(a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall assist all school districts to ensure that all public high school pupils have access to a core curriculum that meets the admission requirements of the University of California and the California State University. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall advise school districts that maintain high schools about the importance of making readily available to each high school pupil the current list of courses offered by the school attended by that pupil that are certified by the University of California as meeting admissions requirements. It is the intent of the Legislature that each public high school shall provide the full precollegiate program, provide adequate course sections in precollegiate programs to accommodate all its pupils, and regularly counsel pupils to enter those programs and courses. There shall be no policy or practice in any public elementary or secondary school of directing, especially for cultural or linguistic reasons, any pupil in kindergarten or any of the grades 1 to 12, inclusive, away from choosing programs that prepare that pupil academically for college.

(b) The University of California is requested to assist each school district that maintains a high school in order to ensure all of the following:

(1) School districts understand the process by which courses are submitted to the University of California to be reviewed and certified as meeting admission requirement criteria.

(2) School districts have an internal process for developing courses and submitting courses for review and certification by the University of California in order to meet admission requirement criteria.

(3) School districts maintain accurate lists of courses that are currently offered by the high schools and are certified by the University of California as meeting admission requirement criteria.

(4) Updated lists described in paragraph (3) are readily made available by the school districts to each high school pupil and a copy of that list is annually provided to each high school pupil.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the public and independent institutions of higher education participate in programs that assist those in elementary and secondary education in meeting their responsibilities in preparing students for college.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 320, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2003.)