Senate Bill No. 923

Introduced by Senator Pavley

January 29, 2014

An act to add Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 33135) to Chapter 2 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to educational apprenticeships, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 923, as introduced, Pavley. Educational apprenticeships: Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Act.

Existing law establishes the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and specifies that the Superintendent is the ex officio Director of the State Department of Education. Under existing law, the State Department of Education administers numerous programs relating to elementary and secondary education.

This bill would enact the Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Act, pursuant to which a competitive grant, known as the Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Prize (EdPrize), would be awarded to applicant school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and community college campuses for purposes of promoting apprenticeships, preapprenticeships, and career pathways among local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and businesses of importance to local economies.

The bill would require the Superintendent to convene a committee, with designated membership, to establish criteria for awarding the EdPrize grants and administer the grant program. The bill would specify certain minimum criteria to determine the competitive value of an application for the grant. The bill would specify the amounts of the first, 2nd, and 3rd place annual grants.

The bill would specify certain responsibilities of grant recipients, including the formation of a committee to survey and evaluate local skilled workforce needs, the employment of a supervisor to evaluate business workforce needs and pupil outcomes, and the submission of an annual report to the State Department of Education and the legislative education policy committees.

The bill would appropriate $10,000,000 from the Career Pathways Trust Fund to the State Department of Education for the funding of grants issued pursuant to the Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Prize program established under the bill.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) As reported by Governing Magazine, the United States
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate of
Californians between 16 and 24 years of age stood at 20.2 percent,
which is the fourth highest in the nation.

(b) This high youth unemployment rate has affected young
people who either have not yet earned or will not earn a college
degree particularly hard, as the lack of opportunity can prevent
these young people from fully participating in society, thus
increasing costs for local and state agencies due to increased
reliance on social welfare and public safety resources.

(c) This lack of opportunity is likely to increase, as, according
to a study by Opportunity Nation, 60 percent of all jobs will require
at least an associate’s degree by 2018.

(d) Thousands of jobs across multiple, vital industrial sectors
have gone unfilled due to a shortage of well-trained skilled
workers, resulting in losses in productivity, costs to employers and
the public sector, and an overall erosion of the California and
national economy.

(e) According to a study by the Society for Human Resource
Management, 70 percent of California businesses across different
economic sectors stated that it was either somewhat difficult or
very difficult to fill certain positions, mostly due to applicants
lacking the skill sets needed to complete work tasks and
responsibilities.

(f) With a large percentage of the skilled workforce approaching
retirement age, the local, state, and national economies will be
facing an even greater skills gap than that which exists today.

(g) The dual needs of ensuring that young people are given the
opportunity to learn vital job skills and succeed professionally and
that our businesses have a large pool of skilled workers to fill
current and future workforce needs are relevant and interconnected
with each other.

(h) Local California educators, communities, and businesses
have long recognized this relevance and interconnectedness, have
experimented on a small scale with different models, and have
taken inspiration from the programs developed in other states like
Massachusetts and countries like Switzerland and Germany.

(i) Apprenticeships, preapprenticeship programs, and other
forms of work-based learning provide opportunities for pupils to
explore and begin careers in some of the fastest growing economic
sectors in the state, such as advanced manufacturing, computer
technology and IT services, energy efficiency, clean technology,
nursing and health care services, entertainment, the culinary arts
and hospitality, and banking and financial services.

(j) The current and future generations of Californians must be
given the opportunity to work and find avenues to gainful
employment in industrial areas relevant to their local communities
and in order to help them pursue a productive and satisfying future.

(k) The State of California, local communities, industry, and
youth would benefit from enhanced opportunities for students to
begin training for high-skill, high-wage jobs while enrolled in high
school.

(l) Preparing future generations for career placement and
workplace instruction is best determined by institutions of primary,
secondary, and postsecondary education working in conjunction
with local business, labor, and civic leaders.

SEC. 2.  

Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 33135) is added
to Chapter 2 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education
Code, to read:

 

Article 2.3.  Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Act

 

33135.  

