Hayden Urges Investigation of Soka Programs : Calabasas: The assemblyman says the university has failed to qualify for an exemption from state review.

SACRAMENTO —  Assemblyman Tom Hayden, opening a new front in the battle against Soka University’s attempt to build a 4,400-student campus in the Santa Monica Mountains, is calling for an investigation into “the university’s legal status and educational program.”

In a letter to the state Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, the Santa Monica Democrat maintained that the Calabasas school has failed to properly qualify for an exemption from state review.

Hayden said Soka, which offers English classes to students from Japan, has described its courses as career-oriented and therefore exempt from review by the state.

As a result, state education officials have granted the school an exemption from a broad range of financial accounting and academic requirements.

Hayden, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, said that, because the university earns more than $530,000 each year in student tuition and refers to itself as a university, it should be considered an educational institution “subject to state licensure.”

The Hayden letter, dated June 27, adds a new wrinkle to the debate over Soka, which is determined over the next decade to develop 580 acres of meadowland in the Santa Monica Mountains into a campus.

The school has been at odds with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency that buys open space, and others who want to acquire the land for the headquarters of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

To protect its interests in the Legislature, Soka earlier this week confirmed that it had hired a Sacramento lobbyist.

Now, Hayden has joined hands with environmentalists, saying that the primary issue is maintaining open space.

Declaring that his goal is “to maximize the environmental value and character of the Santa Monica Mountains,” Hayden said in an interview that he sees no reason to establish a “university in the middle of a national park or state park.”

Bernetta Reade, a spokeswoman for Soka, said: “We have no reason to believe we haven’t complied with the law.

“The university will be happy to respond to any questions the council has.”

Reade said she would not speculate about Hayden’s decision to inject himself into the Soka matter.

But, she added, “it’s curious to us . . . that all of a sudden this pops out from somewhere.”

Marion Miller, assistant director for programs, said the postsecondary education council is “looking into the matter” raised by Hayden.

The council, in its first year of operation, is supposed to check every two- and four-year private school, academic or vocational, before granting approval for their operation.

It oversees between 2,500 and 3,000 schools.

Better-known colleges and universities, those whose credits and degrees are easily transferred to another institution, belong to the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges.

These schools range from UCLA to small, private, liberal arts colleges such as Occidental.

The Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education was established by the Legislature after it was determined that there were too many institutions awarding “easy” degrees and that the state Department of Education had failed to properly regulate these schools.

The law establishing the council continued to exempt career-oriented programs that do not award degrees or certificates.

A legislative consultant described the wording of the section as vague.

Even so, the postsecondary council has granted about 150 exemptions.

The section of the law that allows exemptions says: “No institution may offer education which develops or improves an occupational skill, knowledge or ability unless the ownership for its statewide operations has filed with the council an annual declaration.”

In its most recent declaration filed on March 25, Soka University Los Angeles described its program as teaching English to students from Soka University in Japan and Soka Women’s Junior College.

Hayden said he plans to allow the council to determine whether Soka University is in violation of the law.

But, the lawmaker said, he may introduce legislation to spell out which institutions are qualified to receive the exemption.

“My intention is to pursue it to the finish,” Hayden said.