BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 835
AUTHOR: Mitchell
AMENDED: April 26, 2011
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 22, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Community colleges: Economic and Workforce
Development Program.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes a California community college district
to enroll a high school pupil who is not a resident of that
district in a program that is developed and implemented by
the district and provides that the district shall not be
subject to any other geographic limitations as specified.
BACKGROUND
Existing law, the Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathways
Initiative (SB 70 Scott, Chapter 352, 2005), requires the
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (CCC)
to assist economic and workforce regional development centers
and consortia to improve CTE education pathways between high
schools and community colleges and requires the CCC
Chancellor to develop, implement and report on a strategy for
CTE Pathway Initiative program objectives and outcomes.
(Education Code � 88532)
Existing law provides opportunities for minor students to
enroll in college-level, degree-applicable courses for
advanced scholastic or advanced vocational purposes while
they are in high school. Current law authorizes the
governing board of a school district, upon recommendation of
the principal of a pupil's school and with parental consent,
to authorize a student to concurrently enroll in a community
college during any session or term to undertake one or more
courses of instruction. (EC � 48800 et. seq.)
Existing state law and implementing regulations establishes
the CCC Board of Governors (BOG) as the entity responsible
for approval of CCC academic programs and setting minimum
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standards for credit and noncredit courses.
(EC � 70900 et. seq.)
ANALYSIS
This bill specifies that notwithstanding any other law, a
community college district may enroll a high school pupil who
is not a resident of the district in a SB 70 program that is
developed and implemented by the district if the program is
designed to serve high school pupils or involves multiple
school districts or community college districts, or both.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) California Technical Education Pathways Initiative . The
CTE Pathways Initiative, established by SB 70 in 2005,
provided funding to be dispersed by the CCC Chancellor's
Office and the California Department of Education (CDE)
to CCC and K-12 districts to support programs that
strengthen students' academic and career readiness.
Initial funding in the amount of $20 million from the
Community College reversion account was provided in
2005, and in 2006, SB 1133 (Torlakson, Chapter 751,
2006) provided additional funding through the 2013-14
fiscal year. The CCC has issued grants that support
regional linkages between schools and CCCs and grants to
support statewide infrastructure grants. As of July 30,
2010, CTE Pathways Initiative funding totaled
approximately $188 million. All regions of the state
have received grant support. Based on available data,
this funding has helped create or enhance at least 5,134
CTE partner organizations, 342,957 skills training or
upgrades to students, and 16,806 teachers, counselors,
and staff have participated in training or partnerships.
Grants have been awarded in two broad categories:
a) Coordinated regional/local implementation
grants that support linkages as well as capacity
building between and among middle schools, high
schools, and regional occupational centers and
programs, community colleges, and industry and
other organizations to develop coordinated programs
serving students, faculty, and/or stakeholders.
b) Statewide infrastructure grants that
strengthen California's CTE infrastructure and
support capacity building, including research and
development.
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2) California partnership academies . Partnership academies
are structured as a school within a school for grades
10-12 inclusive and provide integrated academic and
career technical education to students who present a
high risk of dropping out of school. Academies provide
occupational training in areas such as electronics,
computer technology, finance, agribusiness, graphic
arts, international business, and more recently, green
technologies. Key elements of a partnership academy
include business partnerships, teacher teams, mentoring,
and internships. Students are matched with mentors in
their junior year and typically begin an internship
after completing their junior year. A 2008 report by
the California Center for College and Career indicates
that academies have a positive impact on school
performance. Compared with statewide averages for
students in comprehensive high school programs, students
in partnership academies tend to have better pass rates
on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE),
complete more rigorous courses, and have better
graduation rates.
3) Need for the bill : The sponsor of this measure, the
Secondary Environmental Science Educators Institute,
provides workshops that "bring together diverse student
populations in geographically diverse locations for
training that may not fit the traditional concept for
CTE Pathways programs." The sponsor indicates he has
had difficulty finding a host site for its Environmental
Career Preparation programs due to "current statutory
and regulatory barriers." According to the sponsor,
most of the students served by the workshops participate
in California partnership academies and the workshops
add to their CTE work in those programs. Students
typically participate in the workshops during a weekend
as an extracurricular activity, and presently no credit
is awarded for attending the workshop. To ensure that
these courses do not supplant courses offered at high
schools, staff recommends amendments that would
authorize the enrollment to the extent the course is not
offered at a pupil's high school.
Current law already allows considerable flexibility for high
school students to enroll in CCC classes. If the
barriers encountered by the sponsor are more a
reflection of the realities of the apportionment process
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or budget constraints than statutory or regulatory
barriers, this bill may not provide the relief the
sponsor is seeking.
SUPPORT
Regional Council of Rural Counties
OPPOSITION
None received.