high school campus.
Speaker 14
I just want to clarify that an LEA that has an adult education or a county office with an adult education program can apply for the grant.
Speaker 1
Okay. Okay. Going back to what we should expect in the second round of the report. So the the first round, it looks like we've got just basically basically, but important, raw data on enrollment and completion course completion and all of that. Is the second round of the report gonna be focused on more directly on what subgroups are participating, communities up and down the state.
There's been some concern raised by individuals that there's an equity concern of who's participating and who's not. What kind of data should we expect in this second report?
Speaker 17
I can, start and let others add on. But, my understanding, based off of what was related in the report provided by CDE initially and what's in statute is that the second report is going to be drilling in on the pieces that are currently called out for the reporting requirements, specifically that course program programs and outcomes for peoples enrolled in dual enrollment programs are disaggregated by grade level, gender, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and other disproportionality So impacted we should be getting some of that information for the first round shortly. And then that, again, will require will carry over into the additional round of funding that's being proposed.
Speaker 1
So and those were reporting requirements based on not the initial round of what I'll call technical assistance. This this funding that we're talking about today, that was just required for all dual enrollment. Is that the case?
Speaker 17
That language was put in place specifically with the, dual enrollment opportunities grant program.
Speaker 1
Is that what is, being requested or in we follow the same for the next round, for the 100,000,000?
Speaker 17
Yes. There's no there's no changes to that. There is a extension of the timeline to make sure we're reporting at a time that will capture, you know, relevant income or relevant information with the additional funding that's
Speaker 1
proposed. Lastly, I'm interested in why the LAO believes that sort of a focus on this. I understand that you you've directed our attention that there's a very substantial discretionary block grant being proposed in this budget that could potentially serve this purpose, but it also may not be used for this purpose. So just curious as to why the recommendation to not, to reject this proposal specifically.
Speaker 16
Yeah. Sure. So I think kind of the main reasoning is just that we don't see that many fiscal barriers to implementing dual enrollment as the funding policies both benefit community colleges and school districts. There, is our understanding. I don't know if CD might have any more to add on this, but there's an exemption for enrollment students that get a hundred and eighty minutes of instructional time, get three quarters of the school district can generate three quarters of ADA for those students.
So there is some exemption in in law for that. I don't know how many district would kinda implement it that way. But I think by by and large, when we talk to districts that received the dual enrollment funding, we understand a lot of the funding is used for one time purposes, such as instructional materials or things of that nature, or they might use this one time funding for ongoing purposes that might not be sustained in the long term. So it might benefit the current students that they have, but it wouldn't kinda result in lasting changes. And we well, it might direct this state to maybe consider other ways, explore other options to kind of address larger barriers.
I don't we don't have any specific recommendations on the instruction minute requirement at this time, but maybe Yeah. What that nature that could be more structural change to kind of implement
Speaker 1
What caught my attention, and you just said it again, is this concern which I would align myself with of ongoing activities funded. And so what have we do we have evidence of that occurring in any specific way that we can either ensure that that doesn't happen or that it does happen in ways that we want to ensure that there's stability to this program and that the, you know, quality and the, you know, teachers move from schools and administrators move and to be able to actually sustain dual enrollment campus, to campus probably requires some ongoing maintenance. That is that that is an ongoing cost. So to your concern, but maybe it's an ongoing cost that is important enough to maintain for the purpose of the success of this program.
Speaker 9
Edgar Cabot with the with the OLE. Would just add, I think part of our our our reason we recommend rejecting is, essentially, the the model already provides ongoing funding for dual enrollment by creating a allowing schools to generate a full ADA if they only have the student is or or not full ADA, but but three quarters of an ADA in some cases in order to receive funding. And then community colleges also receive funding for the students who are for the amount of units that are being generated from the program. So the program already essentially has seek sorry. I am speaking specifically to CCAP.
CCAP already essentially creates an ongoing funding source for the program. So I think from our perspective then, why do we what what is the the benefit of adding one time funding? There is some challenges with starting up, programs, but when we've talked to to progress, many of the things that they're think that they're covering are things that are ongoing in nature. It's not just, you know, they're covering instruction materials for some of these, students. Okay.
But that's for these students this year, but what about three years from now when that funding Mhmm. Dries up? Right? What what are you doing? You still need that ongoing commitment from the LEA, from both the schools and the community colleges to support.
So I think for us is we don't see where this specific, proposal is adding that value. Think when we talk to a lot of again, I think we think I think, the program is growing significantly. So I'm not sure that I know that there would is interest in greater growth, but I don't know that when we see the the growth data that we see that there's a sign that there are large barriers. But when we do talk to many about barriers, it's a lot more just administrative challenges of community colleges and school districts working together. And that's not a a fiscal problem necessarily.
That's just the the challenge when you have two different entities trying to coordinate, for example, coordinate their own calend their calendars, figuring out who's gonna who's gonna be the instructor in courses and things like that. And so those are the kinds of things that we hear, but they're not necessarily things that we think one time funding is gonna help address.
Speaker 1
You you raised two points that I think are important that I'd like to, let you think about. No need to respond on this side of the table so we can get other questions in. But one, reporting requirements on the use of the of the funds to understand whether they're one time truly in nature or ongoing, I think, is a is is if if they are only being used for instructional materials, I think you raise a good point. You know, who's where's the funding coming for the next cohort of kids who are gonna be doing this? And so perhaps some reporting on what the expenditures were utilized for may be important for this program.
And two is I didn't write it down, so I'm forgetting. The reporting and the other thing you raised first was, oh, that they're already doing this, and it's sort of become a more of a regular thing for districts. But there I believe there's no requirement for any of the either ADA or FTE equivalent for either one of either colleges or districts to set some of that aside for ongoing maintenance of dual enrollment programs. Right? There's no requirement of that.
Okay. Those two are interesting points, and I'll just leave it at that.
Speaker 14
Could I chime in on one? Because we would disagree that the money is only used for instructional materials.
Speaker 1
I don't think he said that. That sometimes it gets used for instructional materials. Yeah. And and that is you know, if that is the case, we need to understand that. Yeah.
Speaker 6
Yeah. If I could actually correct the record on something I I previously said. So adult students are eligible for dual enrollment, but they're not the focus of the targeted investment. So we haven't been doing CCAP agreements or as much outreach Right. For dual enrollment students.
It would be SB five fifty four of 2019 that authorized adults to participate adult students, that is, to participate in dual enrollment
Speaker 8
Yeah. So thank you. And on that last one, we we do have 18 year olds that are in high school and probably more of them as we shifted the age of start of school, we're gonna see more of those technically adult learners on our high school campus that are participating. So it's good that they are being covered with the existing Mhmm. Policies that are out there.
So a few questions. I get very excited about dual enrollment. I've seen it work in my own family for my own kids, but I've also seen it as a former trustee in Poway Unified where we had built a middle college on our campus and also in my assembly district where there are schools that participate in CCAP. So here are a lot of positive things about dual enrollment in general. As the LAO mentioned, I share some concerns around prop $98 being used to serve the same students for the same block of time and want to make sure that those resources are being used adequately When we're shrinking the day for these students from 240 to one eighty minutes, are they still getting the full breadth of their high school learning in, or are we accelerating them out of high school early into a college learning environment?
It's kind of a philosophical question, but an an actual specific question because they are reducing their requirements on instructional minutes. Are they still able to get everything they need for their high school learning?
Speaker 14
It is a philosophical question. I will say, I think the the reason we are supportive of the one eighty minutes is because two forty often prohibits any more than one daytime higher education course being offered. And so we still have to meet the fundamental requirements for teaching. We still have to do the required testing. So I do believe that the enthusiasm we see around this and and the impact on schools because they wouldn't want to push students into this if it was gonna have a detrimental effect on their LCAPs, the reporting requirements.
