Senator Scott Wilk recently proposed Senate Bill 1009, a plan to give Santa Clarita community colleges and community colleges throughout California a chance to bring in more tutors to help strengthen the knowledge of students.

The measure would expand community college tutoring to include degree-applicable coursework in addition to basic skills.

“When a student first realizes he or she is struggling, that is the time to seek help,” said Wilk. “Under current law students are required to wait until referred by a faculty member or, even worse, until practically failing the class before they can get help. Community college course tutoring should be promoted and readily available to our students.”

Currently, community colleges are receiving funding to provide basic tutoring in subjects like English and math, but not for other courses needed to transfer to a four-year institution.

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“This bill is to give colleges the flexibility to bring in tutors for subjects they feel students will need help in the most,” said Wilk.

College attendees who receive tutoring have a higher chance of graduating from a community college, according to research cited by Wilk when he unveiled the bill.

“According to data from COC, students without any tutoring have a 70 percent success rate in a class,” the senator said. “But for students receiving tutoring, those numbers climb: 78 percent with one to nine hours of assistance, 80 percent with 10-19 hours and an impressive 82 percent with 20+ hours of assistance during the school year.”

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For more difficult subjects, Wilk said it could be beneficial to have a tutor who has had experience in the subject to come to the college and tutor students, rather than having students tutor their peers.

“Giving students the needed tools to finish their coursework and prepare them for their next step, whether it is a four year university or the job market, makes sense,” said Wilk. “It is in the state’s best interest to provide our students every tool necessary to ensure our college graduates are prepared to compete in an increasingly competitive global economy.”

The bill is in the beginning stages, and must pass through the California Legislature before becoming a law, Wilk said.

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