2009 California Education Code - Section 69560-69613 :: Article 4. Student Opportunity And Access Program

69560.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Lack of information about postsecondary educational
opportunities and low achievement levels are primary barriers to a
college education for students from schools that have low eligibility
and college participation rates.
   (b) The Student Opportunity and Access Program, initiated in 1978
to increase postsecondary educational opportunities, has been
successful in meeting its goals to increase the availability of
information, improve students' access to higher education by raising
their achievement levels, and reduce the duplication of services by
coordinating outreach efforts.
   (c) The intersegmental consortium nature of the program has proven
to be a highly effective mechanism in coordinating existing services
and in fostering the cooperation of the various education segments
involved.
   (d) An essential core of state funding for the program is required
to maintain its intersegmental character, which has generated better
communication, understanding, and teamwork resulting in an impact
enhanced by the collective effort, while minimizing duplication of
services in a geographic area.
   (e) The anticipated growth in the state's schoolage population
indicates an increasing demand for services provided by the program
to assist students to compete successfully for admission to
postsecondary educational institutions.
   (f) Salaries for college students of low-income backgrounds to
provide informational and tutorial help for students from schools
that have low eligibility and college participation rates is a
cost-effective method of increasing access and of providing student
financial aid.

69561.  (a) The Student Opportunity and Access Program is
administered by the Student Aid Commission.
   (b) The Student Aid Commission may apportion funds on a progress
payment schedule for the support of projects designed to increase the
accessibility of postsecondary educational opportunities for any of
the following elementary and secondary school pupils:
   (1) Pupils who are from low-income families.
   (2) Pupils who would be the first in their families to attend
college.
   (3) Pupils who are from schools or geographic regions with
documented low-eligibility or college participation rates.
   (c) These projects shall primarily do all of the following:
   (1) Increase the availability of information for these pupils on
the existence of postsecondary schooling and work opportunities.
   (2) Raise the achievement levels of these pupils so as to increase
the number of high school graduates eligible to pursue postsecondary
learning opportunities.
   (d) Projects may assist community college students in transferring
to four-year institutions, to the extent that project resources are
available.
   (e) Projects may provide assistance to low-income fifth and sixth
grade pupils and their parents in order to implement outreach efforts
designed to use the future availability of financial assistance as a
means of motivating pupils to stay in school and complete college
preparatory courses.
   (f) Projects may provide assistance to low-income middle and high
school pupils and their parents in order to implement outreach
efforts designed to use the future availability of financial
assistance as a means of motivating pupils to stay in school by
promoting career technical education public awareness. Projects shall
promote the value of career technical education, available career
programs in public schools and postsecondary segments with sequenced
courses beginning in high school and continuing into postsecondary
education, and the resulting career opportunities.
   (g) Each project shall be proposed and operated through a
consortium that involves at least one secondary school district
office, at least one four-year college or university, at least one
community college, and at least one of the following agencies:
   (1) A nonprofit educational, counseling, or community agency.
   (2) A private vocational or technical school accredited by a
national, state, or regional accrediting association recognized by
the United States Department of Education.
   (h) The commission, in awarding initial project grants, shall give
priority to proposals developed by more than three eligible
agencies. Projects shall be located throughout the state in order to
provide access to program services in rural, urban, and suburban
areas.
   (i) The governing board of each project, comprising at least one
representative from each entity in the consortium, shall establish
management policy, provide direction to the project director, set
priorities for budgetary decisions that reflect the specific needs of
the project, and assume responsibility for maintaining the required
level of matching funds, including solicitations from the private
sector and corporate sources.
   (j) Prior to receiving a project grant, each consortium shall
conduct a planning process and submit a comprehensive project
proposal to include, but not be limited to, the following
information:
   (1) The agencies participating in the project.
   (2) The pupils to be served by the project.
   (3) The ways in which the project will reduce duplication and
related costs.
   (4) The methods for assessing the project's impact.
   (k) Each project shall include the direct involvement of secondary
school staff in the daily operations of the project, with preference
in funding to those projects that effectively integrate the
objectives of the Student Opportunity and Access Program with those
of the school district in providing services that are essential to
preparing pupils for postsecondary education.
   (l) Each project shall maintain within the project headquarters a
comprehensive pupil-specific information system on pupils receiving
services through the program in grades 11 and 12 at secondary schools
within the participating districts. This information shall be
maintained in a manner consistent with the law relating to pupil
records.
   (m) At least 30 percent or the equivalent of each project grant
shall be allocated for stipends to peer advisers and tutors who meet
all of the following criteria:
   (1) Work with secondary school pupils.
   (2) Are currently enrolled in a college or other postsecondary
school as an undergraduate or graduate student.
   (3) Have demonstrated financial need for the stipend.
   (n) Each project should work cooperatively with other projects in
the program and with the commission to establish viable student
services and sound administrative procedures and to ensure
coordination of the activities of the project with existing
educational opportunity programs. The Student Aid Commission may
develop additional regulations regarding the awarding of project
grants and criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the
individual projects.

