BILL NUMBER: SB 747 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Romero
( Coauthor: Senator Hancock
)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act relating to career technical education.
An a ct to add and repeal Section 8157 of the
Education Code, relating to career technical education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 747, as amended, Romero. Career technical education: aerospace.
pilot preapprentice aerospace machining program.
Existing law establishes the Health Science and Medical Technology
Project, administered by the State Department of Education to
provide competitive grant funds to California public schools to
enhance existing or establish new health-related career pathway
programs.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation to findings and declarations of the
Legislature regarding California's aerospace workforce and trends in
California's high schools. This bill would create a pilot
program for career technical education or preapprenticeship
curriculum that consists of coursework in aerospace machining
technology and maintenance with mathematics and science applications
curriculum preapprentice aerospace machining program,
implemented by the California Community Colleges system, to provide
career technical education to high school pupils in the form of
machining and related curriculum that can be applied to various
manufacturing industries in California, including, but not limited
to, aerospace manufacturing , as specified. The program
would be funded by a combination of public and private fu
nds that would be deposited into the Machinist Investment Fund, which
would be created by this bill. Grants would be competitively awarded
to community colleges based upon specified criteria, including their
ability to address the existing local and regional industry
manufacturing needs, while providing meaningful career technical
education opportunities for at-risk youth. This bill would require
the California Community Colleges system to develop preapprenticeship
curriculum in aerospace technology, and machining
technology generally. This bill would provide that its provisions
would remain in effect until January 1, 2015.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and
declares all of the following:
(a) Despite the departure of several companies since the military
base closures of the early 1990s, the aerospace industry remains a
vital component of California's economy, representing at least
370,000 jobs statewide and a minimum of thirty-two billion dollars
($32,000,000,000) annually in gross domestic product.
(b) There will be a dearth of skilled machinists and technicians
to work in the aerospace industry as the baby boomers begin to retire
over the next decade.
(c) The aerospace industry is currently addressing its labor needs
by luring skilled labor away from competing companies.
(d) The highly skilled labor sought by the aerospace industry is
represented by a finite, aging pool of employees who, under current
conditions, will not be readily replaced by younger workers.
(e) The continued growth of the aerospace industry is pivotal to
California's future prosperity.
(f) Unless the Legislature acts to address labor workforce needs
in this sector, the aerospace industry will continue to leave
California or import a far greater proportion of foreign labor, in
either case, causing significant damage to the state's economy.
(g) California's high schools are struggling with a dropout rate
of 21 percent.
(h) A significant factor in California's dropout rate is the
existence of curriculum that does not engage pupils with some
immediate, real-world application.
(i) Pupils who drop out of high school are often unable to find
suitable entry-level employment and have little chance of continuing
on to higher education, and there is a strong chance that they will
ultimately join California's prison population, given the statistic
that at least two-thirds of the current inmate population does not
possess a high school diploma.
(j) The dropout rate is likely to hold, and possibly worsen,
unless the state acts to provide hands-on high school curriculum with
cross-over mathematics and science applications, that also provides
an avenue to both higher education in related disciplines, and to
skilled, high-wage employment.
SEC. 2. Section 8157 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
8157. (a) There is hereby established a pilot preapprentice
aerospace machining program that shall provide career technical
education to high school pupils in the form of machining and related
curriculum that can be applied to various manufacturing industries in
California, including, but not limited to, aerospace manufacturing.
(b) The program shall be funded by a combination of public and
private funds, specifically federal funds made available to the
states as part of the 2009 stimulus package, as well as private
nonprofit and private corporate funds. All funds appropriated for the
purposes of this program shall be deposited into the Machinist
Investment Fund, which is hereby created.
(c) Community colleges, in partnership with local, workforce
investment boards, employers, and high schools, shall apply for
grants that shall be competitively awarded based upon a number of
criteria, including, but not limited to:
(1) Likelihood of meeting the objectives of the program,
specifically, ability to address the existing local and regional
industry manufacturing needs, while providing meaningful career
technical education opportunities for at-risk youth that are likely
to lead to employment after participation and to position pupils for
admission to additional higher education in a related field.
(2) Whether the adopted preapprenticeship curriculum in aerospace
technology, and machining technology generally, conforms to the
curriculum developed by the California Community Colleges system
pursuant to subdivision (c).
(3) Inclusion of an aggressive outreach plan demonstrating the
degree to which the pupils targeted to receive instruction may be
considered at risk, based upon factors such as prior academic
achievement, socioeconomic background, and school disciplinary
record. Special weight shall be given to the specific media employed
to reach the target pupil population.
(d) The program shall be implemented by the California Community
Colleges system which shall develop preapprenticeship curriculum in
aerospace technology, and machining technology generally. It shall
also identify the appropriate community college campuses for
implementation of the program based upon criteria which shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) The proximity to aerospace and other manufacturers with
machining labor needs.
(2) The ability of the community college campus or of a regional
occupational centers to provide sufficient in-house expertise and
laboratory facilities to teach the required curriculum.
(3) The willingness and availability of a local machinists union
to actively participate in program-related activities, including, but
not limited to, technical assistance for curriculum development,
mentoring, and recruiting pupils as future journeymen upon completion
of the preapprentice curriculum.
(4) Whether there are opportunities to build on existing
partnerships with local high schools in the region.
(e) Community college campuses selected for receipt of a
competitive grant in consultation with area high schools, shall
identify the location at which instruction shall occur, whether on
the high school campus, at a regional occupation center, or at a
community college. Factors such as availability of curriculum,
instructors, lab facilities, and transportation may be considered.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to create a pilot program for career technical
education or preapprenticeship curriculum specifically geared toward
high school pupils. The pilot program would consist of coursework in
aerospace machining technology and maintenance with mathematics and
science applications curriculum, and that will meet employer needs in
the aerospace industry, thus strengthening California's economy.
Instruction would occur at community colleges and position pupils to
pursue higher education in related math or science fields, or to go
directly into an apprenticeship program with an aerospace employer
with the ultimate goal of employment in the aerospace industry or
another related field.