So I think they are trying to make sure the foundational instructions are there. I think where we find the benefit is because they have to stagger lunch, because there's transportation. Those are usually the things that are impacting the day where they have to make sure they get those one hundred eighty minutes out the gate and then also have appropriate staffing, especially for smaller schools where things have to be staggered. So we think that this allows for the flexibility for schools to build and and want to participate three quarter ADA. They're often less inclined to expand because between that and declining enrollment, they're already struggling with fiscal issues.
I can't say if students feel that they're getting the full day, but I do think that this flexibility allows them then to get course offerings that are broader and more focused on what students are interested in. So we are supportive of it because of the feedback we've gotten from the field to that extent.
Speaker 8
Yeah. And certainly for more suburban urban communities where there are many community college options, this works I'm wondering in the rural communities where they're so far away from maybe their nearest community college, the transportation time you take into account is even more impactful and more of a barrier. So I am hearing that. I'm also hearing your concern around technical assistance support. So I think that's something interesting to think about what it would take to set up a system of technical assistance for LEAs, for community colleges to help build those systems.
For the community members that are seeking help, they go to their schools directly. Right?
Speaker 8
Is that something that could be integrated into the community schools model where we have especially for those that are experiencing barriers to accessing dual enrollment opportunities, maybe even traditional, you know, concurrent enrollment opportunities. Is that something that can be educated through the community schools model, which we're putting a lot of support in?
Speaker 14
So we some of the funds that are used are for capacity building for scaling partnerships. So it's consistent and aligned with the community schools, and we do think it could be used to combine the two. I think Erin probably should get engraved blending and braiding, but this is consistent with that concept. So we think that helps with sustainability.
Speaker 8
Thank you. I'm also looking at the statistics that were provided in the agenda. Thank you, staff and Elio for putting together again a wonderful agenda. I I love reading these agendas. They're great.
Looking at the statistics around how many kids are accessing the different programs, do we follow how many actually end up graduating high school early or college early because of the ability to participate in dual enrollment programs?
Speaker 6
I don't believe we track the number that would graduate early because of dual enrollment or exclusively because of dual enrollment. Certainly, we can correlate them? Yeah. Certainly, we can look at that. I think we know how many students who graduated also participated in dual enrollment, but I don't know that we know that they left early.
Speaker 8
Okay. We don't have that data yet. We don't have that data. Maybe that's something when we look at our the previous panel, the data that they collect, maybe that's something we can look at if they enter they graduate earlier, enter workforce early, something like that. I think looking at those investments and those strategies on whether they actually produce the outcomes that we're looking for, which is, you know, early completion perhaps, maybe that would be worth tracking.
I I certainly do still think about appropriate learning at the appropriate time and wanting to make sure our kids are experiencing high school at high school age because that's where that learning was designed to happen. I think about that a lot. We there was a lot of conversation when I was on school board about not tracking kids or not accelerating kids through math in those middle school years, and yet here we are in high school now accelerating kids and wanna make sure that we're rightsizing and and making sure that we deliver the learning when their brain is learning it at the right time for development. The California proficiency exam, the early exit exam, is still in operation. Is that correct for kids to exit at 16?
Can kids still do that? Like, I forgot what it's called exactly. But Yeah.
Speaker 8
Do we see students using that to accelerate and graduate early and then go on to community college early? Is that a thing?
Speaker 14
I I no. We're not seeing that. Okay. But what we are seeing more of is students coming out with their diploma and an AA. Instead, they're coming out with advanced degrees in the timeline.
Is more of what the data is reflecting, not that they're trying to exit school earlier? I think in part because that dual enrollment keeps them in the system longer, but or through the typical graduation.
Speaker 8
Okay. And then, the last quest series of questions is we talked about barriers to accessing, the different models of community college and needing support to overcome those barriers, more funding to overcome those barriers. Are there specific barriers that that have been identified other than transportation? Because I definitely can see that. And thank you for expanding access to community colleges that are not necessarily within the the geographic boundaries?
Because for some students, a different community college may actually be physically closer and more convenient or have transit access or something like that.
Speaker 14
So the feedback we've heard is that, you know, managing these partnership are complex and resource intensive, so the small and rural generally don't have the same scalability to do so. And and our you know, we've coordinated, put heads together on what would be helpful, technical assistance we thought would be targeted towards those designing the agreement, scheduling, compliance. And in other cases, schools may find that alternative pathways such as AP courses are better aligned with their instructional models, staffing capacity, and local priorities. So I would say it's the instruction minutes, it's the staffing, and it's, like, what the district itself wants to see, whether they have a CSU in their home base so it makes sense for them to partner, whether it's a community college and building on that. So there is a variability that makes it hard for us to do a a blanket size.
This is how the guidance you should be doing, and that's why we think the technical assistance that's more targeted and can serve the need is very helpful, especially because we just do get that outreach. And even though we have a lot of interest, we are often hearing that there's they're not understanding how to get into the program, but they're interested. And some, we found, are doing the program and just haven't given themselves a title, so they're not getting the funding they should be. So we think that that benefit would be helpful across
Speaker 6
Yeah. Yeah. I I think we would add there's probably five core areas that lead to some of those barriers. So course scheduling, there's different calendars or misalignment between high school and college academic calendars, can make it difficult to schedule those courses. That can include the start dates or, you know, potential holidays that one may recognize and the other may Faculty availability, its challenges around securing qualified instructors, whether that's through high school teacher equivalency who meet minimum falls or by finding, you know, college faculty that are able to teach at that high school site, faculty perceptions, specifically in districts with declining enrollment.
There are also sensitivities from, you know, high school staff who may perceive CCAP expansion as replacing high school courses or positions when teachers do not meet qualifications to teach that college level coursework. The other two would be around our learning management system alignment and student transition. As you're probably aware, the segments all use Canvas for their learning management system. Not all school districts use Canvas for their students, so there may be issues Yeah. There.
And then, of course, you know, on that student focus, it's student course loading capacity. There will be some students who can view dual enrollment with their traditional high school work as well as, say, extracurricular activities or athletics as creating a a large load for that particular student.
Speaker 8
Yeah. You have certainly articulated a lot of the concerns that I have swirling around in my head, so thank you for that. The course the school calendars and the misalignment are are often challenges in themselves. Even even within a district, there could high schools can be on semester, trimester, or a quarter system. Right?
There are many options. We we value our ability to have choice and voice in the process. Some of them are labor negotiated. Right? Calendars are.
So trying to find a way where everything is aligned is probably gonna be very aspirational goal at best. But thank you for highlighting that because that's also very important. And then with the additional funding that is being proposed, is that based on specifically addressing these specific barriers? Like, is it directly related to the cost estimated out of overcoming these barriers, or is that kind of just a ballpark estimate not directly related?
Speaker 17
The the, the grant grant awards, I I I think, are what you're referring to, called out in statute are, mirrored after the the prior investment. So we didn't make any changes, there, but we are looking at the information that was provided in the reports from CDE to inform any subsequent changes. At this point, there are, you know, the 250,000 and the 100,000 that was allocated in the prior round. And those are generally for startup and planning costs.
Speaker 10
Thank you so much, mister chair, and thank you to all our panelists here as well. And you might have answered these questions already, but I wanted to as somebody who's also been very vested in dual enrollment, when I sit on the community college board, we built out a lot of c c CCAP agreements with our districts, and this is a program that we know has scalability and has been a big opportunity for our community colleges. And now one of our prior budget sub three meetings also brought up this question is for the LAO. What are some of the thoughts about expanding dual enrollment opportunities to our CSU system? I know we had lightly touched upon that earlier and wanted to get a circle
Speaker 9
with the IELIO. I don't think we don't have any specific recommendations on that on that specific issue. I think to the extent that they're similar, you know, similar types of agreements where we're providing college level course to high school students. I think that makes sense. But I don't think we have any specific recommendations or or anything we can give you in terms of background right now, but we can follow-up with our colleagues in the higher ed side to see if there's anything that we can share with you.
