BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1214
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1214 (Muratsuchi) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : Southern California Regional Occupational Center
(SCROC)
SUMMARY : Enacts a special law requiring an annual
appropriation from the General Fund be made directly to SCROC
for the purposes of providing career and technical education
services. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations related to the SCROC.
2)Requires the SCROC to receive an annual appropriation from the
General Fund for the purposes of providing career technical
education services.
3)Specifies the funds received by the SCROC shall be apportioned
directly to the SCROC based on a formula agreed upon by the
school districts participating in the Joint Powers Authority
(JPA).
4)Makes a finding and declaration that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the governing board of any high school district,
the governing board of any JPA occupational center or program,
or the county superintendent of schools to establish and
maintain a regional occupational center or a regional
occupational program to provide education and training in
career technical courses.
2)Requires an ROCP to receive its funding directly from the
County Office of Education in which it is located, at an
amount per unit of average daily attendance (ADA) equal to the
revenue limit received by those districts.
3)Makes invalid a local or special statute if a general statute
can be made applicable.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : California's Regional Occupational Centers and
Programs (ROCPs) are an integral part of California's systemic
career preparation and workforce development efforts. The ROCPs
delivery system addresses the need for a highly skilled, diverse
workforce at the secondary and adult education level. Through
industry and education partnerships, ROCPs provide students with
relevant instruction that meets the career and technical
education employment needs of the communities served by ROCP.
ROCPs provide qualified students with the opportunity to attend
a Career Technical Education (CTE) training program regardless
of the geographical location of their residence. Many ROCPs
consolidate state and federal funds to offer comprehensive
employment training, placement, and support services. Combining
resources and services also allows ROCPs to offer cost-effective
employment training and career technical education without
duplicating administrative and overhead costs. In addition, an
ROCP student may receive the entire range of services needed to
enter the workforce or to continue education at a postsecondary
institution through one agency, rather than moving from one
location to another.
In California, the 74 ROCPs are organized under one of three
distinct organizational structures: County-operated, JPA, and
Single District. The SCROC is one of 26 ROCPs that is organized
as a JPA. This organization structure indicates that this is a
joint venture of two or more school districts (the SCROC is made
up of six school districts), the governing board is made up of
one elected representative from the boards of education of each
participating district; and the teachers are either hired
directly by the JPA or may be hired by the participating school
districts and then contracted to the JPA for all or a part of
their day; and support services are handled by the JPA.
ROCPs are funded under Proposition 98 through the annual Budget
Act (item 6110-105-0001) as one of approximately 60 categorical
programs that serve specific goals (e.g., to assist high school
students in passing the high school exit exam) or for specific
programs (e.g., ROC/Ps, special education). There are also
numerous statutes and regulations that specify allowable use of
categorical funds and how funds are allocated. The FY 2009-10
budget had an important impact on categorical programs. The
budget agreement imposed a 20% reduction on 39 programs and gave
LEAs that received those funds in FY 2007-08 the flexibility to
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use the funds for any educational purposes from FY 2008-09
through FY 2012-13 (SBX3 4 (Ducheny), Chapter 12, Statutes of
the 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session). This reduction and
flexibility provision is commonly known as "Tier 3" flexibility,
which essentially gives LEAs $4.5 billion in additional
unrestricted funds. Tier 1 protected four categorical programs
from cuts and flexibility while 11 categorical programs
sustained reductions but were given no flexibility under Tier 2.
For Tier 3 funds, school districts receive their allocations
based on the applicable percentage the programs received in FY
2007-08. SB 70 (Budget Committee), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011,
extended categorical flexibility to 2014-15. Until 2015-16,
LEAs are not required to justify or report average daily
attendance in order to receive the specified categorical funds.
One of these 39 Tier 3 programs are the ROCPs. However, SB 1197
(Alquist) Chapter 519, Statutes of 2008, redirected the funding
for those ROCPs that are maintained by school districts or JPAs
so that they are directly funded, thereby eliminating the
flexibility of those funds by the participating school
districts. The intent of this bill is to continue this direct
stream of funding in light of the Governor's proposed budget.
The Governor's FY 2013-14 budget proposal includes a new formula
and methodology for K-12 funding called the Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF would replace revenue limit
funding and separate categorical program funding with a uniform
per-pupil rate based on K-3, 4-6, 7-8, and 9-12 grade spans,
augmented by supplemental funding based on additional needs of
students, such as English learners or students from low income
families. Current career technical education funding is proposed
to be folded into a 9-12 grade span adjustment under the LCFF.
The proposed trailer bill language to implement this funding
change amends Education Code section 52321 in such a manner as
to eliminate any direct flow of revenue to ROCPs.
Under existing law and the terms of the JPA that SCROC has in
place with its participating school districts, the Los Angeles
County of Education passes through directly to SCROC the ROCP
moneys allocated to the six member school districts. In
addition, SCROC generates its own ADA revenue by providing ROCP
programs to students attending the center at times outside of
the regular school day.
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This committee may wish to consider whether carving out an
exception for the SCROC amongst the other entities that rely on
ROCP funding is the most effective manner to address the needs
of the students participating in these ROCPs. Further, the
committee may wish to consider whether this bill is
appropriately addressed through an amendment to Education Code
rather than addressing the larger issue of ROCP funding through
the budget process.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Alta Vista PTA
Beryl Heights Elementary PTA
City of Palos Verdes Estates
City of Rancho Palos Verdes
City of Rolling Hills
City of Torrance
Gerber Ambulance Service
Grand View Elementary PTA
Individuals
Lincoln School PTA
Manhattan Beach Council of PTAs
Redondo Beach PTA Council
Redondo Beach Unified School District
Robinson Elementary PTSA
Southern California Regional Occupational Center (Sponsor)
Torrance Unified School District
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087