BILL NUMBER: AB 2855 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hancock
FEBRUARY 22, 2008
An act to add Article 6.1 (commencing with Section 54710) and
Article 6.2 (commencing with Section 54720) to Chapter 9 of Part 29
of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to career
technical education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2855, as amended, Hancock. Career technical education:
partnership academies: green technology and goods movement.
Existing law provides for the establishment of partnership
academies by participating school districts and establishes criteria
qualifying pupils in grades 10, 11, and 12 for enrollment in the
academies. Existing law establishes the parameters for the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue a maximum of 155 grants
per year to school districts maintaining high schools that meet the
partnership academy eligibility requirements.
This bill would establish 2 new categories of partnership
academies, the Green Technology Partnership Academies and the Goods
Movement Partnership Academies. Commencing with the 2009-10 school
year, the State Department of Education, in coordination with the
Superintendent, when funds become available for additional
partnership academies, would be required to issue grants
for the establishment of 9 partnership academies dedicated to
training young people in the emerging environmentally sound
technologies related to the design and construction industries, and 4
partnership academies dedicated to training young people in goods
movement occupational areas, such as port and terminal operations,
shipping, logistics, trucking, rail, air, and security, as space
becomes available within the total number of grants available for all
partnership academies under existing law. The selection of school
districts to establish the new partnership academies and the planning
and development of the new partnership academies would be required
to be conducted pursuant to the procedures and requirements
established for all partnership academies under existing law.
The bill, in the event a school district applies to convert an
existing school program to one of the new types of partnership
academies and meets all the specified criteria for that new
partnership academy, would authorize the department, in coordination
with the Superintendent, to provide that academy with first-year
implementation funds. In order to be eligible for funding for a new
type of partnership academy, this bill would require the coursework
and internship or preapprenticeship programs of the proposed academy
to focus on the appropriate academy purposes. This bill would require
staff development opportunities to be included in the academy plans.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Initiatives taken by the State of California and by California
cities to reduce energy consumption through green building has
resulted in a huge demand for a skilled workforce, for
workforce. For example, on December 14, 2004,
Governor Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order S-20-04 with the goal
of reducing energy use in state-owned buildings by 20 percent by
2015, from the 2003 baseline. The executive order also encourages the
private commercial sector to set the same goal.
(b) The office of the President of the University of California;
the California State University; the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and
Peralta Community College Districts; the Public Employees' Retirement
System; the State Teachers' Retirement System; and other public
entities have passed initiatives that will reduce energy use through
energy-efficient retrofitting and green building for new construction
and retrofitting.
(c) Cities across the state have passed green building ordinances,
from green building design and construction guidelines, including,
but not limited to, meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) standards, and construction and demolition waste
recycling ordinances.
(d) The movement towards green building in California matches
nationwide economic growth patterns; according to preliminary results
of a McGraw-Hill Construction/National Association of Home Builders
(NAHB) survey, there was a 20-percent increase in 2005 in the number
of homebuilders focused on green, environmentally responsible
building. This number is expected to have increase
increased by another 30 percent in 2006.
(e) By 2010, residential green building is expected to grow to
between $19,000,000,000 and $38,000,000,000 in the United States.
(f) Three-quarters of the buildings in the United States will be
built through new construction or will be modernized during the next
30 years.
(g) Clean technology , or "Clean Tech," or
"Clean Tech" has been described as "the biggest economic
opportunity of the 21st century," moving to the third-highest
investment category within the entire venture asset class, overtaking
the semiconductor sector in terms of dollars being invested. Passage
of AB Assembly Bill 32 in 2006 (Chapter
448 of the Statutes of 2006) will increase the need for green
technology efforts to meet industry efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
(h) Green building is a recognized approach to mitigating climate
change, as buildings are responsible for 40 percent of all greenhouse
gas emissions annually and 76 percent of all electricity in the
United States.
(i) The great demand placed upon the green building sector is
making it difficult for modern energy professionals, such as energy
service companies, to meet work demands due to a shortage of trained
workers in fields such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
(HVAC), lighting, refrigeration, carpentry, masonry, and roofing.
(j) Green building demands are necessitating the development of
curriculum to train young people, prepare them to serve the growing
labor market, and provide access to meaningful, career-oriented jobs.
(k) Career and partnership academy programs in green building
could provide graduates with a direct link to advanced community
college-level certification programs in sustainability or trades
apprenticeships.
SEC. 2. Article 6.1 (commencing with Section 54710) is added to
Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 6.1. Green Technology Partnership Academies
54710. (a) Commencing with the 2009-10 school year, the
department, in coordination with the Superintendent, when
funds become available for additional partnership academies,
shall issue grants for the establishment of nine
partnership academies dedicated to training young people in the
emerging environmentally sound technologies related to the design and
construction industries as space becomes available for new
partnership academies within the total number of grants available for
all partnership academies pursuant to Section 54691.
(b) (1) The selection of school districts to establish the green
technology partnership academies and the planning and development of
the green technology partnership academies shall be conducted
pursuant to the procedures and requirements established in Section
54691 for all partnership academies. The planning grants shall be
made available for nine academies pursuant to this article from the
total number of grants established pursuant to Section 54691.
(2) In the event a school district applies to convert an existing
school program to a partnership academy and meets all the criteria
for a partnership academy pursuant to Section 54692 and paragraph
(3), the department, in coordination with the Superintendent, may
provide that academy with first-year implementation funds, as
appropriate.
(3) (A) In order to be eligible for funding pursuant to this
article, the coursework and internship or preapprenticeship programs
of the proposed academy shall focus on the use of environmentally
sound design and construction practices, including the use of energy
efficient heating and air-conditioning systems, solar, and other
alternative energy sources. The proposed academy shall demonstrate
this through its efforts to obtain input from environmental industry,
utilities, and professional trade organizations.
(B) Staff development opportunities also shall be included in the
academy plans to ensure that teaching staff has the opportunity to be
trained in the use of emerging technologies and to become familiar
with new materials and current practices in the field.
SEC. 3. Article 6.2 (commencing with Section 54720) is added to
Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 6.2. Goods Movement Partnership Academies
54720. (a) Commencing with the 2009-10 school year, the
department, in coordination with the Superintendent, with funds
appropriated in the annual Budget Act for all partnership academies,
shall issue grants for the establishment of four partnership
academies dedicated to training young people in goods movement
occupational areas, such as port and terminal operations, shipping,
logistics, trucking, rail, air, and security as space becomes
available for new partnership academies within the total number of
grants available for all partnership academies pursuant to Section
54691.
(b) (1) The selection of school districts to establish the goods
movement partnership academies and the planning and development of
the goods movement partnership academies shall be conducted pursuant
to the procedures and requirements established in Section 54691 for
all partnership academies. The planning grants shall be made
available for four academies pursuant to this article from the total
number of grants established pursuant to Section 54691.
(2) In the event a school district applies to convert an existing
school program to a partnership academy and meets all the criteria
for a partnership academy pursuant to Section 54692 and paragraph
(3), the department, in coordination with the Superintendent, may
provide that academy with first-year implementation funds, as
appropriate.
(3) (A) In order to be eligible for funding pursuant to this
article, the coursework and internship or preapprenticeship programs
of the proposed academy shall focus significant time on the use of
emerging technologies and state-of-the-art equipment. The proposed
academy shall demonstrate this through its efforts to obtain input
from industry and professional trade organizations.
(B) Staff development opportunities also shall be included in the
academy plans to ensure that teaching staff has the opportunity to be
trained in the use of emerging technologies and to become familiar
with new equipment and current practices in the field.