BILL NUMBER: AB 2855 CHAPTERED 09/30/08 CHAPTER 685 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2008 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2008 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2008 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hancock (Coauthors: Senators Alquist and Romero) FEBRUARY 22, 2008 An act to add Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 54750) and Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 54760) 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, 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, when funds become available for additional partnership academies, as specified, the Superintendent would be required to issue grants for the establishment of partnership academies in each of the 9 economic regions established by the state, and would be required to give priority to partnership academies dedicated to educating young people in the emerging environmentally sound technologies. The Superintendent would also be required to issue grants for the establishment of partnership academies and give priority to the establishment of partnership academies dedicated to educating young people in goods movement occupational areas until at least one academy is established in each of the 4 transportation corridors established by the state. 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 would provide that the funding priorities it creates may be satisfied when the specified number of green technology and goods movement partnership academies are funded, as specified. 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. 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 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 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" 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 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 educated 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 educate 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 7.5 (commencing with Section 54750) is added to Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read: Article 7.5. Green Technology Partnership Academies 54750. (a) Commencing with the 2009-10 school year, when funds become available for additional partnership academies within the total number of grants available for all partnership academies pursuant to Section 54691, the Superintendent shall issue grants for the establishment of partnership academies and shall give priority to the establishment of partnership academies dedicated to educating pupils in the emerging environmentally sound technologies until no less than one green technology partnership academy has been established in each of the nine economic regions established by the state. The academies may include, but are not limited to, technologies that educate pupils in the following areas: (1) Energy audits that include a determination of energy savings. (2) Retrofitting and weatherization activities that increase energy efficiency and conservation. (3) Energy-efficient and water-efficient buildings. (4) Retrofitting and installing energy-efficient household appliances, windows, doors, insulation, and lighting. (5) Retrofitting and installing water and energy conservation technologies in existing homes, industrial buildings, and commercial and public buildings, to improve efficiency, including the use of energy and water management technologies and control systems. (6) The design, construction, manufacture, sale, assembly, installation, and maintenance of energy-efficient technologies and renewable energy facilities, or the component parts of renewable energy technologies. (7) Energy-efficient technologies or practices and renewable energy production, or the component parts of renewable energy plants and energy distribution, including energy storage; energy infrastructure, including transmission; transportation, including logistics; and water and wastewater, including water conservation. (8) Performance and low-emission vehicle technology, automotive computer systems, mass transit fleet conversion, and the servicing and maintenance of those technologies. (9) Pollution prevention and hazardous and solid waste reduction. (10) Ocean, soil, or water conservation, or forestation strategies to mitigate climate change impacts. (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 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 technologies and practices. 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 educated in the use of emerging technologies and to become familiar with new materials and current practices in the field. (c) The priority established in this section may be satisfied when the specified number of green technology partnership academies meeting the requirements of this article are funded by any of, or a combination of, funds appropriated for the establishment of partnership academies. SEC. 3. Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 54760) is added to Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read: Article 7.7. Goods Movement Partnership Academies 54760. (a) Commencing with the 2009-10 school year, when funds become available for additional partnership academies within the total number of grants available for all partnership academies pursuant to Section 54691, the Superintendent shall issue grants for the establishment of partnership academies and shall give priority to the establishment of partnership academies dedicated to educating pupils in goods movement occupational areas, such as port and terminal operations, pollution prevention, performance and low-emission vehicle technology, transportation computer systems, fleet conversion, and the servicing and maintenance of those technologies, shipping, logistics, trucking, rail, air, and security, until no less than one goods movement partnership academy has been established in each of the four transportation corridors established by the state. (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 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 educated in the use of emerging technologies and to become familiar with new equipment and current practices in the field. (c) The priority established in this section may be satisfied when the specified number of goods movement partnership academies meeting the requirements of this article are funded by any of, or a combination of, funds appropriated for the establishment of partnership academies.