BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 552
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          Date of Hearing:   March 31, 2009

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
                              Anthony Portantino, Chair
                AB 552 (Furutani) - As Introduced:  February 25, 2009
           
          SUBJECT  :   California Community Colleges: career technical and  
          vocational education: financing.

           SUMMARY  :  Establishes the Commission on Adequate Funding for  
          Career Technical and Vocational Education at the California  
          Community Colleges (Commission), funded through private funds,  
          comprised of specified members with specified powers and duties.  
           Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Finds and declares that the existing financing structure for  
            California Community Colleges (CCC) creates a disincentive to  
            develop or continue career technical education (CTE),  
            vocational education, and high-cost laboratory programs, and  
            that the Commission will help provide recommendations on  
            financing alternatives.

          2)Provides that the Commission shall be composed of nine voting  
            members with three members appointed by the Governor, three  
            members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and three  
            members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and each  
            appointing entity shall include a CCC professor, a CCC  
            administrator, and a representative of a local workforce  
            investment board.

          3)Provides that the Commission shall also include ex officio,  
            nonvoting members representing the Legislative Analyst's  
            Office, the Department of Finance, the California Workforce  
            Investment Board, the Office of the Chancellor of the  
            California Community Colleges (CCCCO), including the Chair of  
            the Senate Committee on Rules or a member of that Committee  
            appointed by that Committee, and the Chair of the Assembly  
            Committee on Higher Education or a member of that Committee  
            appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.

          4)Provides that the Commission shall elect a chair and vice  
            chair among the members; the term of the chair, vice chair and  
            all members shall be for the duration of the Commission; five  
            members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum at any  
            meeting for transacting business, but a lesser number may  








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            conduct hearings; members of the Commission shall serve  
            without compensation but may be reimbursed for travel,  
            subsistence, and other necessary expenses to the extent that  
            funds are available.

          5)Provides that state funds shall not be available to the  
            Commission, except that private donations collected may be  
            expended upon Legislative appropriation, to reimburse members  
            for expenses and other purposes of the Commission.

          6)Requires the Commission to gather facts and conduct a study  
            regarding financing alternatives for CTE, vocational  
            education, and high-cost laboratory programs at the CCC, for  
            the purpose of making recommendations to the Governor and the  
            Legislature in a written report to be submitted on or before  
            July 1, 2011.

          7)Provides that the Commission shall hold public meetings and  
            hearings, may authorize a subcommittee to hold hearings, and  
            may request the attendance and testimony of a witness and the  
            production of records, correspondence, and documents that the  
            Commission, any subcommittee of the Commission, or any member  
            of the Commission deems necessary.

          8)Provides that, subject to the approval of the Department of  
            Finance, the Commission may solicit, and the Director of  
            Finance may accept on behalf of the Commission, gifts,  
            donations, and other financial support from private entities  
            for the purposes of carrying out the duties of the Commission,  
            and that private entities may deposit gifts, donations, and  
            other financial support with the state for the purposes of  
            this chapter.

           EXISTING LAW:  

          1)Establishes an allocation mechanism for CCC that generally  
            provides a single rate per full-time equivalent students  
            (FTES) for all CCC districts, with exceptions.  

          2)Establishes the CCC Economic Workforce Development Program to  
            advance economic growth and global competitiveness through  
            work with employers, advisory committees, and agency partners  
            to identify workforce education and training needs and to  
            assist CCCs in establishing educational programs that meet  
            those needs.








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           FISCAL EFFECT :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :    Purpose of this bill  :  The author believes that "CTE  
          programs are central to California's economic vitality and  
          without a mechanism that allows for adequate funding of CTE  
          programs, the vitality of these programs is extremely dubious."   
          The author believes that the Commission of policy experts and  
          practitioners can provide the Legislature with an independent  
          report of options and policy considerations that address the  
          funding of high-cost CTE programs at CCC.  The author notes that  
          the current funding formula for FTES, set forth by SB 361  
          (Scott), Chapter 631, Statutes of 2006, simplified the funding  
          mechanism for CCC primarily by reducing the number of workload  
          measures and by establishing standard revenue allocations per  
          FTES for instruction.  The author believes that, while the  
          simplification provides a stable environment for CCCs to plan  
          and administer programs, it significantly disadvantages CTE  
          programs because they generally have limitations on enrollment  
          and greater facilities, materials, and equipment costs; as a  
          result, if CCCs were to make decisions about which programs to  
          offer based solely on the projected net revenues they would  
          generate, the choice clearly would be to offer general education  
          rather than CTE programs.  

           CTE program funding  :  As noted above, the state funds CCC  
          through FTES, and the funding rate does generally not differ  
          between general education and CTE courses.  However, in recent  
          years the state and federal government have appropriated funding  
          to CCC to specifically support the continuation and development  
          of CTE programs, including:  

          1)SB 70 (Scott), Chapter 352, Statutes of 2005, allocated $20  
            million each year in 2005-06 and 2006-07 for the support of  
            CTE programs at middle schools, high schools, regional  
            occupational centers and programs, and CCCs.

          2)SB 1133 (Torlakson), Chapter 751, Statutes of 2006, allocated  
            $32 million in 2007-08 and $38 million annually from 2008-09  
            to 2013-14 to expand CTE in middle schools and high schools by  
            hiring additional faculty to expand CTE program offerings.

          3)The federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act  
            of 2006 (Perkins Act) provides California approximately $140  
            million annually to develop and implement programs to expand,  








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            promote, and integrate academic and CTE programs and link  
            secondary and postsecondary education. 

          4)Tech Prep, funded through the Perkins Act, will provide  
            approximately $8.9 million for CCC to expand CTE programs in  
            2008-09.    

           Other states funding mechanisms for CTE  :  Los Angeles Trade  
          Technical College indicates that other states such as Kansas,  
          Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,  
          and Texas use various models of financing high cost CTE courses  
          in both high schools and colleges.  According to information  
          complied by the Education Commission of the States, funding  
          formulas vary from state to state. 

          Some states have separate funding for CTE programs, while others  
          have made no separate provisions.  Seven states report enhanced  
          FTES funding for CTE students, including Arizona, which provides  
          up to 1.75 FTES (an additional 75% above a general education  
          student), Kansas, which provides 1.5 FTES, and Florida, which  
          provides 1.3 FTES for each student who completes the CTE  
          program.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
          California Federation of Teachers
          California Teachers Association

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)  
          319-3960