BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 275
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Date of Hearing: June 27, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 275 (Hancock) - As Amended: June 6, 2012
SENATE VOTE : Not relevant to this version
SUBJECT : Career technical education: funding
SUMMARY : Provides flexibility in the use of career technical
education funds beginning in 2015-2016. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Provides that, beginning in 2015-16, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction shall apportion funding for Regional
Occupational Centers and Programs (ROCPs) to each county
office of education in the same relative proportion of funding
that the county office of education, school districts, and
joint powers agencies within that county received in 2014-15.
2)Requires county superintendents of schools to allocate ROCP
funds to centers and programs within the county in the same
relative proportion of funding that they received in 2014-15.
3)Authorizes local education agencies (LEAs) to form into
regions for purposes of sharing funds received for ROCPs,
Specialized Secondary Program Grants, Partnership Academies,
and Agricultural Vocational Education to develop and maintain
career technical education programs.
4)Requires that all funds allocated for ROCPs and all funds
subject to a regional career-tech education agreement be spent
only to ensure the development and maintenance of a high
quality career technical education program.
5)Requires that, in the absence of a regional career-tech
education agreement, funds appropriated for Specialized
Secondary Program Grants, Partnership Academies, and
Agricultural Vocational Education be expended only for the
purposes of the program for which they were appropriated.
6)Requires that, as a condition of receiving funds, the
governing board of each ROCP, in collaboration with
individuals representing partner school districts within each
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region, Partnership Academies, agricultural career technical
education programs, and other career-tech programs do all of
the following:
a) Develop a plan for establishing a sequence of courses by
July 1, 2015.
b) Certify to the California Department of Education (CDE)
by September 1, 2016 that each sequence of courses
specified in the plan has been developed.
c) Report each new sequence of courses and each
modification of existing sequences to the CDE no later than
September 1 of the fiscal year in which the changes are
implemented.
7)Requires the SPI to align the accountability measures for
career-tech education programs into a uniform accountability
metric based any career-ready standards adopted pursuant to
the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the 11
qualify indicators in the California State Plan for Career
Technical Education, and the following data:
a) The number of pupils completing high school.
b) The number of pupils earning an industry-recognized
certification or licensure or other measures of technical
skill attainment.
c) The number of pupils completing career technical
education courses and completing a career technical
education program of study, consisting of a sequence of two
or more career technical education programs.
d) The number of pupils employed and the types of
businesses in which they are employed.
e) The number of pupils enrolled in postsecondary education
or apprenticeship programs, or serving in the armed forces.
EXISTING LAW establishes various career technical education
programs, including ROCPs, Partnership Academies, Specialized
Secondary Programs, and the Agricultural Career Technical
Education Incentive Program. In recent years, budget trailer
bills-SB 4, Chapter 12, Statutes of 2009; and SB 70, Chapter 7,
Statutes of 2011-have provided school districts with flexibility
in the use of categorical program funds. Currently, school
districts have complete flexibility over the use of funds for
ROCPs and Specialized Secondary Programs, meaning funds received
for those programs can be used for any locally-determined
purpose. This flexibility expires at the end of the 2014-2015
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fiscal year. Flexibility is not provided for Partnership
Academies and the Agricultural Career Technical Education
Incentive Program.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The purpose of this bill is to continue and expand
flexibility for career-tech programs. Supporters argue that
this will promote better cooperation and more efficient use of
resources within regions. The flexibility would be provided to
funding for four programs:
1)ROCPs, which enroll pupils from multiple schools or districts
for career tech education programs regardless of their place
of residence. ROCPs may be operated by a county office of
education, a joint powers agency, or a single school district.
2)Partnership Academies, which are three-year programs for
grades ten through twelve, inclusive, that combine
career-focused, rigorous academics with business partnerships
that provide support through classroom speakers, field trips,
mentors, and internships.
3)Specialized Secondary Programs, which are four-year programs
for pupils to obtain advanced instruction in addition to core
course work and skills in technology appropriate to the
curriculum. This is a competitive grant program that provides
four years of funding for planning and implementation.
4)Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Program,
which provides funds to improve the quality of agricultural
technical education programs. This is a grant program.
Supporters argue that "SB 275 invites local agencies to
collaborate by providing the authority for, but not mandating, a
regional model of cooperation between CTE partners to determine
the use of CTE funds within the region?.�which allows] partners
within a region to determine how best to use the CTE funding
available across programs in order to maximize the impact of
that funding on the students in the region."
Technical amendments. Staff recommends two technical
amendments. First, to correct a typographical error on page 4,
line 18, strike the first "of" and insert "and." Second, on
page 7, line 8, insert "former" before "pupils."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
SB 275
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Support
California Association of Regional Occupational Centers and
Programs
California Association of Leaders for Career Preparation
California Business Education Association
California County Superintendents Educational Services
Association
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
Coastline Regional Occupational Program
Compton Unified School District
Fresno Regional Occupational Program
Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program
Metropolitan Education District
North Orange County Regional Occupational Program
San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools
Santa Lucia Regional Occupational Program
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087