BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2446
AUTHOR: Furutani
AMENDED: May 28, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 30, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Graduation Requirements
SUMMARY
This bill temporarily adds, commencing with the 2011-12
school year, 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.
BACKGROUND
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. (Education Code 51224)
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. (EC 51225.3)
1) 3 courses in English.
2) 2 courses mathematics.
3) 2 courses of science, including biological and
physical science.
4) 3 courses in social studies, including: United
States history and geography, one semester of
American government, and one semester of economics.
5) 1 course in visual or performing arts or
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foreign language.
6) 2 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:
a) 2 years of history/social science.
b) 4 years of college preparatory English or
language instruction.
c) 3 years of college preparatory mathematics (4
years recommended).
d) 2 years of laboratory science (3 years
recommended).
e) 2 years of a foreign language (3 years
recommended).
f) 1 year of visual and performing arts.
g) 1 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 CTE adopted by the State Board of Education.
(EC 51228)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Temporarily adds, commencing with the 2011-12 school
year, a course in career technical education as an
option to the existing graduation requirement that
pupils complete one course in visual or performing arts
(VPA) or foreign language.
2) Defines a course in career technical education to mean a
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course in a district-operated career technical education
program that is aligned to the career technical model
curriculum standards and framework adopted by the State
Board of Education (SBE).
3) Specifies that a school or school district that does not
currently offer career technical education courses is
not required to start a new career technical education
program for purposes of this bill.
4) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
report to the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature by January 1, 2015, on the number of pupils
who took a CTE course in order to fulfill the graduation
requirement and allows school districts to report this
information through the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System.
5) Makes the provisions added by this bill inoperative on
July 1, 2016, and repeals the provisions of the bill on
January 1, 2017.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . Various studies have indicated that
California's ability to maintain competitiveness in the
global economy will depend on a highly skilled and
educated workforce. Yet according Superintendent's
recent report to the Legislature on "Multiple Pathways
to Student Success" nearly one-fifth of all students
fail to graduate from California public high schools and
many high school graduates find they have not gained the
skills they need to qualify for either postsecondary
education or family-wage career paths. A February 2008
report from the California Dropout Research Project
concluded that dropping out and low achievement have
many shared causes, including low engagement. According
to the author's office, the purpose of AB 2446 is to
help students stay engaged during high school and enable
them to be successful by allowing them meet one of the
graduation requirements by taking a CTE course.
2) Career technical education (CTE) . Although this bill
would require the CTE course to be aligned to the state
CTE model curriculum standards, it is difficult to know
how many CTE courses meet the CTE standards as there is
no statewide mechanism in place to ensure the courses
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are aligned to the SBE standards. The SBE adopted CTE
model standards in 2005 and the CTE framework in 2007.
CTE course offerings range in method of delivery and
course content. CTE courses may be delivered by
Regional Occupational Centers/Programs (ROC/P),
partnership academies, agricultural programs, and
tech-prep programs. 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, thus raising the question of whether CTE
courses would be as rigorous as a VPA or foreign
language course.
This bill restricts the CTE courses that may be taken to
satisfy the graduation requirement to district-operated
CTE programs, which could limit access to qualifying CTE
courses, such as county operated Regional Occupational
Center or Programs (ROC/P) or courses available through
a ROC/P that is operated by a joint powers agency (JPA).
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. Should
they also be an option for students?
3) Potential impact on student success and achievement . A
variety of studies have shown that students who
participate in programs that include rigorous and
relevant CTE, tend to stay in school and perform well on
state assessments such as the CAHSEE. While proponents
of this bill maintain that providing students the option
to take a CTE course instead of a VPA or foreign
language course could help schools reduce their dropout
rates, opponents have expressed concern about the effect
AB 2446 could have on student achievement. The Multiple
Pathways report notes that California faces persistent
gaps in achievement, with African American and Latino
high school students achieving at substantially lower
levels than their white peers. Opponents are concerned
that AB 2446 creates a potential disincentive for
students to take college preparatory classes because it
essentially reduces the number of core academic subjects
a student would need to take in order to earn a high
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school diploma.
Opponents further note that because the CTE population
disproportionately consists of limited-English
proficient students, students with disabilities,
minorities, and high-poverty students, this bill could
further narrow opportunities for these students to take
rigorous academic coursework and could perpetuate
policies that enable students who are failing
academically to graduate by taking low-level courses
that may strengthen their academic proficiency.
Further, an argument could be made that this significant
change in policy could allow students to leave high
school without having taken any arts or foreign language
courses. In a state whose economy includes a robust
arts and entertainment industry as well as increasing
linguistic diversity, does that matter?
4) Impact on college readiness . Conceivably, this bill
could help reduce the drop out rate by giving students
the option to take a CTE course in lieu of a VPA or
foreign language course. However, students who exercise
the option could end up taking fewer core academic
classes over the course of their high school experience,
which could affect the degree to which they are prepared
for college-level work should they later decide to go to
college.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) defines
"core academic subjects" to mean English, reading or
language arts, mathematics, science, foreign language,
civics and government, economics, arts, history, and
geography. NCLB requires teachers of these subjects to
be "highly qualified," meaning they need be fully
certified and/or licensed by the state, hold at least a
bachelor's degree from a four-year institution, and
demonstrate competence in each core subject area in
which they teach. The federal regulations do not apply
to non-core academic subject areas such as physical
education or vocational courses.
With the exception of physical education, all of the state's
graduation courses are considered core academic
subjects. The remaining 11 courses also enable students
to meet some of the "college prep" coursework typically
required by many postsecondary institutions, satisfying
for example, about ten of the 15 minimum a-g
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requirements. Since the requirements for high school
graduation meet only some of the CSU/UC admission
requirements, some school districts have adopted
graduation requirements that exceed those required by
the state.
