BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 660
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Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 660 (Hancock) - As Amended: August 7, 2013
SENATE VOTE : Vote not relevant
SUBJECT : Career technical education: funding
SUMMARY : Establishes new reporting requirements, effective for
the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years, for county offices of
education (COEs) and school districts that operate or
participate in regional occupational centers or programs
(ROC/Ps). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires COEs and school districts that operate or participate
in a ROC/P and that are subject to specified maintenance of
effort (MOE) requirements in 2013-14 and 2014-15 to:
a) Report each new sequence of courses and each
modification to existing sequences to the California
Department of Education (CDE) no later than September 1 of
the fiscal year in which the changes are implemented;
b) Certify to the CDE that each course within a sequence is
aligned to the California Career Technical Education
Standards and, where appropriate, to the Common Core State
Standards; and
c) Collect and report data as required by the CDE to
prepare and update an accountability measure.
2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
incorporate a uniform accountability metric into ROC/P
accountability measures that is based on career-ready
standards adopted pursuant to the federal Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the following program
quality indicators in the California State Plan for Career
Technical Education:
a) Leadership at all levels:
b) High-quality curriculum and instruction aligned with the
state standards;
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c) Career exploration and guidance;
d) Pupil support and leadership development;
e) Industry partnerships and advisory committees;
f) System alignment and coherence, including postsecondary
education institution involvement;
g) After school, extended day, and out-of-school
opportunities;
h) Reflection of labor market demands and provision of
current equipment;
i) Skilled faculty and professional development;
j) Career technical education outreach and communication;
and
aa) Data-based pupil evaluation, accountability, and
continuous improvement.
3)Requires ROC/P accountability to also include the rates at
which pupils complete a course of study or sequence of career
technical education courses that provide the skills and
knowledge necessary to attain entry-level employment in
business or industry or to pursue postsecondary education
after graduation from high school, and requires pupil data to
include the following:
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 courses;
d) The number of pupils employed and the types of
businesses in which they are employed; and
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e) The number of pupils enrolled in postsecondary education
or apprenticeship programs, or serving in the United States
Armed Forces.
4)Requires the SPI to develop the evaluation instrument for use
commencing with the 2014-15 school year in collaboration with
stakeholders, including, but not limited to, representatives
from:
a) ROC/Ps;
b) California partnership academies;
c) Agricultural career technical education programs;
d) County offices of education;
e) The California School Boards Association;
f) The Association of California School Administrators;
g) The California Teachers Association;
h) The California Manufacturers and Technology Association;
and
i) The Building Trades Association.
5)Requires the completed evaluation instrument to be reviewed by
an independent local review council comprised of
representatives from the following:
a) A county office of education;
b) A school district;
c) An industry advisory committee, advisory board, or
member of local business and industry;
d) The ROC/P joint powers authority, where applicable;
e) Postsecondary education; and
f) A local investment board.
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6)Requires the evaluation instrument to be submitted to the CDE
for review.
EXISTING LAW
1)Provides a 2.6% add-on to the Local Control Funding Formula
(LCFF) base grant for grades 9 through 12, inclusive, to
support college and career readiness programs and instruction.
2)Requires school districts and COEs to maintain at least the
same level of funding for ROC/Ps in 2013-14 and 2014-15 as
they provided in 2012-13.
3)Requires school districts and COEs, to adopt Local Control
Accountability Plans (LCAPs) by July 1, 2014 to outline
locally-developed plans to address pupil performance goals in
a wide range of areas, including career tech education. The
LCAPs must be updated annually and renewed every three years.
FISCAL EFFECT : State mandated local program
COMMENTS : Until the current fiscal year, ROC/Ps received
categorical program funding in the budget, although between
2008-09 and 2012-13 the funding was "flexed," meaning that
districts could spend it as they chose. The 2012-13 budget
appropriated $384.7 million for ROC/Ps.
