Copyright© 2002 by School Services of California, Inc.
Volume 15 For Publication Date: December 20, 2002 No. 25
$80 Million Proposed
Cut to Concurrent Enrollments of K-12
Students Causes “PR” Problem for Community Colleges
The $80 million cut is the result of the Department of Finance’s
concern about noncompliant credit instruction claimed in 2001-02 by community
college districts for concurrently enrolled K‑12 students. The
Administration apparently believes that there are major problems with programs
(i.e., physical education) that allow K-12 students to pursue community college
coursework.
The Administration’s concerns come on the heels of several newspaper
articles that have been written about physical education (P.E.) classes being
taught on high school campuses that do not meet community college standards. The
Orange County Register spent several months examining the process for enrolling
K-12 students in certain community college courses and whether those courses met
community college standards. According to the Register, at least $56 million
was claimed by community colleges as a result of enrolling at least 188,000
students in P.E. programs.
The Register’s investigation points out that the P.E. courses were
taught on high school campuses by high school instructors (mostly coaches), and
involved high school sports teams participating in regular practices or teams’
off-season workouts.
Known as the Bridge Program, these physical education programs have
created a major public relations problem for community colleges and K-12 schools
because of the appearance of “double-dipping”—paying high school
instructors additional wages for teaching a P.E. course they would have normally
taught anyway. Because the community college provides college credit for these
programs, the college is able to claim FTES for these students.
The community college system and Chancellor Tom Nussbaum have expressed
concern over the decision to withhold $80 million in apportionment funding
pending an audit of the colleges’ concurrent enrollment. Nussbaum indicated
that his office is looking into allegations regarding specific practices in a
few districts. He has stated, “We are open to the audit and plan to cooperate
fully; however, we are concerned that colleges are being found guilty and being
penalized before a review of the situation has been completed.”
Community college advocates have been attempting to mitigate the damage
caused by the Orange County Register’s articles and have been meeting with
legislators. In addition, the Chancellor’s Office has met with the Department
of Finance in an attempt to find a resolution to its concerns regarding the
Bridge Program and to identify other options related to mid-year Budget
reductions. One item that the system hopes that the Administration will take
into consideration is the unfunded enrollment ($184 million) in 2001-02. The
system’s unfunded enrollments far exceed the $80 million proposed cut by the
Administration. In fact, most districts have eliminated the P.E. services to
K-12 school districts already. Therefore, the significant number of unfunded
students should be taken into consideration before an $80 million cut is
considered.
Keep in mind that most K-12 students who are concurrently enrolled in
community college classes are pursuing advanced academic course work that is not
available to them at their local high school. These types of courses are not
being considered for audit.
Unfortunately, the spotlight on the P.E. courses being offered on high
school campuses could not have come at a worse time, with looming mid-year cuts
and the prospect of more cuts to come in the 2003-04 State Budget for community
colleges and K-12 schools. This issue needs to be put to rest as quickly as
possible.
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