69562.  The Student Aid Commission shall establish a 12-member
project grant advisory committee to advise project directors and the
commission on the development and operation of the projects, and
consisting of the following:
   (a) Three representatives of outreach programs, representing the
University of California, the California State University, and the
California Community Colleges, appointed by their respective
governing boards.
   (b) One representative of private colleges and universities,
appointed by the Association of California Independent Colleges and
Universities.
   (c) One representative of the California Postsecondary Education
Commission, appointed by the commission.
   (d) Two secondary school staff, appointed by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction.
   (e) Two persons representing the general public, one appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly and the other by the Senate Rules
Committee.
   (f) Two postsecondary students, both appointed annually by the
California Postsecondary Education Commission.
   (g) One college campus financial aid officer, appointed by the
commission.

69564.  Allocation of any funds appropriated for purposes of this
article shall be limited to those consortia meeting requirements of
this article who will provide equal matching resources from existing
or budgeted increases in federal, state, local, and private funds. It
shall be the goal of the program that the total resources provided
by the Student Opportunity and Access Program shall match state
funding on at least a 1.5 to 1 ratio. Any new projects approved
through expansion of the program shall provide equal matching
resources for the first three years of operation and shall be
encouraged to increase the matching resources to a 1.5 to 1 ratio
with the state grant thereafter.

69565.  The initial grant for a proposed new project in an area that
has demonstrated need for services provided by the Student
Opportunity and Access Program may be utilized for planning and
development. Full project grant funding shall be allocated when the
consortium meets the criteria established in Section 69561.

69566.  It is the intent of the Legislature that funding for the
purposes of this article be appropriated in the annual Budget Act.

69612.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (1) The growing shortage of high-quality teachers is most serious
in particular subject areas, partly due to the shortage of students
in these fields who enter the teaching profession.
   (2) Many school districts have difficulty recruiting and retaining
high-quality teachers for schools ranked in decile 1 or 2 on the
Academic Performance Index, for pupils with special needs, for
schools serving rural areas or large populations of pupils from
low-income and linguistic minority families, and for schools with a
high percentage of teachers holding emergency-type permits.
   (3) The rising costs of higher education, coupled with a shift in
available financial aid from scholarships and grants to loans, make
the availability of financial aid and loan repayment assistance
options an important consideration in a student's decision to pursue
a postsecondary education.
   (b) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature that the
Assumption Program of Loans for Education be designed to provide
veteran teachers and outstanding postsecondary students, particularly
economically disadvantaged students, with the assurance of financial
assistance to encourage them to complete postsecondary education
programs leading to teaching credentials, and to seek employment as
teachers in designated subject-matter shortage areas or in schools
serving a large population of pupils from low-income families,
schools with a high percentage of teachers holding emergency-type
permits, or schools ranked in the lowest two deciles on the Academic
Performance Index.

