BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 500|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 500
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 5/31/11
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-1, 5/4/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Runner, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Liu,
Price, Simitian, Vargas
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-1, 5/26/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley, Price,
Runner, Steinberg
NOES: Walters
SUBJECT : Partnership academies
SOURCE : Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
Torlakson
DIGEST : This bill requires that if funds appropriated in
the annual Budget Act for the support of certain
partnership academies to be allocated to SB 70 (Scott),
Chapter 253, Statutes of 2005, partnership academies on a
competitive basis.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes California
Partnership Academies for the purpose of providing combined
academic and occupational training programs to eligible
CONTINUED
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at-risk students in grades 10-12 inclusive.
Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges to assist economic 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 (Scott)
appropriated $20 million to fund the activities required in
the bill, including funding for 150 partnership academies.
According to the California Department of Education (CDE),
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.
This bill requires that if funds are appropriated in the
annual Budget Act, or any other measure for the support of
certain partnership academies, funds shall be allocated to
these partnership academies and awarded on a competitive
basis, as specified.
Comments
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, Statutes of 2008, for green
partnership academies. Most recently, the Legislature
passed, and the Governor signed into law, SBX1 1
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(Steinberg), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2011, First
Extraordinary Session, which requires the State Controller
to annually allocate $8.0 million from the Renewal Resource
Trust Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction 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 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.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 148 (Steinberg), 2011-12 Session, 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 SPI
for creating and maintaining partnership academies. (In
Senate Education Committee)
SB 275 (Hancock), 2011-12 Session, proposed to consolidate
funding for the major K-12 CTE programs, including
partnership academies into a block grant that will require
these programs to provide a sequence of coursework. (On
Senate Third Reading File)
SB X1 1 (Steinberg), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2011, First
Extraordinary Session, establishes the Clean Technology and
Renewable Energy Job Training, Career Technical Education,
and Dropout Prevention Program f or the purpose of creating
California Partnership Academies that focus on clean
technology and renewable energy businesses. Passed the
Senate with a vote of 21-14 on April 4, 2011.
SB 675 (Steinberg), 2009-10 Session, would have allocated
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funds from the California Energy Commission's Energy
Resources Program Account, for California Partnership
Academies that focus on clean technology and renewable
energy businesses. Passed the Senate with a vote of 21-14
on August 31, 2010. The bill was subsequently vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger. In his veto message, the Governor
stated, in pertinent part:
"Throughout my tenure as Governor, I have been a
staunch supporter of increasing career-tech education
opportunities for young men and women. I continue to
believe that career-tech education has a vital role to
play in helping to develop and sustain California's
students and our emerging green economy.
"Nonetheless, given the current uses of the ERPA
account at the Commission and the precariously low
balance in that fund, this bill would require the
Commission to increase the surcharge on electricity
users throughout California to pay for its provisions.
And even after doing so, the Commission would still be
required in the future to cut its core programs to pay
for this bill, including those related to power plant
licensing, renewable energy facility licensing, and
energy efficiency.
"More importantly, I will not support increasing the
surcharge on electricity users to fund a K-12 Education
program. To do so would start a dangerous precedent
for finding unrelated revenue sources to fund, expand,
or create K-12 programs outside of the Proposition 98
guarantee.
"Additionally, the bill only gives a minor role to the
Commission in developing the guidelines for the
program. Just as the Commission is not an expert in
navigating our state's complex education system,
neither are CDE employees proficient in the emerging
technologies and future of our green economy. As such,
the Commission should be CDE's partner in putting
together this program so as to provide our students
with the right skills to enter our green economy."
SB 1354 (Hancock), Chapter 650, Statutes of 2010, revises
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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 California Partnership Academies pupil will be
provided with career technical education courses that are
part of an occupational course sequence that targets
comprehensive skills and meets specified requirements.
Passed the Senate with a vote of 25-7 on August 25, 2010.
AB 519 (Assembly Budget Committee), Chapter 757, Statutes
of 2008, appropriates $12 million from the Public Interest
Research and Development and Demonstration Fund of the
California Energy Commission, to 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. Passed the Senate with a vote of 30-9 on
September 16, 2008.
AB 2855 (Hancock), Chapter 685, Statutes of 2008,
establishes, 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. Passed the Senate with a vote of
26-12 on August 25, 2008.
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
Continue partnership $14,697
$15,147* General*
academies
Expand partnership Substantial ongoing cost
pressure General**
academies
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*Annual ongoing costs
**Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/26/11)
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson (source)
Little Hoover Commission
America's Edge (a coalition of businesses)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"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 will be disenrolled from these
programs and no longer have access to sequenced career
technical education 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."
CPM:cm 5/31/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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