BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1330|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1330
Author: Furutani (D)
Amended: 8/30/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/29/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Huff, Price, Simitian
NOES: Blakeslee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Liu, Vargas, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 8/25/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley,
Price, Runner, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/2/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Graduation requirements: career technical
education
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill, commencing with the 2012-13 school
year, adds 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, and requires school
districts that elect this option to notify parents,
teachers, pupils and the public, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the governing board of a
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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.
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.
1.Three courses in English.
2.Two courses mathematics.
3.Two courses of science, including biological and physical
science.
4.Three courses in social studies, including: United States
history and geography, one semester of American
government, and one semester of economics.
5.One course in visual or performing arts or foreign
language.
6.Two 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:
1.Two years of history/social science.
2.Four years of college preparatory English or language
instruction.
3.Three years of college preparatory mathematics (four
years recommended).
4.Two years of laboratory science (three years
recommended).
5.Two years of a foreign language (three years
recommended).
6.One year of visual and performing arts.
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7.One 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 for career technical education (CTE) adopted by
the State Board of Education (SBE).
Existing law requires that, at the beginning of the first
semester or quarter of the regular school term, the
governing board of each school district notify the parent
or guardian of a minor pupil regarding the right or
responsibility of the parent or guardian under specified
law, as well as other specified information.
This bill:
1.Adds, until July 1, 2017, and commencing with the 2012-13
school year, a course in CTE 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
course in a district-operated career technical education
program that is aligned to the career technical model
curriculum standards and framework adopted by the SBE.
3.Clarifies 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 that a district or county office of education
that elects to allow a CTE course to satisfy graduation
requirements pursuant to the bill's provisions, prior to
offering the alternative to students, to notify parents,
teachers, pupils, and the public at a regularly scheduled
meeting of the governing board of the following:
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A. Its intent to do so.
B. The impact that this decision will have on the
availability of courses that meet UC and CSU
admission requirements and whether the CTE courses
to be offered meet these requirements.
C. The distinction, if any, between the district or
county office's graduation requirements and the
admission requirements of the CSU and UC.
5.Requires the CDE to submit a comprehensive report to the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature by
January 1, 2016, on the addition of career technical
education courses to satisfy the requirement , as
specified, but not limited to, the following information:
A. A comparison of the pupil enrollment in CTE
courses, foreign language courses, and visual and
performing arts courses for the 2005-06 to 2011-12
school years, inclusive, to the pupil enrollment in
CTE courses, foreign language courses, and visual and
performing arts courses for the 2012-13 to 2016-17
school years, inclusive.
B. The reasons, reported by school district, that
pupils give for choosing to enroll in a CTC course to
satisfy specified requirements.
C. The type and number of CTE courses that were
conducted for the 2005-06 to 2011-12 school years,
inclusive, compared to the type and number of CTE
courses that were conducted for the 2012-13 to
2016-07 school years, inclusive.
D. The number of CTE courses that satisfied the
subject matter requirements for admission to UC or
CSU.
E. The extent to which the CTE courses chosen by
pupils are aligned with the California Career
Technical Education Standards, and prepare pupils for
employment, advanced training, and postsecondary
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education.
F. The number of CTE courses that also satisfy the
visual and performing arts requirement, and the
number of CTE courses that also satisfy the foreign
language requirement.
6.Allows the Superintendent to use existing state resources
and federal funds for the purposes of completing the
report. If state or federal funds are not available or
sufficient, SPI may apply for and accept grants, and
receive donations and other financial support from public
or private sources.
7.Allows the SPI to accept support, including, but not
limited to, financial and technical support, from high
school reform advocates, teachers, chamber organizations,
industry representatives, research centers, parents, and
pupils.
8.Declares the intent of the Legislature that new CTE
courses that satisfy the foreign language requirement for
admission to the CSU and the UC focus on world languages
aligned with career pathways, emphasizing-real-world
application and technical content in related career and
technical education courses.
9.Becomes inoperative on the earlier of the following two
days:
A. On the July 1, immediately following the first
fiscal year after the enactment of the act that adds
this paragraph in which the number of CTE courses
that, as determined by CDE, satisfy the foreign
language requirement for admission to the CSU and the
UC is at least twice the number of CTE courses that
meet these admission requirements as of January 1,
2012.
B. On July 1, 2017, and, as of January 1, 2018, is
repealed unless a later enacted statute, that becomes
operative on or before January 1, 2018, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and
is repealed.
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Comments
According to the author's office, a February 2008 report
from the California Dropout Research Project concluded that
dropping out and low achievement have many shared causes,
including low engagement. In addition, a recent Public
Policy Institute of California (PPIC) report found that one
in four California high school students fails to graduate
and concluded that the programs that show promise in
keeping children in schools include career technical
education. According to the author's office, the purpose
of this bill is to help students stay engaged during high
school and enable them to be successful by allowing them to
meet one of the graduation requirements by taking a CTE
course.
