BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1330| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1330 Author: Furutani (D) Amended: 9/2/11 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/29/11 AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Huff, Price, Simitian NOES: Blakeslee NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Liu, Vargas, Vacancy SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 8/25/11 AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Runner, Steinberg ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/2/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Graduation requirements: career technical education SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill, commencing with the 2012-13 school year, adds career technical education, as defined, as an option for pupils to fulfill the existing high school graduation requirement to complete a course in visual or performing arts or foreign language, and requires school districts that elect this option to notify parents, teachers, pupils and the public, as specified. Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/11 clarify the application CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 2 of the bill's provisions if they sunset prior to the graduation of a student who has taken a career technical education course to fulfill graduation requirements and make other technical changes. ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the governing board of a school district that maintains at least one high school to prescribe courses of study designed to provide pupils with the skills and knowledge required for adult life, including a course of study designed to prepare prospective pupils for admission to state colleges and universities and a course of study for career technical training. In order to graduate high school, current law requires all pupils to: (1) pass both the English language arts and mathematics portions of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE); (2) complete the 13 year-long courses listed below; and (3) complete other coursework requirements adopted by the governing board of the school district. 1.Three courses in English. 2.Two courses mathematics. 3.Two courses of science, including biological and physical science. 4.Three courses in social studies, including: United States history and geography, one semester of American government, and one semester of economics. 5.One course in visual or performing arts or foreign language. 6.Two courses in physical education, unless exempt by law. High school students interested in matriculating to a California public university upon graduation must complete the minimum coursework for high school graduation and satisfy the subject area requirements established by the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) for undergraduate admission. The following pattern of coursework is commonly referred to as the "a-g" requirements: 1.Two years of history/social science. 2.Four years of college preparatory English or language instruction. 3.Three years of college preparatory mathematics (four CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 3 years recommended). 4.Two years of laboratory science (three years recommended). 5.Two years of a foreign language (three years recommended). 6.One year of visual and performing arts. 7.One year of college preparatory electives. Existing law requires each school district maintaining any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses of study that (1) fulfill the requirements and prerequisites for admission to California public institutions of postsecondary education and (2) provide an opportunity for pupils to attain entry-level employment skills in business or industry. School districts may fulfill their responsibility pursuant to number (2) by adopting a required curriculum that meets or exceeds the model standards for career technical education (CTE) adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE). Existing law requires that, at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school term, the governing board of each school district notify the parent or guardian of a minor pupil regarding the right or responsibility of the parent or guardian under specified law, as well as other specified information. This bill: 1. Adds, until July 1, 2017, and commencing with the 2012-13 school year, a course in CTE as an option to the existing graduation requirement that pupils complete one course in visual or performing arts or foreign language. 2. Defines a course in CTE to mean a course in a district-operated CTE program that is aligned to the career technical model curriculum standards and framework adopted by the SBE. 3. Clarifies that a school or school district that does not currently offer career technical education courses is not required to start a new CTE program for purposes of this bill. CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 4 4. Requires that a district or county office of education that elects to allow a CTE course to satisfy graduation requirements pursuant to the bill's provisions, prior to offering the alternative to students, to notify parents, teachers, pupils, and the public at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board of the following: A. Its intent to do so. B. The impact that this decision will have on the availability of courses that meet UC and CSU admission requirements and whether the CTE courses to be offered meet these requirements. C. The distinction, if any, between the district or county office's graduation requirements and the admission requirements of the CSU and UC. 5. Requires the CDE to submit a comprehensive report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2017, on the addition of career technical education courses to satisfy the requirement , as specified, but not limited