Assemblymember Irwin Introduces Workforce Development Legislation

SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D – Thousand Oaks) has introduced two bills to modernize community colleges and prepare students for the 21st century economy.

Assemblymember Irwin, chair of the Select Committee on Cybersecurity, introduced AB 405 which would create pilot programs at select community college districts throughout the state to offer Bachelor of Applied Sciences degrees in Cybersecurity. Recent news articles and industry reports have identified a cybersecurity workforce shortage, with government and private sector IT departments struggling to find people with the sufficient skills necessary to be effective cybersecurity professionals.

“Cyberattacks pose a very serious threat to businesses, governments, and the privacy of individuals. This threat is amplified as our state is facing a significant shortage of cybersecurity workers,” said Assemblymember Irwin. “This bill will make a clear pathway for more students to get trained in this vital field. We need to ensure that we have a skilled workforce in this industry, otherwise we are left vulnerable to attacks.”

The United States has nearly 350,000 cybersecurity job openings, 45,000 of those in the state of California. Ventura County alone has nearly 900 openings in the field. Industry experts expect to have around one million open positions nationwide by 2020.

Assemblymember Irwin also introduced legislation that will require California community colleges to use multiple measures, including high school transcript data, when placing students into college courses. Currently many community colleges only use placement tests to determine a students’ readiness for college-level courses, but research has shown this to be a poor predictor of a student’s success.

“We need to rethink how we view remedial education,” said Assemblymember Irwin. “Assessment tests have placed a majority of students into developmental courses when many are prepared to take college-level classes. By requiring colleges to use multiple measures, AB 705 will allow students to move through college at a rate that matches their potential and increases their likelihood for success.”

A recent PPIC report found that 80% of students entering community college statewide are deemed underprepared and are referred to at least one remedial course in math or English. A recent study done in Ventura County shows that the success rates for Oxnard Community College students beginning in remedial courses are just 34% for English and 27% for math. National research by Columbia University

has concluded that placement tests alone have been poor predictors of a student’s success and multiple measures can significantly reduce remediation rates.

Assemblymember Irwin’s website: http://asmdc.org/irwin