Report 2020-104 Recommendation Responses
Report 2020-104: Calbright College: It Must Take Immediate Corrective Action to Accomplish Its Mission to Provide Underserved Californians With Access to Higher Education (Release Date: May 2021)
Recommendation for Legislative Action
Legislature
To ensure that Calbright provides educational and economic opportunities to Californians and is accountable for its performance, the Legislature should do the following:
1. Require Calbright to demonstrate substantive compliance with our audit recommendations.
2. Require the California State Auditor (State Auditor) to provide an update to the Legislature by no later than December 2022 about Calbright's progress in implementing those recommendations.
3. Adopt a sunset provision that would eliminate Calbright as an independent community college district if the State Auditor determines that Calbright has not demonstrated substantive compliance with those recommendations by December 2022.
4. If it eliminates Calbright, the Legislature should explore other options for providing competency-based education for California adults who face barriers to traditional postsecondary education.
Description of Legislative Action
AB 2820 (Medina and Quirk-Silva, 2022) would make the California Online Community College Act inoperative on January 1, 2024, and would appropriate CalBright's funding to other community college purposes. As of June 10, 2022, this bill is in the Senate Education Committee.
AB 1432 (Low, 2021) would have made the California Online Community College Act inoperative at the end of 2022-23 academic year. This bill died in the Senate in 2021.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: June 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Legislation Introduced
As of June 10, 2022, AB 2820 (Medina and Quirk-Silva, 2022) is pending in the Senate Education Committee.
Description of Legislative Action
AB 1432 (Low, 2021) would make the California Online Community College Act inoperative at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. This bill is pending in the Senate.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: November 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Legislation Introduced
Description of Legislative Action
As of July 10, 2021, the Legislature has not taken action to address this specific recommendation. However, AB 1432 (Low) would make the California Online Community College Act inoperative at the end of 2022-23 academic year. Additionally, the Budget Act of 2021 (SB 129, Skinner), which is enrolled and pending the Governor's action, would redirect funds appropriated to Calbright should AB 1432 be enacted.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: July 2021