BILL ANALYSIS
SB 515
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 515 (Hancock)
As Amended June 30, 2009
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :28-9
EDUCATION 9-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Nestande, | | |
| |Ammiano, Arambula, | | |
| |Buchanan, Carter, Eng, | | |
| |Miller, Solorio | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires school districts, regional occupational
centers or programs (ROC/Ps), and community college districts
that receive specified federal funds to demonstrate that at
least one-half of the course sequences offered are linked to
state or regional high priority workforce needs. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires, as a condition of receiving federal funds provided
under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology
Education Act of 1998 (Perkins Act), and to the extent
permitted under federal law, school districts, ROC/Ps, and
community college districts demonstrate commencing with the
2012-13 fiscal year, that at least one-half of the course
sequences offered are linked to high priority workforce needs
in career sectors, as specified.
2)Specifies that high priority workforce needs are career
sectors identified by the Labor and Workforce Development
Agency (LWDA) or the Labor Market Information Division of the
Employment (LMID) of the Employment Development Department
(EDD) for the State of California, for the economic region
established by the state where the ROC/P, community college
district, or school district is located, or, for the county
where the ROC/P, community college district or school district
is located.
3)Encourages school districts, ROC/Ps, and community college
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districts to work with local workforce investment boards (WIB)
and the LMID of the EDD in the identification of career
sectors of high priority.
EXISTING LAW requires:
1)On or before July 1, 2010, the governing board of each ROC/P
to ensure that at least 90% of all state-funded courses
offered by the center or program, as specified, are part of
course sequences that target comprehensive skills.
2)The governing board of each ROC/P to establish and maintain an
employer advisory board or boards and requires the advisory
boards to, amongst various duties, review the specific
occupational sequences offered by the ROC/P to train pupils
for jobs that are in demand and offer high beginning salaries
or the potential for significant wage increase after several
years on the job.
3)Employer advisory boards be composed of representatives of
trade organizations and businesses or government agencies that
hire a significant number of employees each year and require
the skills and knowledge that are taught in the course
sequence or sequences in that occupational area, as well as at
least one representative from a school district career
technical educational advisory committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : The federal Perkins Act provides federal funds to
states for the purpose of improving career technical education
(CTE) programs, integrating academic and technical curriculum,
serving special populations and meeting gender equity needs. To
receive federal funds provided under the Perkins Act, existing
state law requires school districts, ROC/Ps and community
college districts to develop course sequences that meet
specified conditions, and provide pupils participating in
vocational sequences with information and experiences designed
to increase their postgraduation work and school options.
The objective of ROC/Ps is to provide work-based learning
opportunities for pupils that will prepare them to enter the
workforce. Existing law requires governing boards of ROC/Ps to
have employer advisory boards composed of representatives of
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trade organizations and businesses or government agencies that
hire a significant number of employees each year to help in
identifying the skills and knowledge that pupils completing an
occupational course sequence are expected to acquire upon
completing the sequence. However, there is no specific
requirement for school districts and ROC/Ps to demonstrate a
link between career technical education courses and
regional/state workforce needs.
This bill requires a linkage between CTE courses and high
priority workforce needs in careers identified by the LWDA. The
author's intent is for districts, community colleges, and ROC/Ps
to use data to design CTE programs that will lead to jobs that
are in high demand.
The California Economic Strategy Panel has identified nine
economic regions in the state. These regions were created by
reviewing various factors that determine regional
characteristics such as economic, demographic and geographic
characteristics of each county in the state. The nine regions
are: Northern California, Northern Sacramento Valley, Greater
Sacramento, Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Central Sierra,
Central Coast, Southern California, and the Southern Border.
The Regional Economies Project provides state and local economic
and workforce development organizations with information about
the economy and labor market for each region and for California
through a statewide and nine regional base reports and profiles.
The economic base reports analyze the patterns of employment,
business establishments, wages, population, unemployment rate
and other key factors. This bill would require this information
be used for purposes of determining high priority workforce
needs.
The EDD's LMID prepares short-term (two-year) employment
projections annually, as well as long-term (10-year) employment
projections biennially, following the biennial production of the
national employment projections. The most current available
short-term projections cover 2005-07, and the most current
available long-term projections cover the period 2004-2014.
This bill also allows for this information to be used to
identify high priority workforce needs.
Earlier this year, the California Research Bureau's (CRB)
released its Careers Project report which examined the
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preparation all students in public- and middle-high schools
receive to explore career options and the relationship between
that preparation and California's state and regional economies.
The study was conducted at the request of a bipartisan group of
11 members of the California Legislature. The provisions of
this bill are consistent with the recommendations of the report.
Categorical flexibility: The enactment of SB 4 X3 (Ducheny),
Chapter 12, Statutes of 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session,
gives districts flexibility in the use of ROC/P and other
program funds starting with the 2008-09 fiscal year through the
2012-13 fiscal year. Essentially, local educational agencies
(LEAs) have the option to allocate funds from ROC/P and other
programs for any educational purpose during those five years;
and, LEAs that use the flexibility provisions are deemed to be
in compliance with program and funding requirements contained in
statutory, regulatory, and provisional language, applicable to
ROC/Ps and all other programs, whether the LEAs comply with the
provisions or not.
According to the author, "Existing law requires ROPs and
community colleges to consider workforce needs when developing
CTE programs but does not require them to offer classes in high
priority - high need areas. Often the classes in high schools
are based upon teacher availability and popularity, not
necessarily linked to job availability or even post-secondary
opportunities. SB 515 would require districts, ROPs, and
community colleges receiving federal Carl Perkins funds or ROP
funds to look at Dept. [Department] of Labor and Workforce Dev.
[Development] data for their region or the state and link class
offerings."
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0001655