BILL ANALYSIS
SB 747
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Date of Hearing: July 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 747 (Romero) - As Amended: June 25, 2009
[Note: This bill has been double referred to the Assembly Higher
Education Committee and will be heard as it relates to issues
under its jurisdiction.]
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Career technical education: pilot preapprentice
aerospace machining program
SUMMARY : Establishes a pilot preapprenticeship aerospace
machining program to provide career technical education (CTE) to
high school pupils in the form of machining and related
curriculum that can be applied to various manufacturing
industries in California including, but not limited to,
aerospace manufacturing, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the curriculum include, but not be limited to
specified green technologies in aerospace manufacturing.
2)States that the program shall be funded by a combination of
private nonprofit and public funds in the form of
competitively awarded community-based job training grants from
the Employment and Training Administration within the
Department of Labor, as well as federal funds made available
through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of
2009.
3)Specifies that all funds appropriated for this program shall
be deposited into the Machinist Investment Fund (MIF), and
requires the MIF and the pilot program be administered by the
California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (CLWDA).
4)Provides that community colleges in partnership with local
workforce investment boards, employers and high schools, shall
apply for grants that shall be competitively awarded based
upon specified criteria, including the ability to address the
existing local and regional industry manufacturing needs,
while providing meaningful career technical education
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opportunities for at-risk youth.
5)Requires the Chancellor's Office of the California Community
Colleges (CCC) system to develop a pre-apprenticeship
curriculum in aerospace and machining technology which shall
meet the standard for the awarding of a National Institute for
Metalworking Skills (NIMS) certificate.
6)Requires the CLWDA in consultation with the CCC Chancellor's
office to review the applications of individual community
colleges applying for the federal grant moneys under the pilot
program and rank them based on specified criteria.
7)States that to provide maximum flexibility at the local level
regarding the implementation of this program, CCC campuses
selected for receipt of a grant, in consultation with high
schools, shall identify the location at which instruction will
occur, whether on a high school campus, at a regional
occupation center, or at a community college and allows
certain factors to be considered.
8)States that to the degree consistent with federal guidelines,
the community-based job training grant award recipients shall
reserve 10% of the funds received for an evaluation component.
9)Requires each community college to complete an evaluation of
its participation in the pilot program on or before the end
date of the grant award, and submit it to the Chancellor's
office by that date and specifies certain components that the
evaluation shall include.
10)Provides that these provisions shall remain in effect until
January 1, 2015.
11)States findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding
California's aerospace workforce and trends in California's
high schools.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the county superintendent of schools of each
county, with the consent of the State Board of Education
(SBE), to establish and maintain at least one regional
occupational center or program (ROC/P) in the county to
provide education in career technical education courses.
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2)Requires the county superintendent of schools or districts
sponsoring the ROC/P to conduct a job market study in the
labor market area in which it proposes to establish the center
or program to ensure that the anticipated employment demand
for trainees justifies the establishment of the proposed
courses of instruction.
3)Requires every career technical education course or program
offered by a school district or county office of education
sponsoring an ROC/P to be reviewed every two years and
requires any course or program that does not meet the
requirements and specified standards to be terminated within
one year.
4)Establishes economic and workforce regional development
centers to provide specified services, and to perform
specified functions relating to economic and workforce
development.
5)Requires the Board of Governors of the CCC to assist economic
and 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 for the benefit of pupils and
students in both education systems, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : On the prior version of this bill, the Senate
Appropriations Committee notes that information from the
Chancellor's Office indicates that the per campus costs of
operating a program would be approximately $500,000 to $600,000.
Assuming five campuses were awarded a grant, total costs would
range from $2.5 million to $3 million. The bill does not
specify the size of the grant award or the number of grants to
be allocated.
COMMENTS : Existing law establishes various career technical
education (CTE) programs for public schools including but not
limited to ROC/Ps, partnership academies, adult education
programs, and CTE courses that may be offered in secondary
schools and community colleges.
Additionally, SB 70 (Scott), Chapter 352, Statutes of 2005,
established a program to "improve linkages and career technical
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education pathways between high schools and community colleges."
The intent of this program is to help high school students
develop vocational skills needed by employers in the local area
while also preparing students for more advanced academic or
vocational coursework in a community college or university by
building local relationships and connecting all levels of
education, including high schools, middle schools, ROC/Ps, and
community colleges. The SB 70 program is administered jointly
by the Chancellor's Office of the CCCs and the California
Department of Education (CDE) through a competitive grant
process.
The goal of this bill is consistent with the goals of SB 70 and
a community college could submit an application for funds under
the SB 70 program to implement an aerospace manufacturing
program similar to what is proposed by this bill. Additionally,
such a program could also be implemented through a ROC/P.
California labor market data : According to information from the
Labor Market Information Division (LMID) of the Employment
Development Department, in 2009, the top 20 occupations with the
most job openings will include nurses, teachers, several
computer-related occupations, accountants and auditors, law
enforcement occupations, electricians, and civil engineers.
These occupations are expected to generate almost 58,000 job
openings.
