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 AB 835 Page 2 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. AB 835 Page 3 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 AB 835 Page 4 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.