BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Alan Lowenthal, Chair
                             2011-12 Regular Session
                                         

          BILL NO:       AB 835
          AUTHOR:        Mitchell
          AMENDED:       April 26, 2011
          FISCAL COMM:   No             HEARING DATE:  June 22, 2011
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill

           SUBJECT  :  Community colleges:  Economic and Workforce 
          Development Program.
          
           SUMMARY   

          This bill authorizes a California community college district 
          to enroll a high school pupil who is not a resident of that 
          district in a program that is developed and implemented by 
          the district and provides that the district shall not be 
          subject to any other geographic limitations as specified.  

           BACKGROUND  

          Existing law, the Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathways 
          Initiative (SB 70 Scott, Chapter 352, 2005), requires the 
          Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (CCC) 
          to assist economic and workforce regional development centers 
          and consortia to improve CTE education pathways between high 
          schools and community colleges and requires the CCC 
          Chancellor to develop, implement and report on a strategy for 
          CTE Pathway Initiative program objectives and outcomes.  
          (Education Code § 88532)  

          Existing law provides opportunities for minor students to 
          enroll in college-level, degree-applicable courses for 
          advanced scholastic or advanced vocational purposes while 
          they are in high school.  Current law authorizes the 
          governing board of a school district, upon recommendation of 
          the principal of a pupil's school and with parental consent, 
          to authorize a student to concurrently enroll in a community 
          college during any session or term to undertake one or more 
          courses of instruction.  (EC § 48800 et. seq.)  

          Existing state law and implementing regulations establishes 
          the CCC Board of Governors (BOG) as the entity responsible 
          for approval of CCC academic programs and setting minimum 



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          standards for credit and noncredit courses.  
          (EC § 70900 et. seq.)  

           ANALYSIS  

           This bill  specifies that notwithstanding any other law, a 
          community college district may enroll a high school pupil who 
          is not a resident of the district in a SB 70 program that is 
          developed and implemented by the district if the program is 
          designed to serve high school pupils or involves multiple 
          school districts or community college districts, or both.  
           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   California Technical Education Pathways Initiative  .  The 
               CTE Pathways Initiative, established by SB 70 in 2005, 
               provided funding to be dispersed by the CCC Chancellor's 
               Office and the California Department of Education (CDE) 
               to CCC and K-12 districts to support programs that 
               strengthen students' academic and career readiness.  
               Initial funding in the amount of $20 million from the 
               Community College reversion account was provided in 
               2005, and in 2006, SB 1133 (Torlakson, Chapter 751, 
               2006) provided additional funding through the 2013-14 
               fiscal year.  The CCC has issued grants that support 
               regional linkages between schools and CCCs and grants to 
               support statewide infrastructure grants.  As of July 30, 
               2010, CTE Pathways Initiative funding totaled 
               approximately $188 million.  All regions of the state 
               have received grant support.  Based on available data, 
               this funding has helped create or enhance at least 5,134 
               CTE partner organizations, 342,957 skills training or 
               upgrades to students, and 16,806 teachers, counselors, 
               and staff have participated in training or partnerships. 
                Grants have been awarded in two broad categories:  

               a)        Coordinated regional/local implementation 
                    grants that support linkages as well as capacity 
                    building between and among middle schools, high 
                    schools, and regional occupational centers and 
                    programs, community colleges, and industry and 
                    other organizations to develop coordinated programs 
                    serving students, faculty, and/or stakeholders.  

               b)        Statewide infrastructure grants that 
                    strengthen California's CTE infrastructure and 
                    support capacity building, including research and 
                    development.  



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           2)   California partnership academies  .  Partnership academies 
               are structured as a school within a school for grades 
               10-12 inclusive and provide integrated academic and 
               career technical education to students who present a 
               high risk of dropping out of school.  Academies provide 
               occupational training in areas such as electronics, 
               computer technology, finance, agribusiness, graphic 
               arts, international business, and more recently, green 
               technologies.  Key elements of a partnership academy 
               include business partnerships, teacher teams, mentoring, 
               and internships.  Students are matched with mentors in 
               their junior year and typically begin an internship 
               after completing their junior year.  A 2008 report by 
               the California Center for College and Career indicates 
               that academies have a positive impact on school 
               performance.  Compared with statewide averages for 
               students in comprehensive high school programs, students 
               in partnership academies tend to have better pass rates 
               on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), 
               complete more rigorous courses, and have better 
               graduation rates.  

           3)   Need for the bill  :  The sponsor of this measure, the 
               Secondary Environmental Science Educators Institute, 
               provides workshops that "bring together diverse student 
               populations in geographically diverse locations for 
               training that may not fit the traditional concept for 
               CTE Pathways programs."  The sponsor indicates he has 
               had difficulty finding a host site for its Environmental 
               Career Preparation programs due to "current statutory 
               and regulatory barriers."  According to the sponsor, 
               most of the students served by the workshops participate 
               in California partnership academies and the workshops 
               add to their CTE work in those programs.  Students 
               typically participate in the workshops during a weekend 
               as an extracurricular activity, and presently no credit 
               is awarded for attending the workshop.  To ensure that 
               these courses do not supplant courses offered at high 
               schools, staff recommends amendments that would 
               authorize the enrollment to the extent the course is not 
               offered at a pupil's high school.  

          Current law already allows considerable flexibility for high 
               school students to enroll in CCC classes.  If the 
               barriers encountered by the sponsor are more a 
               reflection of the realities of the apportionment process 



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               or budget constraints than statutory or regulatory 
               barriers, this bill may not provide the relief the 
               sponsor is seeking.  

           SUPPORT
           
          Regional Council of Rural Counties

           OPPOSITION
           
          None received.