Categorical funding for ROC/Ps was eliminated with the enactment
of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), effective with the
2013-14 fiscal year. Instead, the LCFF provides a 2.6% add-on
to the base grant for pupils in grades 9-12, inclusive, to be
expended on programs for college and career readiness. With a
target base grant of $8,289, the 2.6% add-on is $215 per average
daily attendance (ADA) in grades 9-12, inclusive. In addition,
the 2013-14 budget and trailer bill language requires county
offices of education and school districts to maintain their
2012-13 level of spending on ROC/Ps for two years to allow time
to adapt to the elimination of the categorical funding.
ROC/P accountability. With the implementation of the LCFF,
school districts and county offices of education are required to
adopt a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) by July 1,
2014, update it annually, and renew it every three years. The
new law establishes various state priorities to be addressed by
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the LCAP, including the measurement of pupil achievement, as
measured, in part, by the percentage of pupils who have
successfully completed career technical education sequences or
clusters of courses that are aligned with SBE-approved career
technical education standards and frameworks and that satisfy
the following statutory requirements:
1)Result in an occupational skill certificate developed in
cooperation with the appropriate employer advisory board;
2)Provide prerequisite courses that are needed to enter
apprenticeship or postsecondary vocational certificate or
degree programs;
3)Focus on occupations requiring comprehensive skills leading to
high wage jobs;
4)Provide courses in high skill occupations of regional and
local economic need;
5)Provide a sequence of courses that build upon each other in
knowledge, skill development, and experience, and ends in a
capstone course that includes an internship component;
6)Prepare, whenever possible, pupils for industry-recognized
certifications; and
7)Offer as many courses as possible and appropriate that have
been approved by the University of California as meeting the
"a-g" admissions requirements.
Accordingly, there is some overlap between the requirements of
this bill and the requirements of the recently-enacted LCAP.
For example, both require career tech programs to focus on
high-wage occupations and regional needs, lead to
industry-recognized certifications, and offer courses needed for
entry into apprenticeship or postsecondary vocational
certificate or degree programs. The purpose of the LCAP, as
indicated by the "local control" portion of the name, is to
place primary responsibility for program planning, monitoring,
and accountability on local districts and county offices of
education. This bill goes beyond that by requiring school
districts and county offices of education to collect, certify,
and report specific data to the CDE regarding ROC/P course
offerings. It also requires the SPI to develop a uniform
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accountability metric and an evaluation instrument to be used
for program evaluation, and requires the results of the
evaluation to be reviewed by the CDE and an independent local
review council.
In addition, each LEA's LCAP must adhere to a template to be
adopted by the SBE by March 31, 2014. Pursuant to current law,
the template will address accountability for career technical
education programs. Current law also authorizes the State Board
of Education (SBE) to incorporate college and career readiness
indicators into the existing Academic Performance Index (API).
The SBE has until 2015 to make this change. Accordingly, the
committee may wish to consider whether the state should proceed
with the development and implementation of the recently-enacted
accountability system and measures before making further
changes.
Reason for this bill. According to the author's office, this
bill is needed to provide "an accountability system for the
ROCPs based upon best practices around the country, the federal
Carl Perkins' data collection requirements, and efforts by the
career education community and CDE to develop data points tied
to the State's CTE Standards adopted several years ago."
However, the accountability system established by this bill
would effectively apply only to one year, 2014-15. That's
because the requirements of this bill apply to districts and
COEs that provided funding for ROC/Ps in 2012-13 and are
therefore required to maintain at least that same level of
funding in 2013-14 and 2014-15. As a result, the requirements
of this bill will expire when the MOE requirement expires after
2014-15-the same year the evaluation required by this bill will
begin. In addition, if this bill is enacted, it will take
effect January 1, 2014-after the September 1 deadline for
reporting course information to the CDE for the 2013-14 school
year. This means the evaluation and reporting required by this
bill will occur once, in 2014-15.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Regional Occupational Centers and
Programs
California Association of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning
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Contractors' National Association
California State PTA
San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087