Amended in Assembly January 6, 2014

Amended in Assembly September 11, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 646

Introduced by Assembly Member Cooley

February 21, 2013

An act to add begin insert and repeal end insert Chapter 1.3 (commencing with Section 10050) begin delete to end delete begin insert of end insert Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to public education governance.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 646, as amended, Cooley. Public education governance: regional P-20 councils: advisory committee.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state, and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive (K-12). Existing law also establishes a system of public postsecondary education in the state that consists of 3 segments: the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges.

This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to affirm the employer-education partnership model of a regional P-20 council begin insert , as defined, end insert as a desired structure in California to help align preschool, K-12, community college, 4-year college, and graduate and professional education programs and funding to advance strategic educational and economic outcomes.

The bill would require the begin delete Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, on or before July 1, 2015, to establish an advisory committee on P-20 councils, with designated membership, to serve as a clearinghouse for ideas of how these councils are working and to identify key statewide education policies and goals that P-20 councils may seek to further. The bill would authorize a school district, community college district, or campus of the California State University or University of California to establish or participate in a regional P-20 council, and authorize a regional P-20 council to include representatives of private sector employers. The bill would require a regional P-20 council established under the bill to identify educational objectives that are consistent with the objectives of council members and with statewide education policies and goals. end delete begin insert State Department of Education, in consultation with specified entities, including, but not limited to, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, to study best practices of state and regional P-20 councils in California and across the nation to identify key statewide policies and goals that P-20 councils may seek to further, and to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2015. end insert

begin insert

The provisions of the bill would be repealed on January 1, 2020.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Chapter 1.3 (commencing with Section 10050)
is added to Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
to read:

 

Chapter  1.3. Regional P-20 Councils

 

10050.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) The Federal Reserve has stated on its Internet Web site that
“[m]ost policymakers estimate the longer-run normal rate of
unemployment is between 5.2 and 6 percent.” The current rate of
unemployment in the United States is 7.4 percent. The
unemployment rates in both the County of Sacramento and
California are higher than the national unemployment rate.
According to a September 2013 brief by the California Budget
Project, “[i]f California’s job market continues to grow as it has
over the past year, the state will not recover the jobs lost due to
the Great Recession until January 2016,” but that this also
“understates how long it will actually take for the job market to
reach pre-recession strength” due to California’s increased
working-age population since 2007.

(2) P-16 councils were first established in several states in the
1990s to convene state leaders representing early learning (the “P”
stands for preschool) through the first four years of college (the
“16”). More recently, some states have extended the scope of these
councils to include doctoral and professional schools (the “20”).

(3) According to a 2008 report of the Education Commission
of the States, 38 states had established a P-16 or P-20 council and
11 states had regional P-16 or P-20 councils.

(4) It is increasingly recognized that regions are the units of
economic competition and an essential ingredient of economic
competitiveness is for regions to align educational assets to prepare
students for critical careers within key economic clusters. The
Sacramento region’s Next Economy initiative is one example of
a regional economic development strategy advancing these
objectives.

(5) Recent research affirms that aligning regional assets is a key
to advancing economic competitiveness; a Brookings Institution
Metropolitan Policy Program study has noted that “[r]egional
economies are differentiated, complex, and dynamic; improving
their performance entails customized and integrated strategies.”
An educated and suitably prepared workforce is a key element in
private sector job creation and job-related capital investment.

(6) Several examples of effective P-20 councils can be found
in California, including the Alliance for Education in San
Bernardino County, which is the Inland Empire’s premier
partnership between the business and education communities. Its
objective is “to achieve the goal of producing an educated and
skilled workforce that ensures the economic well-being for San
Bernardino County.”

(7) Recent state policy and funding priorities are intended to
promote the development and sustainability of pathways preparing
students across the P-20 spectrum for critical careers in the 21st
century economy.

(8) During hearings of the Assembly Select Committee on
Community and Neighborhood Development in July 2013,
witnesses stated that California’s future economic growth would
benefit from a concentrated effort aimed at establishing the
preconditions that support growth in jobs and private sector
investment in California communities. Such an approach would
be analogous to the high degree of regional coordination that is
typical for prioritizing and funding transportation improvements.
State and federal governments already require regional coordination
among local governments to prioritize transportation funding.

(9) California will benefit from a system of regional P-20
councils, composed of both employers and educational leaders of
educational entities that provide instruction for all levels from
early childhood learning to doctoral and professional programs,
to help align educational programs, policies, and funding to meet
strategic educational and economic objectives.

(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to affirm the
employer-education partnership model of a regional P-20 council
as a desired structure in California to help align preschool, K-12,
community college, four-year college, and graduate and
professional education programs and funding to advance strategic
educational and economic outcomes.

begin delete

10051.  

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic
Development, on or before July 1, 2015, shall establish an advisory
committee on P-20 councils to serve as a clearinghouse for ideas
of how these councils are working and to identify key statewide
education policies and goals that P-20 councils may seek to further.
The advisory committee shall include representatives of the offices
of the President of the University of California, the Chancellor of
the California State University, the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, the Employment Development Department,
the State Department of Education, the Department of Industrial
Relations, and representatives of no more than three employer
advisory councils.

10052.  

(a) A school district, community college district, or
campus of the California State University or University of
California may establish or participate in a regional P-20 council,
which may include representatives of regional private sector
employers as well as public educational entities.

(b) A regional P-20 council established under this section shall
identify educational objectives that are consistent with the
objectives of council members and with statewide education
policies and goals.

(c) A regional P-20 council shall be aligned, as much as feasible,
with the regional structures in the State Department of Education,
the California Community Colleges, and the Department of
Industrial Relations.

(d) A school district or community college district that
participates in a regional P-20 council may establish eligibility for
funding under the Career Technical Education Pathways Program
(Part 52 (commencing with Section 88530) of Division 7 of Title
3), contingent on the district’s conformity with the standards of
that program and the availability of funds.

end delete begin insert

begin insert 10051. end insert   

(a) The department shall study best practices of state
and regional P-20 councils in California and across the nation to
identify key statewide policies and goals that P-20 councils may
seek to further, and shall report its findings and recommendations
to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2015. The department shall
work in consultation with the Governor’s Office of Business and
Economic Development, the office of the President of the University
of California, the office of the Chancellor of the California State
University, the office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, the Employment Development Department,
and the California Workforce Investment Board, as well as related
state and regional interests.

(b) (1) The report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on July 1, 2020.

end insert