to, the following information: A. A comparison of the pupil enrollment in CTE courses, foreign language courses, and visual and performing arts courses for the 2005-06 to 2011-12 school years, inclusive, to the pupil enrollment in CTE courses, foreign language courses, and visual and performing arts courses for the 2012-13 to 2016-17 school years, inclusive. B. The reasons, reported by school districts, that pupils give for choosing to enroll in a CTC course to satisfy specified requirements. C. The type and number of CTE courses that were conducted for the 2005-06 to 2011-12 school years, inclusive, compared to the type and number of CTE courses that were conducted for the 2012-13 to 2016-17 school years, inclusive. CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 5 D. The number of CTE courses that satisfied the subject matter requirements for admission to UC or CSU. E. The extent to which the CTE courses chosen by pupils are aligned with the California Career Technical Education Standards, and prepare pupils for employment, advanced training, and postsecondary education. F. The number of CTE courses that also satisfy the visual and performing arts requirement, and the number of CTE courses that also satisfy the foreign language requirement. G. The annual dropout and graduation rates for the 2011-12 to 2014-15 school years, inclusive. 6. Allows the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to use existing state resources and federal funds for the purposes of completing the report. If state or federal funds are not available or sufficient, the SPI may apply for and accept grants, and receive donations and other financial support from public or private sources. 7. Allows the SPI to accept support, including, but not limited to, financial and technical support, from high school reform advocates, teachers, chamber organizations, industry representatives, research centers, parents, and pupils. 8. Declares the intent of the Legislature that new CTE courses that satisfy the foreign language requirement for admission to the CSU and the UC focus on world languages aligned with careerpreparation, emphasizing-real-world application and technical content in related career and technical education courses. 9. Becomes inoperative on the earlier of the following two days: A. On the July 1, immediately following the first fiscal year after the enactment of the act that adds this paragraph in which the number of CTE CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 6 courses that, as determined by CDE, satisfy the foreign language requirement for admission to the CSU and the UC is at least twice the number of CTE courses that meet these admission requirements as of January 1, 2012. B. On July 1, 2017, and, as of January 1, 2018, is repealed unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed. 10.Specifies that students who complete a CTE course that meets graduation requirements is deemed to have fulfilled that requirement as long as the course was completed prior to the sunset date of the bill's provisions. Comments According to the author's office, a February 2008 report from the California Dropout Research Project concluded that dropping out and low achievement have many shared causes, including low engagement. In addition, a recent Public Policy Institute of California report found that one in four California high school students fails to graduate and concluded that the programs that show promise in keeping children in schools include career technical education. According to the author's office, the purpose of this bill is to help students stay engaged during high school and enable them to be successful by allowing them to meet one of the graduation requirements by taking a CTE course. Visual or performing arts/foreign language courses . Existing law requires that students complete a course in visual performing arts or foreign language in order to graduate high school. According to the California Foreign Language Project (a California Subject Matter project professional development program designed to strengthen foreign language instruction) foreign language education is crucial for the development of California's economy, domestic security and international peace, and the sustaining of our multicultural society. The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 defines "core academic CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 7 subjects" to mean English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, civics and government, economics, history, geography, foreign language and arts. With the exception of the two physical education courses, all of the state's graduation courses, including visual or performing arts and foreign language, are considered core academic subjects and enable students to meet "college prep" coursework typically required by many postsecondary institutions. The UC for example, requires two years of foreign language and one year of visual or performing arts class in order to be eligible for admission. Career technical education (CTE) courses . This bill requires that CTE courses that meet the graduation requirement be aligned to the state CTE model curriculum standards (adopted by the SBE in 2005). However, there is no statewide mechanism in place to ensure that CTE courses are aligned to the SBE standards, making it difficult to know how many, and whether CTE courses meet these standards. While there are a number of CTE courses that meet or even exceed the rigor of high school graduation courses and more than 6,500 have been approved to meet the "A-G" requirements, CTE courses vary in the degree of rigor and alignment to the CTE standards. Unless a CTE course is "A-G" approved, it is unlikely the course grade would be included in the GPA calculations used for admission to the CSU or UC. At the expense of foreign language and visual or performing