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By Leo Wallach

Daily Bruin Contributor

To strengthen ties between K-12 and higher education, the state legislature has ordered the creation of a new Master Plan for Education that would help students move from kindergarten to graduate school.

The state senate and assembly have ordered the formation of the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Education, which is divided into seven subgroups, which are currently meeting and will issue a report to the committee, probably in the next two months.

Though UC officials supported the plan, there were concerns over how this could affect the university’s budget.

The original Master Plan, implemented in 1960, defined the mission for each branch of higher education in California for the next 40 years. It requires the UC to accept the top 12.5 percent of California high school graduates and makes it the only state institution that can award Ph.D.s. The plan also makes the UC the primary research institution for California.

The admission quotas, as well as the general mission of each branch of higher education will likely be unaffected, committee members said.

“On the whole, the system is in good health,” said working group member and president of CSU Sacramento Donald Gerth. The fundamental missions of the UC, CSU, and community colleges would not be changed, he added.

State assemblywoman and Joint Committee member Elaine Alquist echoed these statements.

“By expanding the Master Plan to include K-12 as well as higher education, the Joint Committee expects to coordinate planning and to enhance opportunities for all Californians," she said.

But among senators and assembly members who make up the committee “there is deep dissatisfaction with the outcomes of the present system,” said Sarah Lunquist, a member of the working group on student learning and vice president for student services at Santa Ana College.

She referred specifically to the large segments of California students who are not able to make it to higher education.

Changing admission standards is not the answer, she said. Instead, the focus of discussions has centered around practical ways to make students do better in school.

“What the Master Plan has an obligation to do is to ensure that students are academically prepared for college,” she said.

The working group on student learning is also looking to improve access to four-year institutions by expanding the transfer system from community colleges. According to Esther Hugo, a member of the committee’s subgroup on student learning, the committee has discussed expanding guaranteed transfer programs between community colleges and the UC and CSU.

The committee has also discussed the possibility of community colleges providing upper division courses in popular majors, she said. Community colleges traditionally offer only general classes designed to prepare students for transfer to a four-year school.

The new Master Plan will also cover K-12 education, a major change from the original Master Plan which applied solely to higher education.

The goal of this extension is to allow students a “seamless transition” between all levels of public education, particularly between high school and college and between junior college and four-year institutions, said Hugo.

But UC president Richard Atkinson is concerned about rumored budget changes. Atkinson referred specifically to proposals to lower funding for UC lower division courses to the same rate as the CSU and community colleges courses. He was also concerned about a proposal under which the state would break down the UC budget by course level and mission. Atkinson said this would limit the UC’s ability to hire staff and faculty.

“If they make these changes we’d be in real trouble,” Atkinson said before the system-wide Academic Senate Wednesday.

But overall the university is supportive of plans to incorporate K-12 education into the Master Plan, said UC spokesman Brad Hayward.

“Creating stronger linkages and a greater sense of seamlessness between K-12 and higher education is something we very much support,” he said.

He added that the original Master Plan “set the bar” for higher education nationwide by providing for broad access, high quality and distinct missions for each institution.

Hugo, who runs the outreach program at Santa Monica College, believes that that the new Master Plan “will eventually provide greater stature (to community colleges like Santa Monica) by emphasizing our college level coursework.”

The “seamless transition” sought by the Joint Committee will start long before college, committee members said. There are plans to give parents yearly reports, starting in kindergarten, to keep them updated on their child’s progress, according to Hugo.

This new emphasis on information sharing are designed to allow students to “keep up rather than catch up,” Lunquist said.

With reports by Noah Grand, Daily Bruin Reporter