69612.5.  For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following definitions:
   (a) "Eligible institution" means a postsecondary institution that
is determined by the Student Aid Commission to meet both of the
following requirements:
   (1) The institution is eligible to participate in state and
federal financial aid programs.
   (2) The institution maintains a program of professional
preparation that has been approved by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing.
   (b) "Eligible school" means a school that meets any of the
following criteria:
   (1) It serves a large population of pupils from low-income
families, as designated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
   (2) The institution has 20 percent or more teachers holding
emergency-type permits including, but not limited to, any of the
following:
   (A) Provisional internships.
   (B) Short-term staff permits.
   (C) Credential waivers.
   (D) Substitute permits.
   (3) It is a school that is ranked in the lowest two deciles on the
Academic Performance Index.
   (4) It is a school that serves a rural area.

69613.  (a) Program participants shall meet all of the following
eligibility criteria prior to selection in the program and shall
continue to meet these criteria, as appropriate, during the payment
periods:
   (1) The applicant has completed at least 60 semester units, or the
equivalent, and is enrolled in an academic program leading to a
baccalaureate degree at an eligible institution, has agreed to
participate in a teacher internship program, or has been admitted to
a program of professional preparation that has been approved by the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
   (2) The applicant is currently enrolled in, or has been admitted
to, a program in which he or she will be enrolled on at least a
half-time basis, as determined by the participating institution. The
applicant shall agree to maintain satisfactory academic progress and
a minimum of half-time enrollment, as defined by the participating
eligible institution.
   (A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), if a person
participating in the program fails to maintain at least half-time
enrollment, as required by this article, under the terms of the
agreement pursuant to paragraph (2), the loan assumption agreement
shall be invalidated and the participant shall retain full liability
for all student loan obligations. This subparagraph shall not apply
if the participant is in his or her final semester or quarter in
school and has no additional coursework required to obtain his or her
teaching credential.
   (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if a program participant is
unable to maintain at least half-time enrollment due to serious
illness, pregnancy, or other natural causes, or is called to active
military duty status, the participant is not required to retain full
liability for the student loan obligation for a period not to exceed
one calendar year, unless approved by the commission for a longer
period.
   (C) If a natural disaster prevents a program participant from
maintaining at least half-time enrollment due to the interruption of
instruction at the eligible institution, the term of the loan
assumption agreement shall be extended for a period not to exceed one
calender year, unless approved by the commission for a longer
period.
   (3) The applicant has been judged by his or her postsecondary
institution, school district, or county office of education to have
outstanding ability on the basis of criteria that may include, but
need not be limited to, any of the following:
   (A) Grade point average.
   (B) Test scores.
   (C) Faculty evaluations.
   (D) Interviews.
   (E) Other recommendations.
   (4) The applicant has received, or is approved to receive, a loan
under one or more of the following designated loan programs:
   (A) The Federal Family Education Loan Program (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1071
et seq.).
   (B) Any educational loan program approved by the Student Aid
Commission.
   (5) The applicant has agreed to teach full time for at least four
consecutive academic years, or on a part-time basis for the
equivalent of four full-time academic years, after obtaining a
teaching credential in a public elementary or secondary school in
this state, in a subject area that is designated as a current or
projected shortage area by the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
or, on the date the teacher is hired, at an eligible school.
   (b) An agreement shall remain valid even if the subject area under
which an applicant becomes eligible to enter into an agreement
ceases to be a designated shortage field by the time the applicant
becomes a teacher.
   (c) For the purposes of calculating eligible years of teaching for
the redemption of an award, the designation by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction of a newly opened school pursuant to Section
52056 shall apply retroactively from the date the school first
opened.
   (d) A person participating in the program pursuant to this section
shall not enter into more than one agreement.
   (e) A person participating in the program pursuant to this section
shall not owe a refund on any state or federal educational grant or
defaulted on any student loan.
   (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
credentialed teacher teaching in a public school ranked in the lowest
two deciles on the Academic Performance Index pursuant to Section
52052, possesses a clear multiple subject or single subject teaching
credential or level II education specialist credential and who has
not otherwise participated in the program established by this
article, is eligible to enter into an agreement for loan assumption
pursuant to this article. The number of loan assumption agreements
provided pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed 400 per year.
The commission shall develop and adopt regulations for the
implementation of this subdivision by January 1, 2010.