arts ? Given current fiscal conditions, it is not clear how many school districts have the resources to provide CTE options for students without reducing course options in other areas. In its report, the 2011-12 Budget: Year Two Survey: Update on School District Finance in California , the LAO reports that 26 percent of districts have discontinued their Arts and Music Block Grant programs since flexibility was granted in 2009, and 77 percent have diverted funds away from that program. According to a 2009 report produced by the California Foreign Language Project, "Learning World Languages and Cultures in California: A Stimulus for Academic and Economic Success," California's foreign language course enrollment is below the national average, with high school enrollment in California at 40.34 percent compared to 43.83 percent nationally. CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 8 Will this hurt or help our lowest-achieving students ? This bill is based upon the premise that providing students the option to take a CTE course instead of a visual or performing arts, or foreign language course to meet graduation requirements could help schools reduce their dropout rates. According to information from the CDE, in 2008-09, 60 percent of foreign language/visual or performing arts courses and 10 percent of CTE courses met the "A-G" requirements. The CTE population disproportionately consists of limited-English proficient students, students with disabilities, minorities, and high-poverty students. This bill requires information in the annual packet to parents as well as specified notifications at a public school board meeting. Local control . Existing law prescribes 13 year-long courses in order to graduate high school. A good case could be made that CTE, foreign language, and visual or performing arts should each be required for high school graduation. Existing law grants local governing boards the authority to establish local graduation requirements that could conceivably include courses in all three areas. Only district operated CTE programs ? This bill restricts the CTE courses that may be taken to satisfy the graduation requirement to district-operated CTE programs. CTE courses may also be delivered by Regional Occupational Centers/Programs (ROC/P), partnership academies, agricultural programs, and tech-prep programs. While some would argue that restricting the option to district-operated CTE programs enables a district to have greater control over the coursework, ROC/P programs integrate core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to provide students with a pathway to postsecondary education and careers. Prior/Related Legislation AB 2446 (Furutani), 2009-10 Session, was substantively similar to this bill. The bill was subsequently vetoed by the Governor whose message read, in pertinent part: "Improving and expanding Career Technical Education CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 9 (CTE) opportunities has been among my highest priorities. While I am supportive of the author's intent to give CTE a prominent place in high school graduation priorities, the final version of this bill omitted my Administration's proposed amendments that were intended to limit the new costs to school districts. Therefore, I am concerned that this bill could be construed to impose higher costs without a fund source, which could also be interpreted as a state reimbursable mandate. Given that school budgets are very constrained due to the recession, adding new costs at this time is not advisable." In addition, the Legislature has considered several bills attempting to encourage the offering of career technical education courses including the following: SB 381 (Wright), 2009-10 Session, would have prohibited school districts from adopting the "a-g" requirements for high school graduation unless they also required students to complete career technical education courses, as specified in order to receive a high school diploma. (Held under submission in Assembly Appropriations Committee) SB 147 (DeSaulnier), Chapter 168, Statutes of 2009, requires the Trustees of CSU to develop by January 1, 2014, a process by which students could satisfy the general elective course requirement by completing a CTE course that meets specified criteria. AB 554 (Furutani), 2009-10 Session, would have added one course to the existing high school graduation requirements and included CTE as an option to fulfill this additional requirement. (Held under submission in Assembly Appropriations Committee) AB 2648 (Bass), Chapter 681, Statutes of 2008, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop, in conjunction with specified individuals, a report that explores the feasibility of expanding and establishing career multiple pathway programs. Passed the Senate with a vote of 26-9 on August 20, 2008. SB 672 (Torlakson), 2007-08 Session, required high schools CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 10 participating in the California Enhanced Instructional Time Program pursuant to SB 681 (Torlakson), 2007-08 Session, to adopt a graduation policy requiring pupils to complete two CTE courses. SB 672 and SB 681 were held in the Assembly Education Committee. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund CTE courses Potentially significant cost pressure General* CDE reporting $22 $22 General *Counts toward meeting the Preposition 98 minimum funding guarantee SUPPORT : (Verified 9/7/11) California Alliance for Arts Education California Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation and Dance California Language Teachers Association ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/2/11 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, CONTINUED AB 1330 Page 11 Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Hall CPM:do 9/7/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED