SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) In order to attain and surpass the education levels of some of the most competitive economies in the world, the number of students earning college degrees in California each year would have to increase by more than one million by 2020, nearly tripling the number of annual completions today.
(b) Research by the Institute for Higher Education Policy shows that only 30 percent of the students who enroll in California community colleges successfully complete a certificate degree or transfer within six years. Only 25 percent of African American students, and 18 percent of Hispanic students, achieve the same result.
(c) The Long Beach College Promise partnership, which includes the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), the Long Beach City College (LBCC), and the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), is a nationally recognized partnership that is committed to increasing college success for students in greater Long Beach.
(d) The Long Beach College Promise partnership provides early and sustained outreach to students and families through college transition, academic support and guidance, guaranteed admission to CSULB, and a tuition-free first semester for every local high school graduate who enrolls at LBCC the fall following graduation. Together, these efforts have proven to have a positive impact on students’ college attendance, persistence, and college readiness rates.
(e) The Long Beach College Promise partnership has increased the number of LBUSD students who attend college and significantly increased the acceptance rate of Long Beach kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, students desiring to go directly to CSULB.
(f) The Long Beach College Promise partnership has allowed CSULB to accept over 80 percent of LBUSD applicants.
(g) LBCC’s student success initiative requires students in key gateway courses to complete directed learning activities with assistance from learning specialists and has increased the overall success rates in these courses. Students who complete the activities are three times more likely to successfully complete the course.
(h) A 2010 report by McKinsey & Company, entitled “How the World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better,” identifies LBUSD as one of the world’s top 20 school systems in terms of sustained and significant improvements, and as having made significant improvements in elementary math scores from 2004 to 2009, inclusive.
(i) The McKinsey & Company report ranks LBUSD as one of the top three school districts in the United States. The McKinsey & Company report concludes that the best school systems partner with higher education, have community and parental support, and communicate well with stakeholders.
(j) Innovative and creative programs that involve the collaboration of each of the state’s education systems provide the most promise for student success and ensure future competitiveness of California’s economy and workforce.
(k) A 2009 survey by the Legislative Analyst’s Office found that for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, categorical flexibility has had a positive impact on many school districts’ ability to implement their strategic plan, and made it easier to develop and balance a budget, dedicate resources to local education priorities, make staffing decisions, and fund programs for struggling students.
(l) The state’s ongoing economic crisis necessitates providing flexibility to educational institutions that agree to partner in order to effectively utilize resources, improve student academic successes, and provide a seamless bridge to college for all pupils.
(m) The Long Beach College Promise will allow the public education institutions in Long Beach, which have a proven track record of success in improving outcomes for all students, to move their partnership to a new level and to help create a model through which California can begin to increase completions at a scale and pace to meet President Obama’s 2020 completion goals.