Visual or performing arts/foreign language courses .
Existing law requires that students complete a course in
visual performing arts or foreign language in order to
graduate high school. According to the California Foreign
Language Project (a California Subject Matter project
professional development program designed to strengthen
foreign language instruction) foreign language education is
crucial for the development of California's economy,
domestic security and international peace, and the
sustaining of our multicultural society. The federal No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 defines "core academic
subjects" to mean English, reading or language arts,
mathematics, science, civics and government, economics,
history, geography, foreign language and arts. With the
exception of the two physical education courses, all of the
state's graduation courses, including visual or performing
arts and foreign language, are considered core academic
subjects and enable students to meet "college prep"
coursework typically required by many postsecondary
institutions. The UC for example, requires two years of
foreign language and one year of visual or performing arts
class in order to be eligible for admission.
Career technical education (CTE) courses . This bill
requires that CTE courses that meet the graduation
requirement be aligned to the state CTE model curriculum
standards (adopted by the SBE in 2005). However, there is
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no statewide mechanism in place to ensure that CTE courses
are aligned to the SBE standards, making it difficult to
know how many, and whether CTE courses meet these
standards. 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. Unless a CTE course is
"A-G" approved, it is unlikely the course grade would be
included in the GPA calculations used for admission to the
CSU or UC.
At the expense of foreign language and visual or performing
arts ? 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. In its report, the 2011-12 Budget: Year Two
Survey: Update on School District Finance in California ,
the LAO reports that 26 percent of districts have
discontinued their Arts and Music Block Grant programs
since flexibility was granted in 2009, and 77 percent have
diverted funds away from that program. According to a 2009
report produced by the California Foreign Language Project,
"Learning World Languages and Cultures in California: A
Stimulus for Academic and Economic Success, California's
foreign language course enrollment is below the national
average, with high school enrollment in California at 40.34
percent compared to 43.83 percent nationally.
Will this hurt or help our lowest-achieving students ? This
bill is based upon the premise that providing students the
option to take a CTE course instead of a visual or
performing arts, or foreign language course to meet
graduation requirements could help schools reduce their
dropout rates. According to information from the CDE, in
2008-09, 60 percent of foreign language/visual or
performing arts courses and 10 percent of CTE courses met
the "A-G" requirements. The CTE population
disproportionately consists of limited-English proficient
students, students with disabilities, minorities, and
high-poverty students. This bill requires information in
the annual packet to parents as well as specified
notifications at a public school board meeting.
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Local control . Existing law prescribes 13 year-long
courses in order to graduate high school. A good case
could be made that CTE, foreign language, and visual or
performing arts should each be required for high school
graduation. Existing law grants local governing boards the
authority to establish local graduation requirements that
could conceivably include courses in all three areas.
Only district operated CTE programs ? This bill restricts
the CTE courses that may be taken to satisfy the graduation
requirement to district-operated CTE programs. CTE courses
may also be delivered by Regional Occupational
Centers/Programs (ROC/P), partnership academies,
agricultural programs, and tech-prep programs. 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.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 2446 (Furutani), 2009-10 Session, was substantively
similar to this bill. The bill was subsequently vetoed by
the Governor whose message read, in pertinent part:
"Improving and expanding Career Technical Education
(CTE) 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."
In addition, the Legislature has considered several bills
attempting to encourage the offering of career technical
education courses including the following:
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SB 381 (Wright), 2009-10 Session, would have prohibited
school districts from adopting the "a-g" requirements for
high school graduation unless they also required students
to complete career technical education courses, as
specified in order to receive a high school diploma. (Held
under submission in Assembly Appropriations Committee)
SB 147 (DeSaulnier), Chapter 168, Statutes of 2009,
requires the Trustees of CSU 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), 2009-10 Session, would have added one
course to the existing high school graduation requirements
and included CTE as an option to fulfill this additional
requirement. (Held under submission in Assembly
Appropriations Committee)
AB 2648 (Bass), Chapter 681, Statutes of 2008, requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop, in
conjunction with specified individuals, a report that
explores the feasibility of expanding and establishing
career multiple pathway programs. Passed the Senate with a
vote of 26-9 on August 20, 2008.
SB 672 (Torlakson), 2007-08 Session, required high schools
participating in the California Enhanced Instructional Time
Program pursuant to SB 681 (Torlakson), 2007-08 Session, to
adopt a graduation policy requiring pupils to complete two
CTE courses. SB 672 and SB 681 were held in the Assembly
Education Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13
2013-14 Fund
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CTE courses
Potentially significant cost pressure General*
CDE reporting $22 $22 General
*Counts toward meeting the Preposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/2/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez,
Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza,
Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Hall
CPM:do 8/30/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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