Amended in Assembly June 17, 2014

Amended in Senate May 27, 2014

Amended in Senate April 9, 2014

Amended in Senate March 26, 2014

Senate Bill No. 923

Introduced by Senator Pavley

(Coauthors: Senators Correa and Wyland)

January 29, 2014

An act to add Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 33135) to Chapter 2 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to educational apprenticeships.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 923, as amended, Pavley. Educational apprenticeships: Educational Apprenticeship Innovation begin delete Act. end delete begin insert Act: EdPrize. end insert

Existing law establishes the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and specifies that the Superintendent is the ex officio Director of the State Department of Education. Under existing law, the State Department of Education administers numerous programs relating to elementary and secondary education.

This bill would enact the Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Act, pursuant to which a competitive grant, known as the Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Prize (EdPrize), would be distributed to applicant school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and community college campuses for purposes of promoting apprenticeships, preapprenticeships, and career pathways among local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and businesses of importance to local economies.

The bill would specify certain minimum criteria to determine the competitive value of an application for the grant.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) As reported by Governing Magazine, the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate of
Californians between 16 and 24 years of age stood at 20.2 percent,
which is the fourth highest in the nation.

(b) This high youth unemployment rate has affected young
people who either have not yet earned or will not earn a college
degree particularly hard, as the lack of opportunity can prevent
these young people from fully participating in society, thus
increasing costs for local and state agencies due to increased
reliance on social welfare and public safety resources.

(c) This lack of opportunity is likely to increase, as, according
to a study by Opportunity Nation, 60 percent of all jobs will require
at least an associate’s degree by 2018.

(d) Thousands of jobs across multiple, vital industrial sectors
have gone unfilled due to a shortage of well-trained skilled
workers, resulting in losses in productivity, costs to employers and
the public sector, and an overall erosion of the California and
national economy.

(e) According to a study by the Society for Human Resource
Management, 70 percent of California businesses across different
economic sectors stated that it was either somewhat difficult or
very difficult to fill certain positions, mostly due to applicants
lacking the skill sets needed to complete work tasks and
responsibilities.

(f) With a large percentage of the skilled workforce approaching
retirement age, the local, state, and national economies will be
facing an even greater skills gap than that which exists today.

(g) The dual needs of ensuring that young people are given the
opportunity to learn vital job skills and succeed professionally and
that our businesses have a large pool of skilled workers to fill
current and future workforce needs are relevant and interconnected
with each other.

(h) Local California educators, communities, and businesses
have long recognized this relevance and interconnectedness, have
experimented on a small scale with different models, and have
taken inspiration from the programs developed in other states like
Massachusetts and countries like Switzerland and Germany.

(i) Apprenticeships, preapprenticeship programs, and other
forms of work-based learning provide opportunities for pupils to
explore and begin careers in some of the fastest growing economic
sectors in the state, such as advanced manufacturing, computer
technology and IT services, energy efficiency, clean technology,
nursing and health care services, entertainment, the culinary arts
and hospitality, and banking and financial services.

(j) The current and future generations of Californians must be
given the opportunity to work and find avenues to gainful
employment in industrial areas relevant to their local communities
and in order to help them pursue a productive and satisfying future.

(k) The State of California, local communities, industry, and
youth would benefit from enhanced opportunities for students to
begin training for high-skill, high-wage jobs while enrolled in high
school.

(l) Preparing future generations for career placement and
workplace instruction is best determined by institutions of primary,
secondary, and postsecondary education working in conjunction
with local business, labor, and civic leaders.

SEC. 2.  

Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 33135) is added
to Chapter 2 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education
Code, to read:

 

Article 2.3.  Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Act

 

33135.  

This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Act.

33135.5.  

(a) There is hereby established the Educational
Apprenticeship Innovation Prize (EdPrize) for purposes of
promoting apprenticeships, preapprenticeships, and career pathways
between local educational agencies, institutions of higher
education, and businesses of importance to local economies. Grants
allocated for the EdPrize shall be distributed on a competitive basis
to an entity by the Superintendent, subject to funding being made
available in the annual Budget Act.

(b) The Superintendent shall use, at minimum, all of the
following criteria to determine the competitive value of an
application:

(1) The ability of the proposed program to provide at least two
years of apprenticeship, preapprenticeship, or other forms of
workforce training to eligible high school pupils in grades 11 and
12 or the ability to provide eligible high school pupils with a career
and educational pathways to a campus of the California Community
Colleges.

(2) The ability begin insert of the proposed program end insert to place eligible high
school pupils in apprenticeships, preapprenticeships, internships,
and workplace learning environments in fields determined to be
of local economic importance, as determined through data and
evidence-driven analysis.

(3) The ability of the proposed program to provide eligible high
school pupils with the opportunity to work in an economic sector
with gainful employment opportunities or academic pathways that
lead to either a certificate or an associate degree.

(4) The ability of the begin delete proposal end delete begin insert proposed program end insert to address the
needs of the local or regional labor market and help competitive
and emerging industry sectors and industry clusters, or to address
the state’s need to fill skills gaps and skills shortages in the
economy, including skills gaps and shortages at the regional level.

begin insert

(5) The ability of the proposed program to collaboratively
include business, workforce investment boards, labor or trade
organizations, or postsecondary educational institutions of local
importance in the development and operation of the program.

end insert begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (6) end insert  An assessment of the past performance of the applying
entities if the agency has been awarded other economic and
workforce development grants or other state grants, including an
assessment of whether the grantee’s previous awards produced
project deliverables specified in prior grant applications.

begin delete

(6)

end delete

begin insert (7) end insert  The ability to create a written agreement among the applicant
entities, the participating eligible high school pupils or their
parents, and participating employers in order to ensure commitment
to the pupil’s academic and professional success, and ensure the
successful completion of the apprenticeship, preapprenticeship,
work-based learning program, or educational pathway.

begin delete

(7)

end delete

begin insert (8) end insert  The ability to provide participating eligible high school
pupils with a worksite mentor to help train, guide, and supervise
the pupil.

begin insert

(9) The ability for the proposed program to continue after the
expiration of grant funding.

end insert

33136.5.  

As used in this article:

(a) “Eligible high school pupil” means a pupil in grade 11 or
12 who has passed, or is exempt from, the high school exit
examination administered under Section 60851 and is satisfactorily
meeting the requirements of Section 51225.3.

(b) “Entity” means a school district, county office of education,
charter school, or campus of the California Community Colleges,
applying for funding under this article.