In the midst of serious issues facing California community colleges today, there is possible reform on the horizon. A new bill has passed California state legislators and is currently waiting on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown. The proposed legislation would bring some consistency to the California community college system and require schools in the state to focus on success and completion rates as much as they focus on enrollment and budgets. While the governor hasn’t dropped any clues on which way he will go on this new law, those who drafted the legislation are hopeful that if passed, it could bring much-needed improvements to the California system.
Student Success Task Force
The legislation, dubbed Bill 1456 or the Student Success Act of 2012, was drafted by Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach. The senator used information compiled by the California Community College Student Success Task Force to create his new bill. According to iJournal, the 20-member task force included faculty, staff and students, as well as external stakeholders in the community college system.
The task force spent seven months examining how to improve success in community colleges, while boosting achievement for underserved students. At the end of the year, the task force presented their findings to stakeholders, in order to get additional input on the best ways to utilize this information effectively to improve the community college system in California. After the hearings were completed, the Board of Governors adopted a set of select recommendations