Speaker 10
And thank and thank you for that context. So please follow-up, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on that. And then in terms of the opportunities going forward, I know the $100,000,000 proposed. And I think with the expansion and opportunities for dual enrollment, this is one of the growth areas for our community colleges, and it's been a tremendous opportunity for a number of our students. And I'm glad earlier, I know vice chancellor mentioned the different statistics in terms of dual enrollment participation as well.
So this question is now for the department finances. I know we've also had robust conversations around middle and early college high schools and implementation there. But should some of the funds that are being proposed be prioritized for our CCAP programs?
Speaker 17
I'm Amber Alexander, again with, Department of Finance. Yes. There are two components of the proposal. There's the early and middle college, high school component that we've been talking about robustly. There's also kind of a second piece that's specific for the CCAP agreements, and that's a $100,000 to establish CCAP agreements in partnership with community colleges and consistent with the existing CCAP requirements.
Speaker 10
Okay. Thank you for that context as well. And I think anything we could continue to do to expand dual enrollment programs and make it easier for our students to access these types of programs is is gonna be critical for us going forward. And I know that we've pushed a number policies around making it more expansive and easier for our students to access these types of programs. And so I think we can do around this space.
We'd love to continue partnering with you. Thank you so much, mister chair.
Speaker 1
Thank you. Just one additional question from some testimony or a a letter that I had received on the issue of alignment with a through g. But I thought I heard somebody on the panel, I can't remember who, say that there that is already required for CCAP, but this letter, I believe, is from Ed Trust West states that is requesting that we make that change. Can somebody shed some light on that issue?
Speaker 6
So if I if I recall last year, there was trailer bill language that specified clarity around dual enrollment courses counting toward a through g admissions requirements, if I recall correctly. And it was to make that clarity if I again, if I recall correctly.
Speaker 1
Can anybody else provide any context to that? If not, we're gonna ask you to respond. It says, current state law does not require dual enrollment partnerships to align to college coursework with high school graduation requirements or a through g admissions requirements. And so there are some suggestions on how to do that. But can we can I ask all of us to follow-up on that?
Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Okay. We'll hold it open, and we'll further discuss this. Thank you so much. Appreciate all the panel members for this item. We will now move on to the long term English language learners panel.
Panel will hear the trailer bill proposals regarding students who are long term English language learners. We will again have the Department of Finance, the LEO, and CDE for this, and we will kick it off with finance with details of the proposal. Whenever you're ready, please begin.
Speaker 19
Good morning, chair Alvarez and members. Shadi Neri, the Department of Finance. The governor's budget includes trailer bill language to clarify and align the long term English learner definition or LTEL across various data reporting systems. As background, an LTEL is generally defined as an English learner student who has not achieved English language proficiency within a specified number of years. Identifying LTELs and students at risk of becoming LTELs or RTLs allow LEAs to better respond to student needs and provide targeted supports and interventions to help these students gain English language proficiency.
Currently, the definition of an LTAL is different for reporting between the California School Dashboard and what is used for DataQuest, the assessment reporting system. These assessments are at the California are the California Assessment for Student Performance and Progress or CASP and the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California or ELPAC. After the ELTEL student group was added to the dashboard in 2024, the State Board of Education and the California Department of Education heard subsequent feedback from LEAs about the need to align these two different definitions as an LEA could look at their data on the dashboard and pull their assessment data and would see different counts of students and potentially different results. Consequently, the administration is proposing to clarify and update these definitions to better identify students to better identify and meet the needs of California English language learner students. Specifically, this proposal includes the following changes.
Number one removes the additional criteria used to classify a student as an LTEL and simply defines an LTEL as a student who has not attained English proficiency within seven years of initial classification. This is aligned with the definition used for the dashboard and is consistent with the English learner roadmap that indicates that the normative period to become proficient in English is five to seven years. Number two, it simplifies the definition of a student at risk of becoming a long term English learner, otherwise known as an RTL, as a student who has not attained English proficiency within a six year period. This six year period aims to support the timely identification of these students and intervene before they become LTALs.
Speaker 19
the fields, do not create additional reporting burdens on LEAs, and allow educators schools in the state to have timely accurate data about English learner students to help inform instructions to support students. That concludes my remarks. I'm joined by my colleague Paula Tang from Department of Finance. Happy to answer any questions.
Speaker 20
Good morning. Sarah Cortez, LAO. I'm just available for questions. Thank you.
Speaker 14
Kimberly Rosenberger with the CDE. The definitions of long term English learner students and students at risk of becoming LTAL should readily support local education local education agencies in effectively identifying supporting students as currently defined its test scores, which could take up to six months. Time is of the essence for these students, and streamlining the definitions allows LEAs to design specific goals and strategies that focus on program decisions and service. From a strategic strategic data management perspective, this change would allow school districts immediate access to this information using the CDE's data system to see which students in their care are identified not only as LTEL, but also the at risk of LTEL's. While the shift also aligns with these existing LTEL definition that is used for the dashboard, the definition is making definitions easier to use in the field is helpful unilaterally across the board.
Align the definitions gets information out for the student who the students are into the hands of educators sooner so that supports and assistance can be identified for these students. And also it helps the alleviate concerns we've heard from school districts on their confusion and consternation of two different definitions when one's applied to accountability and one's applied to implementation. So for both those reasons, we recommend this change. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Okay. We have no more presentations on this. I wanna ask finance and California Department of Education if you've heard from English language learner advocates expressing their concern about this change to this definition as it would no longer identify students who have been English learners for less, for example, four or five years, and therefore, we may miss, the ability to, do some intervention on with these students. Have have you heard those concerns?
Speaker 19
Yeah. Department of Finance. So the four to five years, I believe you're referencing, the RTLs are at risk long for long term English learners. The administration's intent for this proposal was to provide access to timely and accurate data of potential students at risk. And the English learner roadmap provides the and national research provides the normative time period as five between five to seven years.
And so the administration's intention is for the alignment with this time frame and to give students closer
Speaker 19
the end of that time period to learn English. And the administration is aware of these concerns and planning to take them into consideration for the May revision.
Speaker 14
We provide support for at risk for five years. We have heard those concerns. I think the biggest concern we've heard is this change may result in, like, an over identification. But we believe that the timing is why it's important. But we are mindful of the concerns we've heard from the field.
Speaker 1
I believe we've also seen, and I'm not recalling which research citation it was, but the problem with long term identification or misidentification of English learners as being problematic. I know that was something I read in the last six months. Doesn't not recalling exactly where. So having heard those concerns and trying to not overstep my authority as chair of a a budget committee, I think this is an appropriate conversation for a policy committee to make. So I'd next like to turn to doctor Patel, who is, chair of our education committee, for questions.
Speaker 8
Thank you for that. And, certainly, this is something that, raised eyebrows that it was in through the budget process rather than through a policy committee. So wanted to get some understanding of why we're using that track instead of bringing it through a more robust policy discussion.
Speaker 19
Yes. So the administration believes that these are technical amendments to further align with the English, California English Learner Roadmap, but we're happy to work with the legislature on this proposal.
Speaker 8
And we are also happy to work with the governor's office. So I wanna make sure that that is also out there. We we want to help our students and make sure that they are receiving, all the supports and services that they need, but also that community stakeholder feedback is also in the process. Just out of curiosity, how and this is a a genuinely open question. How do we navigate the system of LTALs or RLTEL, at risk students when they have a coincidence of a a speech or language processing disability?
Speaker 22
Good morning. Alicia Moreno Ramirez, for the Department of Education. We there are two different forms of assessment when it comes to dually identified students. Forms of assessment that are specific to English language development and separate forms of methods of assessment to identify students with disabilities. And the intent really is to utilize multiple measures in order to fully understand, where students are in their language capacities in terms of language development specifically to kind of hash out what the needs are and respond accordingly.
Speaker 8
Thank you. I wanna make sure that we're being able to distinguish between those two as as students learn and grow. Also, what causes the six month delay in or the what what where does that timeline come from?
Speaker 14
Well, under the current existing definition, we're using test scores. And so it's just the timing of when that the testing happens and the data's released versus the the enrollment basis, which is what the definition is proposing switching to.
Speaker 8
And you said that there's some I I didn't catch it fully that there's a process to shorten that timeline for the release of data or that LEAs will have access to that data sooner?
Speaker 14
So there's two definitions existing statute. And so this proposal from which I think, you know, this does not come out of CDE. We're providing technical assistance both in the policy and budget, but I believe that the original definition came out of budget language. And so that's where we saw it first. There's two different definitions.
And so one's for implementation for program implementation and one's for accountability. And so I think by changing these to align the definition of LTEL, schools get the data readily, but also there's less of field confusion because we're only applying one application across the board.
Speaker 8
Thank you for that. We certainly wanna shorten those windows as much as possible. Every month matters for a child's learning, especially when they're trying to develop English language skills. I think that challenge was also there with just CAST data in general, that there was a very long delay between when the data was released and when schools could start implementing changes or adjustments based on those data those results those testing results.
Speaker 7
And you had something. Yes. Paula Tang from the Department of Finance. So to help clarify because it's very confusing with the two different definitions, The definition that is being amended is for the data quest or for assessments. That definition was included in statute in 1999, and the dashboard definition is 2024.
And so part of the the intent was to update the definition with this new definition that is research back because we we know based on the research, the current research that it takes five to seven years typically for a student to learn English. And with the assessment data that my colleague from the Department of Education had indicated, it's prior year's assessment data. And so that's the data that comes that DataQuest uses for assessment data to identify students. And so that's why we're proposing to go back to the research and to go to this updated data and align that the definitions to what the research indicates, is a five to seven year period.
Speaker 8
Okay. Thank you. I'm still gonna process and think about that, but thank you.
Speaker 1
And, again, to confirm, there's no budget request with this. And so to to your point, doctor Patel, staff is recommending that this is rejected and this is referred to to your policy committee. And as a recommendation, we would have to take a vote on that, a motion and a vote. So we can do that now.
Speaker 7
Sorry. If I may, I'd like further record, I'd like to say that that man administration still supports our proposal as included in the governor's budget.
Speaker 1
K. But we also heard that you're willing to work with the legislature. Yeah. Alright. Thank you.
We will move on to issue number four, supporting inclusive practices. This panel will hear the January budget proposal impacting supporting the supporting inclusive practices project. So I'd ask the panel for this to please come forward. We will first hear, the proposal from Department of Finance. We will then hear from the legislative analyst office, the Department of Education, and, special guest, Marysville Joint Unified School District, speak on this as well.
Welcome. Let's begin with finance, please.
Speaker 23
Good morning, chair and members. The governor's budget proposes amendments to the supporting inclusive practices project funding appropriated in the 2021 budget act to extend the encumbrance date from 06/30/2026 to 06/30/2027. That concludes my remarks, and I'm happy to take questions at the appropriate time. Oh, I'm so sorry. Elena Powell, Department of Finance.
Speaker 20
Good morning. Sarah Cortez, LEO. No prepared comments today, available for questions.
Speaker 14
Kimberly Rosenberger, Department of Education. SIP is promising in the data support success, but we do have concerns about the organizational infrastructure to expand without compounding the fiscal management problems already documented under existing contract authority.
Speaker 1
Okay. Thank you. Now we hear from the Marysville School District. Welcome.
Speaker 24
Hi. Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Jolie Critchfield, and I serve as the director of child development for Marysville Joint Unified School District. Over the last five years, our partnership with the supporting inclusive innovative practices project has been transformational for our district. What began as a focus on inclusive preschools, practices has grown into a district wide commitment to meaningful inclusion, belonging, and rightful present for students with disabilities.
With SIP's support, we were able to bring preschool services back in 2324, from a more restrictive county operated settings into our district schools, allowing our youngest learners to access learning alongside their peers in more authentic and inclusive environments. The shift not only improved outcomes for children and families, but also allowed our district to reduce reliance on more costly separate county operated placements by building internal capacity and strengthening inclusive services within our own schools. We also saw important benefits for students without disabilities. Inclusive environments helped recognize disability as a natural and valued aspect of human diversity and created opportunities for students to build empathy and understanding, communication skills, and authentic relationship with peers of all abilities from an early age. But perhaps the most importantly, SIP has helped us move beyond viewing inclusion as simply initiative.
This work became about designing general education environment, school culture, instructional design, and shared responsibly for all students. Today, Marysville is a SIP demonstration site, and we are continuing to scale this work across grade levels. We are currently hosting a SIP Inclusion Academy involving every district school site where teams are developing plans focused on access, belonging, and equitable outcomes for students with disabilities. SIP helped us change not only where students learn, but how adults think who belongs. And this has made a lasting impact on our district.
Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you for sharing that. You know, it's not often that we have expenditures that it's year six entering year six, and even even though it's a relatively, put that in quotes, small amount that is has not has not been encumbered. And so I think that the question first that comes to mind is is why? Why is that not happening? And so I think I'd like to to ask Department of Education and and finance, as prepared.
And question really, my question three is sort of where I'm focused at, which is, are there areas in the state where, we are seeing the more challenges with implementation, with states group state preschool inclusion, either targets or, like, are are we seeing anything? And and do we hope that the remaining funds would be utilized in those areas? What what is the hope with the authorization to extend this into the next to the next couple of years? Who's gonna take advantage of this that has not taken advantage of it, or who should, who has not?
Speaker 14
Okay. I mean, I think this is a difficult question because we are you know, think SIP's really promising, but there's a lot of infrastructural issues, especially with how it's structured with a contract where there's limitations on how CDE can find support, that we have concerns with expansion, especially with meeting state preschool inclusion targets. It it would duplicate existing CDE funded infrastructure that's already purpose built for that work. I think our concern with that expansion too is just the the staffing requirements that are needed, the infrastructure,
Speaker 14
At site level. Currently, as the contract structured in the the budget, we provide as much assistance as possible. It's it's regular, but we don't really have kind of oversight or teeth to ensure we're meeting certain metrics. And so we think oftentimes the support is pretty substantial and and fall short of where we hope to go on a scalability level at this time for those reasons.
Speaker 1
So I hope in your opinion, and then I do wanna ask finance, who who given those challenges, who's going to want to apply to take this on?
Speaker 8
Yeah. I'm happy to come over there. Cool. Okay. Good morning.
My name is Shiloh Duncan Besserial. Am the associate director over data monitoring and LEA support at special the education division. I directly oversee this contract.
Speaker 8
And so this contract has, over the past five years, the sporting inclusive project itself has not always spent all the funds that are in the contract. They do amazing work and districts love working with them. And they serve about 20% of our most at need districts who are in the bottom 10% the you know, in terms of outcomes for students with disabilities. But those districts often have varied needs. Some of them are inclusion, where problems of practice are identified for inclusion, and some of them are other things.
And so I think they are fulfilling a really good need, but they're not always expending all of the funds within their contract. And so that has sort of compounded over the years. The way the budget language has been written is that it's very specific. So I couldn't take those funds and use them in a different capacity. I have to use them for this specific group.
So the Riverside County Office of Education, which is listed in the budget language, and also Eldorado County Office of Education. So we continue to support them, and we believe they have scaled up over the last five years. And we believe this next year, they will be able to expend the full 15,000,000 that was allocated.
Speaker 14
And also to your point on the early childhood, there is the early childhood special education network, and that provides significant amount of technical assistance to LEAs, SELPAs, and County Office of Ed. And they're the smallest area of work for SIPP, so we think that the structure right now that ECSE is best suited to serve that particular contingent of school aged children.
Speaker 1
I heard two different responses, and so I'm I'm I I may be confused here. I thought at the beginning, CDE was saying we don't think it's a good use because it won't be people aren't up the uptake isn't there, but I thought I just heard that we think this year will be it will be utilized. And so please help me understand that.
Speaker 14
We the difference between utilizing the existing funds versus expanding, I think, is what we're differentiating.
Speaker 14
Yeah. We think that they're they're moving towards the direction we need. We still have limitations on having them meet certain requirements we normally would with a contractor. But I think we're kind of also what we're hearing based on the questions and feedback we've gotten is is scaling at a larger level. And I think that's kind of where we are apprehensive.
It's not that the program we think investments in this program positive and good. Right. But we don't think they're ready for prime time to make them scalable to a larger level.
Speaker 8
Mister chair, Kevin Schafer, director of SIP is here. He can also provide some
Speaker 25
It was difficult for me to hear the comments. That was can we review the comments really quick? Sorry.
Speaker 1
Sure. Well, the the the questions were around who my questions were that they provided some response to were were who's gonna who's gonna actually utilize the program. I heard some concerns about the uptake not being there. And so do you have anything you can add to that?
Speaker 25
Yeah. We we work with districts specifically focused on preschool as part of the the contract. And then we also provide inclusion academies for the districts, the county offices, the SELPAs that also bring in LEA teams to train and create plans based on data to expand the work that we do, not just with our grantees, but across all districts that choose to be part of the inclusion academies.
Speaker 1
Okay. That's still not clarity. I'll turn over to doctor Patel for questions.
Speaker 8
So I think part of the confusion may be SIP as it relates to preschool versus SIP and as it relates to LEAs as a whole. I think I as part of Poway Unified, we were a demonstration site like Marysville, and we saw a profound transformation with support from the Tompkins School on Disabilities at Chapman University. We were able to work with them very closely and improve outcomes, improve the ability for our educators to work with students with disabilities to implement UDL. And we actually saw, you know, improved participation, reduced bullying, as well as reduced litigation in our schools. So I think how we sell it separate capacity within our preschools versus the the tools that are being provided to LEAs as a whole is different.
And I think that's maybe where there's some confusion. There's a long waiting list for LEAs to participate, and so expanding opportunities and increasing resources for LEAs to participate in supporting inclusive practices, I think, is warranted based on the data and outcomes we've seen. It is a successful program is what I'm hearing. So expanding in that capacity seems to be justifiable. I'm not sure where we're going with the preschool aspect of it.
That wasn't on my radar. I think we were responding to questions we were provided asking specifically about preschool, and so that's why
Speaker 14
we were differentiating between the technical assistance we provide for preschool versus for SIP as a whole. And then to go back, I I think to clarify on that, we should break them out. The preschool versus so we're like, there's two programs that are happening at that level. There is a role for SIP in the early childhood, but there also is an existing structure within CDE that provides those supports. And I think our concern too was the concept of expanding while we're still trying to ensure that SIP is using the rest of their funds to continue doing the work that they are contractually obligated to do.
And it's if I think we are all kind of talking about similar things, but it is good to to reiterate certain points. So I think our concern is expanding to preschools and and certain other areas while also having the same funding resources that already are contractually obligated, and then the concern around duplication of program support at the early childhood level. And I wanna be clear. I'm not saying SIP isn't successful. We think it is a successful program, but we have had to work really closely with them to ensure the use of their funds and meeting certain reporting requirements, contractual requirements, that we usually have a different relationship with a contractor.
And I think that's where our concern was with some of the questions we were receiving is we wanna make sure that they're utilizing the 4,500,000 to meet their contractual obligations. We are concerned about an expansion into early childhood within that existing fund because there is already an existing program that is serving that same need. And then additionally, if we are to expand or scale, we would hope that we could provide additional feedback on how those metrics are met, the reporting requirements, things like that, because we don't have a traditional relationship with them as a contractor because of how it's structured in the budget, and that limits our ability to ensure that certain outcomes and and timelines are met.
Speaker 8
Yeah. We would certainly wanna support making sure that the reporting requirements are met and that the appropriate amounts of support are given and the communication is done to ensure that these programs are rolled out effectively and expanded effectively. Specifically, on, the amount of money that couldn't be spent, if we look at the timeline of when that budget was allocated versus where we are now, that is inclusive of, while we were in COVID. And so there were challenges around expending all of those allocated dollars because we were in COVID, that created its own unique set of circumstances around hiring and in class in classroom based instruction, as well as all kinds of other countless, complications with learning. But a lot of that was due to or I'm guessing is was due to this being during the time of COVID in our slow ramp up to going back to classroom based learning.
Does that sound about right? So, yeah, during the first years, about 40% was unused of the first couple years. And then the last budget year which I have I believe is 2425, it was about only 20% went unused.
Speaker 14
Okay. And I do we have been back in the classroom for years now, and they're still not expanding all of the use. And part of it is we have contract development delays that are are contract driven. There's incomplete submissions, calculation errors, formula problems. So it is a lot of hands on support needed that not not a concern for CDE, but we do wanna clarify that there is a distinction in how the funds are getting out, and we are finding that those are at the ground level and needing much more support in part because there isn't a traditional relationship.
So there's not kind of that accountability requirement that is standard. So we know staffing's an issue across the board. We wouldn't say it's unique to this. So one of the issues we did see was, yes, there was fiscal staff turnover and that created a lot of reporting issues. But also, it's not built into the contract, the staffing requirements.
And so I think that causes a little bit of the instability as well that is separate and apart COVID.
Speaker 8
So is that something that we now through learning about this program that we could
Speaker 14
build in? Absolutely. I think there's it's a learning experience and I think we should yeah. We would make recommendations on certain feedback we've gotten and and things we've learned to help improve the program. Again, we do think the program has been well regarded and successful, but there may be some additional changes we can make to ensure that those outcomes and the money is spent, that CDE would be happy to provide additional feedback to you and the chair.
Speaker 8
So who drives the decisions around making those contracts and what's included in the contract and how those are done? Budget language? Yeah. The budget language drives a big portion of it and then we work really closely with each contractor to help develop out both a scope of work and a budget that they feel like they could implement annually. So they and specifically, this contract will drive a lot of that.
Their the contractor drives that. They provide us their scope of work and their budget along with all of their invoices. Great. So this sounds like this is something that CDE can work directly with the Department of Finance and build it into budget language.
Speaker 8
you need some policy decision that helps? Does it need to come over to the policy side where we could help
Speaker 14
To be put in budget language, we would welcome feedback. You know, it is a three party decision, but we we can provide that. There's two questions I think that we we wanna appreciate why we're discussing these things is it's just the current SIP encumbrance extension, which is one thing. But there's also a background conversation happening, and I think that's why we're highlighting the concerns where it's about expansion or scaling, and that's why we're we're flagging if we were to do more than just extend the encumbrance deadlines, we would caution that certain other statutory changes be made in budget to ensure that the contracts are meeting what the legislature and CDE hope by the outcomes can be in program.
Speaker 1
Okay. Thank you. Thank you to the panel. I'll hold the issue open, and we'll move on to issue number five, which is on charter school facilities. If I can please ask the, panelists to come forward, Department of Finance, legislative analyst office, and the straight treasurer's office on this one.
This panel will present on the January budget proposal impacting the charter school facility grant program. So we will kick it off with the proposal from finance. And welcome.
Speaker 13
Good morning. Ethan Schroeder with the Department of Finance. I'll be providing a overview of the Charter School Facility Grant Program proposals within the governor's budget. The charter school facility grant program provides annual grants to help offset facility costs to charter schools that serve a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price meals or in a public elementary school boundary that service similar demographic. For the charter school facility grant program, the governor's budget proposes a total ongoing 9,200,000 in proposition 98 increase.
They consist of 1,800,000 for a 2.41% cost of living adjustment and 7,400,000 to address increased current service levels. I'd be happy to answer any questions at the appropriate time.
Speaker 16
Thank you, mister chair. Michael Alphetis with the legislative analyst office. We don't have any concerns with the proposal. Happy to answer any questions.
Speaker 18
Hi. Katrina Johanshin. Thank you for having us chair and members. Since twenty thirteen, fourteen, CSFA has administered the charter school facility grant program infidelity with the law. The state audit found that to be true back in 2022.
So there were a number of questions that were proposed, and I didn't know if, the committee would like me to walk through our Sure.
Speaker 18
Okay. So the first question was, is the charter school facility grant program intended to be an entitlement program? I would say that the charter school facility grant program is an annual funding program open to all eligible charter schools. Charter schools must apply annually to be considered for an award under the program. Individual funding award amounts are dependent on annual program funding, which is set through an annual appropriation calculated based on statute, which is a code section four seven six one four point five with the COLA and CSL adjustments.
It was proposed that we, address the issue of do regular public schools have parity and access to funding for facilities compared to this program? Traditional public schools, as you may know, have greater access to facility funding through local general obligation bond proceeds and state general bond proceeds. Traditional public schools receive a 100% of facility costs through local and state debt issuance. At best, charter school facility costs are reimbursed at 75% of facility cost, which many cap below the 75% threshold due to the program's ADA calculation, per pupil funding rates, and appraisal caps. And then we've provided data, I believe, to the chair's office as it relates to the historical oversubscription.
I think it was in the report. Yeah. So I you can refer to that on page
Speaker 18
15 of the report. Yeah. And then, we were asked about funding that went to Highlands Charter School through the program from 2019 to 2024. Between 2019 and 2024, Highlands Charter received approximately $7,000,000 from eligible facility expenses. The school did not receive funding in 2324, no 2425, nor 2526.
We they were deemed ineligible given the, good standing certification that we require from the authorizer. In 2022, they did receive other costs totaling over 2,000,000, and we reviewed invoices for those amounts, and we also reviewed over 53 appraisals. So there's a appraisal requirement in the program for new facility agreements, and we can provide those as well if the committee would like to see those. We were asked, does the program need better protections against abuse as seen in Highlands Charter use of the program? We
Speaker 18
and prevent abuse through the program. Highlands met all program eligibility criteria to be deemed eligible for funding. Per program regulation and statute, we rely on average daily attendance and free and reduced price meal data from CDE and authorizer feedback to determine program eligibility. Award caps are set in law and program regulations. CSFA has been and will continue to be receptive to suggested changes to the program.
For example, the program was audited in 2022, and the state auditor found that the program is administered with fidelity to the law, the program prevents school closures, and charter schools benefiting from both the facility grant program and our conduit financing program do not violate state law. The state auditor presented program recommendations which GSFA has either fully implemented or is in the process of implementing such as Form 700 submissions for new facility agreements and random sampling to identify related parties and conflicts of interest. We would highlight that this program is highly scrutinized and heavily analyzed. We welcome safeguards such as the one identified in the governor's current budget proposal that would require authorizers to conduct site visits and evaluate financial financial liability more closely. And then we were asked what percentage of the program's funds have been used to renovate and improve privately owned properties.
Based on data for the last five funding rounds, other costs were available in 2223 and 2324. So this was a carve out of $30,000,000 on top of funding available for lease cost. In 2022, the other cost allocation accounted for 16% of total program allocation, and in 2324, that amount represented 15% of a total appropriation. And then should public funds be allowed to renovate privately owned property? I just wanna highlight that public funds are used throughout the state to lease private facilities for state offices, health facilities, day care centers, as well as educational facilities.
Some of these lease costs may be funding renovation and other improvements to privately owned properties through tenant improvements that might be included in a lease. And then should the Charter School Facility Grant Program have the same restrictions as the Office of Public School Construction's charter facility program, which we also coadminister, and restrict capital improvements to public agency I'm sorry. Public agency held title. We would just wanna note that public agency held facilities are very scarce, and charters must compete to occupy those district sites.
Speaker 1
Okay. Thank you very much for your presentation. Let me just one question, and I don't know who may answer this, but we can see if LAO can provide some input. This is a request to actually, let me ask department finance. The request of 7,420,000 is to meet current service levels and increase demand.
How is that determined? How is the service level determined?
Speaker 13
So how the program growth is calculated? So there are two adjustments we make in our charge of program, and they're kind of related, so I'm gonna walk through them both. But the first is the COLA adjustment, and the second adjustment is size of the program based on the current year data on ADA charter schools. So consistent with the calculations as outlined in statutes, CSA provides us with ADA and rent cost lease for eligible charter schools. We then perform two calculations.
First, we identify 75% of the eligible school's rent or lease cost. Second, we take the ADA and we multiply that by the current year COLA rate. The lesser of those two calculators are identified at each school designated amount. The difference between those designated amounts and our previous year's allocation is the workload adjust or the current service level adjustment. Excuse me.
Speaker 1
So I you went through that very quickly. So I think what I captured is if there's a if there are more if if there were to be more students enrollment, then does that move your formula in the direction of you identifying a higher service level required?
Speaker 13
Yeah. That'd be correct. So it's I think it's 75% of the least cost that eligible charter schools that that that that kind of that reach the threshold of the free or reduced price meals or also ADA increases at those charter schools or for new charter school has, like, increased ADA. So it's kinda capturing all those things. Okay.
Speaker 21
Anita Lee with the Department of Finance. I think I might help help with this. So I think previously we mentioned that if you are a charter school that meets the qualifications, you become eligible. Right? So there is ADA growth for those that are already existing into the program.
That's one piece of it. And then the second piece is if more programs become eligible, then their ADA also then enters into the calculation. So there's kind of two pieces to that current service level adjustment.
Speaker 21
Yeah. So I I I think I'm just distinguishing Yeah. To to hopefully answer the question that there's just two pieces.
Speaker 1
And for the treasurer's office, the questions five and six are to the concern of, you know, a potential private benefit Mhmm. That is received as a result of investments with public dollars. So how are we I I don't think there's a mass exodus or or shutting down of of charter schools, but what are the mechanisms in place to prevent from some substantial investment happening on some facility that then no longer operates as a school?
Speaker 18
This is an annual grant program, so we're paying annual ongoing facility and rental agreements. So in terms of the 30,000,000, those were costs that met the definition in our regulations and in statute. So things like HVAC. So they were needed in that given year and there was a lot of deferred and pent up Yeah. Demand for those other costs.
Speaker 1
But you don't require that there be a long term lease, for example? If someone's gonna make an investment of that kind, that's a pretty expense you know, pretty expensive Yeah. Investment.
Speaker 18
We do not look at a long term lease. So that that has not been something that we've looked at. I mean, other programs like our CS and P program is a thirty year loan program. Some of the bond financings that we see are forty year bonds. And if there's any proceeds or assets that are left, for example, if a charter school closes, there's nonprofit law that would govern how those assets are liquidated and handled, but that's not something that, you know, for an annual grant program that we're analyzing.
Speaker 1
So and I know this happens. A charter school could move from one site to another and every year request support to from this grant program.
Speaker 18
They could. Yeah. But they would need any new lease agreement would come with an appraisal. Mhmm. So we're looking at fair market value.
We're looking at all the caps that exist in the program.
Speaker 1
But for the 30,000,000 or the millions in terms of investments made on a on a privately owned property, there is you could make that improvement and then move on two years later.
Speaker 18
But the landlord could be making the improvement as well and that could be built into the lease. Sure. So there could be a cost to the state regardless of how that improvement is being funded.
Speaker 1
Yeah. And, obviously, we want quality classroom settings, but certainly not taxpayers should not be funding renovation of buildings that are privately held and then benefit from that in the long term. So maybe something to look at later.
Speaker 18
There hasn't been money left over for other costs. You know, we didn't have any money available last year. There's no money contemplated this year for other costs. These are this is to meet the base of the demand for lease and rent agreements. Right.
There's not a carve out this year for other costs. Okay. So we there hasn't been other costs available since 2324. Okay. So the 7.4 and the 1.8 gets us to where we think program demand will be.