The LMID projections of California industries for 2006-2016 show
that all of the major employment categories, except for
manufacturing, are expected to increase during this forecast
period. According to LMID information, about 79 percent of all
new nonfarm jobs are expected to occur in the following major
industry sectors: professional and business services,
government, education services and health care and social
assistance, leisure and hospitality, and retail trade.
Furthermore, according to information from the CLWDA, the top
ten largest industry sub-sectors include food services;
professional, scientific and technical services; administrative
support services; specialty trade contractors; ambulatory health
care services; hospitals; merchant wholesalers; food and
beverage stores; computer and electronic product manufacturing;
and credit intermediation and related services. From the
statewide data noted above it is not clear that aerospace
manufacturing is a high growth/high demand industry sector for
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the state.
Information provided by the author states that, "In the
aerospace industry, there is an impending labor shortage of
skilled machinists. As a generation of baby boomers nears
retirement, employers confront a shortage of new workers to
replace them."
Community-Based Job Training Grants : As amended, this bill
seeks to tap into Community-Based Job Training Grants provided
by the United States (U.S.) Department of Labor. These grants
are available to community colleges to prepare workers for high
demand occupations.
According to the federal regulations for this program, a
high-growth/high-demand industry meets one or more of the
following criteria: (1) Is projected to add substantial numbers
of new jobs to the economy; (2) has a significant impact on the
economy overall; (3) impacts the growth of other industries; (4)
is being transformed by technology and innovation requiring new
skill sets for workers; or (5) is a new and emerging business
that is projected to grow.
Information from the U.S. Department of Labor further states
that the grants are to be used for the following activities:
1) Increasing the capacity of community colleges to provide
training in a local high growth, high demand industry through
activities such as the development of training curricula with
local industry, hiring qualified faculty, arranging on-the-job
experiences with industry, and using up-to-date equipment; and
2) Training new and experienced workers in identified high
growth, high demand industries, with the aim of employing and/or
increasing the retention and earnings of trained workers, while
meeting the skill needs of businesses within targeted
industries.
The most recent competition for these awards took place during
the fall of 2008 and in January of this year the U.S. Department
of Labor awarded nearly $123 million to 68 community colleges
and community-based institutions that competed successfully
under the Community-Based Job Training Grants Initiative. No
information is available on future availability of these grants.
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The bill requires the CLWDA in consultation with the CCC
Chancellor's office to review and rank applications submitted by
community colleges and to use certain criteria to rank them.
The bill requires two different sets of criteria to be used in
the ranking of applications and in awarding the competitive
grants. Staff suggests that the criteria be reconciled.
Additionally, the bill currently requires a ranking of the
applications and awarding of grants based on the two sets of
criteria but according to the Employment Development Department,
the Community Based Job Training Grants are issued directly from
the U.S. Department of Labor and the state has no control over
who gets the awards or how they are used.
Author's staff has informed Committee staff that the intent is
for the ranking to be conducted by the CLWDA in consultation
with the CCC Chancellor's office and subsequently require the
CCC Chancellor's office to submit the applications to the U.S.
Department of Labor on behalf of the community colleges that the
CLWDA has ranked at the top. The bill should be amended to
reflect the author's intent or to delete the language requiring
ranking of applications by the CLWDA.
Community colleges can apply for these funds directly to the
U.S. Department of Labor. The process established by this bill
sets up an extra step to accessing funds through the Community
Based Job Training Grants for community colleges that choose to
participate in this pilot program. There is no indication that
the screening and ranking of applications by CLWDA will secure
funding or that an application from a state community college
system is more likely to get funded.
Evaluation : As amended, this bill provides that each community
college shall complete an evaluation of its participation in the
pilot program and submit it to the CCC Chancellor's office and
specifies certain components that the evaluation shall include.
There is no requirement however, for the evaluation to be
submitted to the Legislature. Since this is a pilot project the
rules of this Committee require an evaluation of any proposed
pilot project. The evaluation would then inform a future
Legislature on the possible reauthorization of this pilot
project. Staff recommends the bill be amended to require the
CCC Chancellor's office to compile the information provided by
the participating community colleges and submit an evaluation to
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the Legislature by July 1, 2013.
NIMS certificate amendment: The author wishes to correct an
error in the bill that states that completion of this program
will result in a National Institute for Metalworking Skills
(NIMS) certificate.
The author states, "SB 747 will establish a pre-apprenticeship
pilot program for high school juniors and seniors, offering
aerospace-oriented career technical education curriculum to
engage at-risk students in learning the machining skills
necessary to build aircraft."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Aerojet-General Corporation
Alcoa Fastening Systems
Allfast Fastening Systems, Inc.
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
Boeing Company
California Aerospace Technology Association
California Conference of Machinists
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
California School Boards Association
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Engineers & Scientists of California, IFPTE Local 20
Lookheed Martin
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Nelson Aerospace, Inc.
Professsional & Technical Engineers, IFPTE Local 21
Sonic Industries, Inc
State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO
Individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087
SB 747
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