BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 500
AUTHOR: Hancock
AMENDED: April 25, 2011
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: May 4, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Partnership Academies
SUMMARY
This bill expresses the intent of the Legislature to preserve
support and funding for partnership academies funded by SB 70
(Scott, Chapter 253, 2005) and requires funds appropriated in
the annual Budget Act for the support of partnership
academies to be allocated to SB 70 partnership academies on a
competitive basis.
BACKGROUND
Existing law establishes California Partnership Academies
(CPA) for the purpose of providing combined academic and
occupational training programs to eligible at-risk students
in grades 10-12 inclusive. (Education Code § 54690 et. seq.)
Existing law, (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, including middle and junior high schools or
high schools and regional occupational centers and programs
to improve linkages and career-technical education pathways
between high schools and community colleges, as specified.
SB 70 appropriated $20 million to fund the activities
required in the bill, including funding for 150 partnership
academies. According to the California Department of
Education, which administers the SB 70 funds allocated to
partnership academies, there are 134 existing partnership
academies funded through SB 70. The CDE is preparing to
allocate funding for an additional 50 academies for the
2011-12 fiscal year, which will bring the total number of SB
70 funded academies to 184. (Education Code § 88532)
SB 500
Page 2
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) States the intent of the Legislature to preserve support
and funding for high-quality existing partnership
academies schedule to expire on June 30, 2012.
2) States that if funds are appropriated in the annual
Budget Act, or any other measure for the support of
partnership academies, funds shall be allocated to SB 70
partnership academy programs and awarded on a
competitive basis as specified.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) 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. In addition to the 184 SB 70-funded
partnership academies, Proposition 98 provides funding
for up to 290 academies. An additional 53 partnership
academies are funded through funds transferred to the
CDE from the California Energy Commission Public
Interest Research and Development and Demonstration Fund
pursuant to AB 519 (Assembly Budget Committee, Chapter
757, 2008) for green partnership academies, and most
recently, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed
into law, SB 1X 1 (Steinberg, Chapter 2, 2011), which
requires the state Controller to annually allocate $8.0
million from the Renewal Resource Trust Fund to the SPI
for partnership academy programs that focus on clean
technology and renewable energy.
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
SB 500
Page 3
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.
2) Need for the bill : The funding provided through SB 70
allowed for a significant expansion in the number of
California Partnership Academies and is scheduled to
sunset in 2011-12. If funding for these programs does
not continue, an estimated 27,000 students would be
disenrolled from these programs and no longer have
access to sequenced CTE courses and internships that
define the partnership academy experience. Since
partnership academies primarily serve at-risk youth,
many students will return to school environments where
they were not succeeding without a support system that
could help them pass the CAHSEE and persist to
graduation.
3) Fiscal impact . To continue all 184 partnership
academies funded through the SB 70 initiative, the
Legislature would need to appropriate $14.9 million the
annual Budget Act over and above funds appropriated for
the California partnership academies funded through
Proposition 98 ($18.836 million in 2010-11) and those
funded through AB 519 ($5.0 million in 2010-11). A
previous version of this bill would have appropriated
$6.075 million, which would have funded 75 of the 184
partnership academies. Recent amendments remove the
appropriation and instead specify that if funds are
appropriated in the annual Budget Act or any other
measure for the support of partnership academies, the
funds shall be allocated to CPAs that received SB 70
funding. To avoid confusion with funds for non-SB 70
partnership academies (such as those funded by
Proposition 98 or the Renewal Resource Trust Fund),
staff recommends amendments to subdivision (a) of
Section 2 of the bill to clarify that the allocation
requirement specified in subdivision (b) applies to
funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act or any
other measure for partnership academies established
pursuant to SB 70 (Chapter 352 of the Statutes of 2005).
4) Related and prior legislation .
SB 500
Page 4
SB 148 (Steinberg) requires the state Controller to annually
allocate $8.0 million from the California Energy
Commission's Energy Resources Program Account, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to the Superintendent
of Public Instruction for creating and maintaining
partnership academies. This bill is pending in the
Senate Education Committee.
SB 275 (Hancock) proposes to consolidate funding for the
major K-12 CTE programs, including partnership academies
into a block grant and would require these programs to
provide a sequence of coursework. This bill is
scheduled to be heard by this Committee on May 4, 2011.
SB 1X 1 (Steinberg, Chapter 2, 2011) establishes the Clean
Technology and Renewable Energy Job Training, Career
Technical Education, and Dropout Prevention Program for
the purpose of creating California Partnership Academies
that focus on clean technology and renewable energy
businesses. This bill was passed by this Committee on a
7-3 vote.
SB 675 (Steinberg, 2010) would have allocated funds from the
California Energy Commission's Energy Resources Program
Account, for California Partnership Academies that focus
on clean technology and renewable energy businesses.
This version of the bill was not heard by the Senate
Education Committee and was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger.
SB 1354 (Hancock, Chapter 650, 2010) revised the criteria for
identifying pupils that are at risk for purposes of
enrollment in California Partnership Academies and
requires a school district to provide an assurance that
each CPA pupil will be provided with CTE courses that
are part of an occupational course sequence that targets
comprehensive skills and meets specified requirements.
This bill was passed by the Senate Education Committee
on a 7-1 vote.
AB 519 (Assembly Budget Committee, Chapter 757, 2008)
appropriated $12 million from the Public Interest
Research and Development and Demonstration Fund of the
SB 500
Page 5
California Energy Commission, for transfer to the CDE
for expenditure in one-time funds for local grants to be
allocated over three years for the creation of
partnership academies that focus on clean technology,
renewable energy, pollution reduction, and other "green"
environmental technologies.
AB 2855 (Hancock, Chapter 685, 2008) established,
commencing with the 2009-10 school year, the Green
Technology Partnership Academies and the Goods Movement
Partnership Academies as two new categories of
partnership academies.
SUPPORT
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
OPPOSITION
None received.