An Act To Require the Maine Community College System, the University of Maine System and the Maine Maritime Academy To Report the Number of Students Enrolled in Remedial Courses
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1645
Committee Amendment CA_A_S475 (Senate)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " to S.P. 544, L.D. 1645, Bill, "An Act To 
Require the Maine Community College System, the University of Maine System and the 
Maine Maritime Academy To Report the Number of Students Enrolled in Remedial 
Courses" 
Amend the bill in section 1 in § 1 0012 in subsection 1 in paragraph A in the first line 
(page 1, line 10 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "courses" the following: 'in 
English language arts and mathematics' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in § 1 0012 in subsection 1 in paragraph C in the 2nd line 
(page 1, line 16 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "courses" the following: 'in 
English language arts and mathematics' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in § 10012 in subsection 1 in the blocked paragraph in the 
first line (page 1, line 17 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "subsection" the 
following: 'and subsection 2' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in § 10012 by striking out all of subsection 2 (page 1, lines 
to 34 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'2. Personally identifiable information. In reporting pursuant to subsection 3 the 
information compiled under subsection 1, the Maine Community College System, the 
University of Maine System and the Maine Maritime Academy shall manage education 
records in compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 
1974, 20 United States Code, Section 1232g. Those public institutions of higher 
education may not make public any information that could identify an individual student 
and shall ensure that the purpose of reporting disaggregated data for students enrolled in 
remedial courses is to conduct research for the purpose of evaluating and improving 
education programs. To ensure that personally identifiable information that would make 
a student's identity easily traceable is not disclosed, the public institutions of higher 
education may not report disaggregated information compiled under subsection 1 if the 
total number of traditional students who received high school diplomas from the same 
secondary school and enrolled in the same remedial course at the same campus is 5 or 
fewer. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A "to S.P. 544, L.D. 1645 
3. Report. Beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, the President of the Maine 
Community College System, the Chancellor of the University of Maine System and the 
President of the Maine Maritime Academy shall each report the information compiled 
under subsection 1, including recommendations for strategies that may result in fewer 
students enrolling in remedial courses at postsecondary educational institutions and 
strategies for improving the retention and graduation rates for students who were enrolled 
in remedial courses. The reports must be submitted by January 1st of each year to the 
Commissioner of Education and to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs. The Maine Community College System, 
the University of Maine System and the Maine Maritime Academy shall publish the 
annual reports on their publicly accessible websites. 
4. 
Contingent repeal. 
This section is repealed July 1, 2016 unless the 
Commissioner of Education certifies to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Senate, 
the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Revisor of Statutes before that date that 
the United States Congress has enacted legislation requiring public institutions of higher 
education to compile and report substantially the same data.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the majority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Education 
and Cultural Affairs. The amendment makes the following changes to the bill. 
1. It limits the compilation of information to remedial courses in English language 
arts and mathematics. 
2. To ensure that personally identifiable information that would make a student's 
identity easily traceable is not disclosed, it prohibits an institution of higher education 
from reporting dis aggregated data for students enrolled in remedial courses when there 
are 5 or fewer traditional students who received high school diplomas from the same 
secondary school and who are enrolled in the same remedial course at the same campus. 
3. It eliminates the provision in the bill that requires the institutions of higher 
education to report information on students enrolled in remedial courses to school boards 
and superintendents of school administrative units whose high school graduates are 
enrolled in remedial courses. 
4. It adds a repeal provision to provide that the compilation and reporting 
requirements related to remedial education are repealed July 1, 2016 unless the United 
States Congress enacts a law by this date that requires the compilation and reporting of 
substantially the same data required by this legislation by public higher education 
institutions. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 03/21112 MaC 
LD 1645 
LR 2533(02) 
An Act To Require the Maine Community College System, the University of Maine System and the 
Maine Maritime Academy To Report the Number of Students Enrolled in Remedial Courses 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment" A" S "+75 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Additional costs to the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and Maine Maritime 
Academy to compile the required information and submit the required report can be absorbed within each institution's 
existing budgeted resources. 
LR2533(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1