BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1330
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1330 (Furutani) - As Amended: May 4, 2011
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill, commencing with the 2012-13 school year, authorizes a
pupil to complete one course in career technical education (CTE)
in lieu of completing one course in visual performing arts (VPA)
or foreign language in order to receive a high school diploma.
This measure also sunsets this provision on July 1, 2017.
1)Defines, for the purposes of this measure, CTE as a course in
a district-operated CTE program that is aligned to the CTE
model curriculum standards and framework adopted by the State
Board of Education (SBE).
2)Specifies that completing one course in CTE does not require a
school or school district that currently does not offer CTE
courses to establish new CTE programs, as specified.
3)Requires a school district or county office of education (COE)
that provides a CTE course for graduation purposes, to notify
parents, teachers, pupils, and the public at a regularly
scheduled governing board meeting all of the following:
a) The intent to offer CTE courses to fulfill the
graduation requirement, as specified.
b) The impact that offering CTE courses will have on the
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availability of courses that meet the eligibility
requirements for admission to the University of California
(UC) and the California State University (CSU) and whether
the CTE courses are approved to satisfy UC and CSU
eligibility requirements.
c) The distinction, if any, between high school graduation
requirements of the district or COE and the eligibility
requirements for admission to the UC and CSU.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF/98 cost pressure, likely between $900,000 and $1.5 million,
to school districts to provide increased CTE course offerings
to high school pupils. This cost assumes an increase between
three to five percent in CTE course enrollment. According to
the State Department of Education (SDE), 586,362 high school
pupils, 32% of total high school enrollment, enrolled in CTE
courses in 2009-10.
2)GF/98 costs, likely between $400,000 and $600,000, to school
districts to provide specified information at a regular
scheduled governing board meeting.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Existing law requires pupils to meet the following
minimum course requirements in order to graduate from high
school:
---------------------------------------
| Subject | # of |
| | Courses |
|-------------------------+-------------|
| English | 3 |
|-------------------------+-------------|
| Math | 2 |
|-------------------------+-------------|
| Science | 2 |
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|-------------------------+-------------|
| Social Studies | 3 |
|-------------------------+-------------|
| VPA or Foreign | 1 |
| Language | |
|-------------------------+-------------|
| Physical Education | 2 |
|-------------------------+-------------|
| Total |13 |
---------------------------------------
Statute also authorizes a school district governing board to
specify additional requirements. For example, a governing
board may require pupils to complete community service hours
or additional coursework (i.e., CTE courses or courses to meet
the UC or CSU admission requirements).
According to the SDE, 586,362 high school students enrolled in
CTE in 2009-10. This represents a decrease of 2,861 students
from 2008-09. SDE reports 23,600 CTE course sections were
offered to pupils during 2008-09, which is a decrease of 2,152
courses offered from the previous year.
According to the author, "A 2006 study commissioned by the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation entitled The Silent Epidemic:
Perspectives of High School Dropouts found that 47% of
dropouts indicated that they were not interested or engaged in
their coursework. An overwhelming majority (81%) said that
graduating from high school was important to success in life.
There is a critical need to make the high school curriculum
more engaging and relevant."
2)Reporting mechanism suggested amendment . This bill sunsets
the authorization for pupils to take one CTE course instead of
a course in VPA or foreign language for the purposes of
receiving a high school diploma on July 1, 2017. Typically,
legislation with a sunset provision includes a reporting
requirement to help the Legislature make informed decision
regarding the sunset extension. The committee may wish to
consider adding language to require SDE to collect CTE course
information and the number of pupils taking a CTE course to
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fulfill state graduation requirements. School districts may
report this information through the state's longitudinal data
system to minimize cost.
AB 2446 (Furutani), the previous version of this bill in 2010,
was amended by this committee to contain a reporting
requirement. The current version, however, does not contain
this language.
3)UC and CSU requirements . The UC and CSU require high school
students to complete a specified pattern of coursework to be
eligible for admission. This course pattern of 15 courses is
commonly known as the A-G requirements. Courses that meet the
A-G requirements must be previously reviewed and approved by
UC. Students who do not have access to the A-G required
courses in high school are, essentially, unable to qualify for
admission to either UC or CSU upon high school graduation.
Of the 15 courses students are required to complete for
admission, two are required to be in foreign language (3 are
recommended) and one is required to in VPA. Existing law
requires pupils to take 13 courses in order to graduate from
high schools. Therefore, in order for a pupil to be eligible
for admission to the UC and CSU, he or she must take two
additional courses.
This bill allows pupils to complete a CTE course instead of a
VPA course or foreign language course in order to receive a
high school diploma. For those pupils seeking admission to the
UC or CSU, they must exceed current law graduation
requirements and complete at least one additional course in
foreign language. Presumably, pupils seeking college admission
would continue to take foreign language and VPA courses.
According to SDE, there were 8,389 UC approved CTE courses.
4)Previous legislation . AB 2446 (Furutani), similar to this
measure, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger in September
2010 with the following message:
"Improving and expanding Career Technical Education (CTE)
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opportunities has been among my highest priorities. While I am
supportive of the author's intent to give CTE a prominent
place in high school graduation priorities, the final version
of this bill omitted my Administration's proposed amendments
that were intended to limit the new costs to school districts.
Therefore, I am concerned that this bill could be construed to
impose higher costs without a fund source, which could also be
interpreted as a state reimbursable mandate. Given that school
budgets are very constrained due to the recession, adding new
costs at this time is not advisable."
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081