You know, we received for this funding round 480 applications up from 470 applications the prior year, up from 452 the prior year. Those are applications. Those are not eligible So there's a a delta between the two given the vetting that we do.
Speaker 8
Thank you for this presentation. Of course, the Highlands issue is very concerning. But when we look at the bigger picture, what role does the charter authorizer play in SB seven forty grant process?
Speaker 18
The authorizer provides us certification that the charter is in compliance with the terms of its charter and not necessarily in good standing, but not not you know, their charter isn't about to be revoked. There's no violation. So we are getting real time data from the authorizer at which we had on Highlands. And the minute we didn't have it, we pulled back funding. Okay.
Speaker 8
So it's a it's a eligibility threshold. In in light of the risks of abuse or fraud or situations like that, are the authorizers in a position to know whether that's coming?
Speaker 18
Or to to do do they I'm I'm not sure. I'm I'm honestly not sure. I mean, you know, we have very detailed information that comes from certain authorizers. For example, LAUSD provides us a very detailed letter about each school that we ask and that's over a 150 schools.
Speaker 18
So it really depends on the authorizer, the kind of information that we're getting. But we schools need that or they do not receive an award.
Speaker 8
Oh, so that's interesting. So there's no standard amount of information that's helpful? Is there a gold standard
Speaker 18
or We have one form and it's up to I mean, now it's very prescribed and I can I can point you to our regulations where we talk about good standing? Mhmm. Bear with me.
Speaker 8
Because if we know that someone like LA Unified, if they're providing the appropriate amount of information to help you make those determinations, maybe we should look at that as a template.
Speaker 18
I mean, we need, it's a pass fail. So either they're Uh-huh. And I can read you the definition of good standing. Good standing shall mean the applicant satisfies all three of the following conditions. Number one, compliance with the terms of its charter agreement.
Number two, no pending or outstanding notices of violation described in Education Code section four seven six zero seven g. And three, no pending or outstanding notices of intent to revoke described in Education Code section four seven six zero seven h. The authorities will rely on information prepared by the chartering authority and the submission of a good standing certification form incorporated herein by reference. So our our regulations have been, you know, we're a public agency. We have stakeholders weigh in on our regulations, so the definition of good standing has changed over time.
Speaker 8
Department of Finance, did you have anything to add? Okay. In light of concerns around, public dollars being used to improve private facilities or privately held facilities, what are the or are there any restrictions around when the charter school is dissolved or properties are sold? Is are there any encumbrances around that? Does any of that money get returned to
Speaker 18
the program? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this program is looked at as an annual facility reimbursement program. So there is and then on our longer term program, CSFP, the state makes, you know, multimillion dollar investment through our charter school facility program.
And then those facilities are held in trust for the state's public education system. And there's secession provisions that if existing charter doesn't need the site anymore, a successor charter has the first right to occupy that site. And then we talk about bond finance facilities, those are held by nonprofits and nonprofit law governs those. But I'm not a nonprofit expert, so I imagine there might be folks here that might wanna,
Speaker 8
know, share that information. Sure. Thank you. In the case that the Charter had taken, over a facility that was once a a public school facility, does the public school system have a right back into that, list of first right of refusal?
Speaker 18
Under CSFP, they do. Yeah. Okay. The first is for an exist for a successor charter. If there's can't find a charter, it would be the district.
Speaker 18
if the district doesn't need it, it can be deemed surplus property. Yeah. I mean, that's in The
Speaker 18
They can. Yeah. That's 17078.62 of the Ed Code. That's the charter school facility program,
Speaker 8
which is modeled after SFP. Okay. Thank you. And then, should the CF CSFG program, have the same restrictions as the Office of Public School Construction's charter facility program and thereby restricting capital improvements to public agency held title? I think if and I'm
Speaker 18
not a charter advocate, so I I'm not I don't have, you know, this data. But my sense is that if there were more district facilities available to charters, so prop 39, you know, charters compete for a facility for one year or they're co locating and they have to move. Right. So, you know, I I I would ask a charter advocate to answer that. You know, I I think that facilities are scarce, district facilities are scarce.
So I my sense is that that's why so many charters are in privately leased facilities. Yeah.
Speaker 8
Well, I'm just thinking of the big picture of as we look at declining enrollment, but also school districts abilities to build, housing and affordable housing for staff. What are what does the landscape of uses look like and, potential look like? So thank you for answering those questions.
Speaker 1
Thank you. Mr. Fong, do you have questions for this panel? No? Okay.
Alright. Then, thank you. We will hold this, open. And we now, are gonna do a vote. On the end, there was a motion mister Fong on issue number three to reject and refer to the policy committee.
So we'll call a roll for this. Fang? Fang aye. That's has three votes. Right.
That has been rejected by the subcommittee. We are now gonna move on to nonpresentation items. Just I'm gonna note them. There will be no presentation unless subcommittee members would like to ask any questions. We have an education trailer bill proposal on curriculum embedded in performance tasks of science.
Another one on section one seventeen of chapter 48 statues of 2023 on the literacy road map encumbrance. We have a budget change proposal, increase the fiscal crisis management assessment team by 994,000 of proposition 98. An additional proposal budget change California School Information Systems funding by 966,000 of ongoing, and a budget change proposal increasing the k through 12 high speed network funding by 629,000 of ongoing proposition 98. Seeing no reason to pull or any desire, so oh, we have do have a comment. Doctor Patel.
Speaker 8
I just wanna make a comment in support of item three, which is for FICMAT getting an increased budget. I think as we look at declining enrollment and the challenges that our school districts are our LEAs are gonna be facing in the near future, having some extra resources with FICMAT will be super helpful. So thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you for making that comment. I agree with that. Okay. Well, that brings us to the end of the agenda items, but we will take public comments now. Anyone who did not get a chance to speak when we opened, you will have an opportunity now.
Please come forward. Please state your name. We will give you thirty seconds. And welcome, first speaker.
Speaker 27
Sorry, Richard. I thought it was a minute. Chris Bollinger on behalf of Highlands Charter. We just wanna thank the staff for taking our meeting yesterday. We disagree with the characterization of the committee analysis.
The word abuse is not found a single time in the state audit report nor is there any connection to s p seven forty funds. The two issues found in the state audit report pertain to teacher credentials. Highlands maintained adult education teaching credentials. The second item pertains to attendance practices. Highlands, checked attendance once a day.
Now the standard is being asked of them is four or five times a day. They're in a single classroom setting. This is not a traditional school. And so, for those reasons, you know, we've got 15,000 students that are now without services. We have 600 employees that are now without jobs.
Speaker 27
This is a humanitarian crisis, and we would ask for an oversight hearing into the matter. Thank you so much, mister chair.
Speaker 20
Good morning, chair members. Natalie Shin here on behalf of Californians Together. We are in strong support of the increased funding for dual enrollment. We are also strongly opposed to the proposed changes to the definition of students at risk of becoming long term English learners, and thank you for rejecting this proposal. The proposed definition delays identification and eliminates two years' worth of targeted support during a critical window where it would have the greatest impact on student success and prevent them from becoming long term English learners.
Intervention during early elementary years is vital for more focused acceleration on language development and academic growth. Waiting until year six means many students will have missed out on the critical supports they deserve. This is not just a simple definition change, but a shift a shift from prevention to delay. We urge you to ensure that no more students are able to fall through the cracks.
Speaker 28
Laura Kerr with the Charter School Development Center on issue number five. The charter school facility grant program is a model. The LAO recognized that in 2015 with a report, where they, recognized the program for its ongoing facilities costs versus the bond program, which is all about one time funding and modernization. So we think the program is great and should be scaled up, and the LEO recommended adding all public schools to that program rather than cutting this one. On Highlands, we think the core issue there is authorizing, and the conflicts that exist in a school district based authorizing program.