Most colleges calculate a student's grade point average (GPA)
based on grades achieved in core academic classes. CSU,
for example only counts the a-g courses taken after
grade 9 prior to graduation. Unless the CTE course has
garnered "a-g" approval, it is unlikely the course grade
would be included in the GPA calculations used for
admission to the CSU or UC.
Since some CTE courses may not be considered a core academic
subject and may not have a-g approval, students who
exercise the option to take a CTE course instead of a
VPA or foreign language course could inadvertently make
themselves ineligible for admission to CSU or UC. Do
schools have the resources to ensure that students will
get the counseling they need to help them make choices
that are best suited to their needs and be cognizant of
the consequences of their course-taking choices?
In light of the concerns about the potential impact AB 2446
could have on student achievement and college readiness,
the Committee may wish to consider strengthening the
option to ensure that a student who chooses to take a
CTE course for purposes of meeting state graduation
requirements will have the benefit of a rigorous
learning experience. Should the Committee choose to
pass this bill, staff recommends amendments to enable
district-operated career technical education program to
include county and JPA-operated ROC/P courses and to
specify that CTE courses must have a-g approval in order
to satisfy the graduation requirement.
5) Impact on school curricular offerings . 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.
Opponents argue that AB 2446 pits one subject area
against another because it creates access for CTE by
undermining access for arts education and foreign
languages, risking further erosion of VPA classes that
have already been cut as a result of previous budget
reductions. Although this bill does not require a
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school or district to start new CTE programs, this bill
could create cost pressure on school districts depending
on how many students choose the CTE option.
6) Local control . A good case could be made that CTE,
foreign language, and VPA should each be required for
high school graduation. Career Technical Education can
help students stay in school, help them focus on their
career goals, and can lead to economic benefits for
students and local communities. VPA education helps
students develop ways of thinking, questioning, and
communicating that complement learning in other core
subjects, and foreign language courses enhance
communication skills and increase cultural awareness of
others. Learning experiences in these areas can help
students acquire knowledge and skills they will need in
adult life and can help them develop into well-rounded
individuals. The Legislature has vested local governing
boards with the authority to establish local graduation
requirements that could conceivably include courses in
all three areas. Is the question of whether CTE should
be a graduation requirement more appropriately settled
by a local governing board?
7) Timing and reporting . If enacted, this bill will become
effective on January 1, 2011, and will require school
districts to implement the requirement option beginning
with the 2011-12 school year. Does that date allow
school districts sufficient time to change their written
materials or develop any new CTE courses in order to
provide students with a range of options?
Presumably, the reporting requirement is to enable members of
the Legislature to determine whether to extend the
option. Arguably, this report could provide an
opportunity for the Legislature to consider the state's
graduation requirements within the context of other
state policy considerations, including the adoption of
common core standards. The Committee may wish to
consider whether it would be productive to require the
report to also address what influenced students' choices
to take the courses they took, including how many or
what type of CTE courses were available, how many were
a-g approved, the extent to which the courses addressed
local workforce needs, and the impact on VPA and foreign
language courses as a result of students choosing CTE
classes to satisfy the requirement. Staff recommends
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amendments to the reporting requirement to address these
questions.
8) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, this bill creates General
Fund/Proposition 98 cost pressure, likely between
$880,000 and $1.5 million to school districts to provide
increased CTE course offerings to high school pupils.
This cost assumes an increase between 3% to 5% in CTE
course enrollment. Additionally, there would be minor,
absorbable costs to the CDE to comply with the reporting
requirement.
9) Prior and related legislation .
SB 381 (Wright, 2009) prohibits school districts from
adopting the a-g requirements for high school graduation
unless they also require students to complete career
technical education courses, as specified in order to
receive a high school diploma. This bill was passed by
this Committee on a 6-3 vote and was held under
submission in Assembly Appropriations.
SB 147 (DeSaulnier, Chapter 168, Statutes of 2009) requires
the CSU Trustees 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) would add one course to the existing
high school graduation requirements and includes CTE as
an option to full this additional requirement. AB 554
was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 2648 (Bass, Chapter 681, Statutes of 2008) required the
SPI to develop, in conjunction with specified
individuals, a report that explores the feasibility of
expanding and establishing career multiple pathway
programs. The SPI released this report on May 12, 2010.
SB 672 (Torlakson, 2008) required high schools participating
in the California Enhanced Instructional Time Program
pursuant to SB 681 (Torlakson, 2008), to adopt a
graduation policy requiring pupils to complete two CTE
courses. SB 672 and SB 681 were held in the Assembly
Education Committee.
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10) Policy arguments .
Proponents of this measure note that providing
students with the option to satisfy a graduation
requirement by taking a CTE course may strengthen
student engagement and will enable students to
explore and develop technical skills to prepare for
college and the workforce.
Opponents of this measure argue that AB 2446
sets high school graduation requirements even
further from UC and CSU a-g eligibility
requirements. providing students the option to
take a CTE class in lieu of a core academic class
does nothing to close the achievement gap and may
ultimately reduce access to visual and performing
arts classes.
SUPPORT
California Assoc. of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning
Contractors National Assoc.
California Automotive Business Coalition
California Business Education Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Industrial and Technology Education Association
and Foundation
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California PTA
California Teachers Association
Metropolitan Education District
Small School Districts' Association
State Building and Construction Trades Council
OPPOSITION
Arts Orange County
California Alliance for Arts Education
California Arts Advocates
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Language Teachers Association
Education Trust West
Letter from an individual
Public Advocates
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San Francisco Unified School District