Highlands took $13,000,000 over five years. I'm sorry. Twin Rivers took $13,000,000 over five years and didn't even do the basics of Thank you. Authorization. And, finally,
Speaker 29
Deborah Mautista Sabala on behalf of the California Association of Survivor School Districts. On issue two dual enrollment, CalSSD supports a proposed 100,000,000 for dual enrollment grant programs with flexibility for middle college, early college, and CCAP and eligibility for regional occupational center programs. These pathways and opportunities engage students and improve persistence completion and college and career readiness. Additionally, funding will increase access to these opportunities and support more consistent implementation. Thank you very much for all you do for us.
Speaker 30
Good morning, Chair members. Christina Salazar with the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools. We're in support of the expansion of the dual enrollment, particularly for justice involved youth. And based on today's conversation, I want to highlight the importance of data sharing and for more Cal Kids participation. We also wanna say that we support the administration proposal on the definition of long term English learners.
Having two definitions has been a confusion for the field. Then finally, we're in strong support of the extension of supporting inclusive practices. As a SIP partner, we currently serve 114 grantees and continue to see a strong interest for additional grantees.
Speaker 28
Good morning. My name is Tavia Lawson. I'm a proud parent of a 26 year old son who's autistic. I'm also the CAC chair of the East San Gabriel Valley SOPA. I'm very appreciative of the discussions that took place today around the California Department of Education and also supportive inclusive practices.
I've seen firsthand what inclusion and belonging can do for our students in early intervention going all the way from K to 12, even into the college years. So I'm in strong support of CD. Thank you.
Speaker 18
Good morning. Sarabatches with Children now in support of item one and two. And then for item three, supportive of your action that you've taken today, echoing Californians Together's comments. Thanks.
Speaker 15
Good morning. Caitlin Zhang on behalf of the Linked Learning Alliance. Linked Learning supports the governor's proposal to provide an additional 100,000,000 for dual enrollment. Linked Learning sees CCAPs as the strongest vehicle for delivering meaningful dual enrollment with these pathways. When college courses are embedded in SUBMIT's pathways, they drive real degree acceleration, not just credits.
For these reasons, we urge the assembly support for this additional funding to increase to expand your enrollment, increase access to these high quality pathways and real opportunities. Linked Learning also submitted a letter with additional details. Thank you.
Speaker 20
Good morning, chair and members. Carol Gonzales on behalf of Ed Trust West, Hope, and the Dual Enrollment Coalition to align our comments with folks before us about the $100 $100,000,000 investment for dual enrollment. We see it as a pathway to close equity gaps, and we also wanna echo the importance of aligning the ADA minimum minute requirement with other, middle college programs so that there's parity. And on behalf of Ed Trust West, they also wanna echo the importance of technical assistance for dual enrollment and elevate the, concerns with the English learner language that you all
Speaker 26
Morning. On behalf of Los Angeles Unified, we'd like to echo the comments Californians Together and Children Now regarding item three and the definition of long term, English learners and support, your motion today to reject the proposal. Thank you.
Speaker 31
Good morning. Michelle Warshaw on behalf of the California Teachers Association. We allay in our comments with Californians together and have concerns with the at risk long term English learner proposal. The proposal would not capture students who have been English learners for four to five years, and we urge the legislature to reject this definition. On the charter schools facility grant program, we do have some concerns with the amount of prop public prop $98 going to privately held facilities with limited oversight, and we would like to see increased accountability and a rejection of the proposed additional appropriations.
Thank you.
Speaker 12
Good morning. McClain Rosansky with the Alameda County Office of Education. We propose we oppose the proposed changes to the at risk long term English learner definition, which delays identification until students' sixth year of English learner status. Instead, we urge you to adopt the definition outlined in Californians Together's letter that is directly aligned with the English learner progress indicator. Finally, we support the extension of the encumbrance period for remaining funds for SIP, which has been successful in supporting districts to increase inclusion of students with disabilities.
Thank you.
Speaker 32
Alferez and members. Kyle Hyland on behalf of the Career Technical Education Joint Powers Authority Coalition. We wanna express our strong support for the proposed trailer bill language clarifying that regional occupational centers and programs are eligible partners in CCAP or the college middle college programs. This clarification helps remove statutory ambiguity and will help expand access to workforce aligned dual enrollment opportunities for students across California. We also want to support the proposed translator language that includes ROCPs as eligible applicants for CCAP and Early College and Middle College grant funding.
Thank you.
Speaker 33
Good morning. I'm Tara George. I'm here on behalf of You Aspire in support of the $100,000,000 investment to the CCAP grant program. You Aspire is passionate about college affordability and dual enrollment allows students to save potential thousands of dollars on college tuition, accelerate their degree timeline, and raise their own readiness for the path ahead. This investment is crucial to making higher education financial accessible.
Thank you.
Speaker 34
Good morning, chair and members. Mavali Zagal with Greenberg Chaurig on behalf of self administrators of California. First, I do wanna express, our strong support for the SIP project for the reasons stated during today's discussion, but we do have a supportive amended position on the underlying bill, a b twenty four sixty eight. We very much look forward to continued conversations with the author's office. Thank you so much.
Speaker 35
Good morning, chairing members. Ashley Lugo on behalf of the California County Superintendents. We strongly support the proposed investment to expand dual enrollment opportunities for high school students, especially the targeted funding to expand dual enrollment opportunities for students enrolled in juvenile court and community schools. Dual enrollment plays a critical role for justice impacted youth by increasing access to A through G courses, strengthening postsecondary pathways, and ensuring students are being connected to education upon reentry. The funding would help mitigate some of the unique barriers court and community schools face in providing dual enrollment to justice impacted youth and close gaps in access.
And I'm happy to follow-up on what some of those financial barriers are.
Speaker 36
Good morning, chair members. Sara Bobibs on behalf of the Institute for College Access and Success. Here this morning in support of the $100,000,000 investment on dual enrollment program expansion, as well as support for the California Education Interagency Council, which we believe will be an integral, next step in connecting workforce, connecting, efforts to the LWDA, especially with the workforce fall go live date of July 1. And we continue to we look forward to continuing, discussions with you all on how the Education Interagency Council can be empowered to make these critical decisions. Thank you.
Speaker 37
Mister chair members, John Winger here on behalf of the California Charter School Association speaking in support of issue five. I think the biggest inequity for charter schools is access to adequate facilities. We do not have the same parity that traditional schools do. We're not guaranteed adequate facilities. As CSFA said, a lot of public funds go to private leases, private facilities, day cares, health care centers.
We're very similar. I would ask what's the alternative to that. We don't we've consistently came to the legislature asking for more access to surplus property, which is ironically being sold off to private developers by school districts. We've asked for access to prop 39 facilities that continues to get litigated in court. And then I would just argue anybody that thinks that there's limited oversight on this program should probably read the regulations.
It's very extensive. Thank you. There's a lot of, trailer bill that we've done on this, and we're happy to follow-up on that. Thank you.
Speaker 38
Good morning. Cassie Mancini on behalf of the California School Employees Association here to comment on number issue number five. CSEA has respectfully opposed the governor's proposal to provide a 7,420,000 service level adjustment to the charter school facility grant program. This program is being used by charter schools to receive lease payment grants for facilities that they own themselves through their related party LLCs. The titles of these facilities are not held by the public despite their bonds being paid off these grants and other prop 98 funds.
It makes no sense for the state to continue to invest in vast amount of money into these properties. The state has absolutely no claim for. For these reasons, CSEA urges the legislature to reject additional appropriations to this program until it it is reformed to address title holding issues. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you. Anyone else public wishing to speak on item of today's agenda? K. Seeing none, we are adjourned. Oh, I'm sorry.
We are not adjourned yet. I believe there's an assembly member coming to vote, so we will wait a few more minutes. But thank you all. K. We are going to open the roll on, vote on issue three.
Just to clarify, the motion was to reject the proposal and, direct the policy committee.
Speaker 1
Here and I. Here and I. Thank you. She has four votes. We've rejected that proposal.
Okay. That, we're adjourned.
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