This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Educational Apprenticeship Innovation Act.

33135.5.  

(a) There is hereby established the Educational
Apprenticeship Innovation Prize (EdPrize) for purposes of
promoting apprenticeships, preapprenticeships, and career pathways
between local educational agencies, institutions of higher
education, and businesses of importance to local economies. Grants
allocated for the EdPrize shall be distributed on a competitive
basis.

(b) The Superintendent shall convene a committee to establish
criteria, in addition to those listed in subdivision (c), for awarding
the EdPrize grants and administer the program. The members of
the committee shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing
authority, and shall include all of the following:

(1) The Superintendent, or his or her designee, who shall serve
as the chairperson.

(2) A member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.

(3) A member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.

(4) A member appointed by the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards of the Department of Industrial Relations.

(5) A member appointed by the California Workforce Investment
Board.

(6) A member appointed by the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges.

(7) Both of the following members, appointed by the
Superintendent:

(A) A representative of an organization representing school
administrators.

(B) A representative of the California School Boards
Association.

(c) The committee shall use, at minimum, all of the following
criteria to determine the competitive value of an application:

(1) The ability of the proposed program to provide at least two
years of apprenticeship, preapprenticeship, or other forms of
workforce training to eligible high school pupils in grades 11 and
12 or the ability to provide eligible high school pupils with a career
and educational pathways to a campus of the California Community
Colleges.

(2) The ability to place eligible high school pupils in
apprenticeships, preapprenticeships, internships, and work-place
learning environments in fields determined to be of local economic
importance, as determined through data and evidence-driven
analysis.

(3) The ability of the proposed program to provide eligible high
school pupils the opportunity to work in an economic sector with
gainful employment opportunities.

(4) The ability of the proposal to address the needs of the local
or regional labor market and help competitive and emerging
industry sectors and industry clusters, or to the state’s need to fill
skills gaps and skills shortages in the economy, including skills
gaps and shortages at the regional level.

(5) An assessment of the past performance of the applying
entities if the agency has been awarded other economic and
workforce development grants or other state grants, including an
assessment of whether the grantee’s previous awards produced
project deliverables specified in prior grant applications.

(6) The ability to create a written agreement among the applicant
entities, the participating eligible high school pupils or their
parents, and participating employers in order to ensure commitment
to the pupil’s academic and professional success, and ensure the
successful completion of the apprenticeship, preapprenticeship,
work-based learning program, or educational pathway.

(7) The ability to provide participating eligible high school
pupils with a worksite mentor to help train, guide, and supervise
the pupil.

(d) Grants allocated pursuant to this section shall be distributed
over a five-year period in the following amounts:

(1) First place grant recipient: seven hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($750,000) per fiscal year. No more than one applicant
shall receive the first place grant in any fiscal year.

(2) Second place grant recipients: three hundred seventy-five
thousand dollars ($375,000) per fiscal year. No more than two
applicants shall receive the second place grant in any fiscal year.

(3) Third place grant recipients: one hundred twenty-five
thousand dollars ($125,000) per fiscal year. No more than four
applicants shall receive the third place grant in any fiscal year.

(e) Grants allocated pursuant to this section shall be used to
support the instructional, material, labor, regulatory, and
administrative costs of the apprenticeship, preapprenticeship,
work-based learning, or educational pathway. During the first
fiscal year of allocation, grants allocated pursuant to this section
may be used for planning purposes or to establish and formalize
partnerships among the applicant entities, local businesses, and
postsecondary educational institutions.

33136.  

(a) An entity applying for funding pursuant to Section
33135.5 shall be required to form a committee to survey and
evaluate local skilled workforce needs. This committee shall
include all of the following: representatives of business
organizations, a representative from the local Workforce
Investment Board in whose territory the school is located, a
representative of the local county office of education,
representatives from the faculty and administrative staff of local
elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational institutions,
a member to represent parents, and a member to represent pupils.

(b) Upon receiving grant funding through the EdPrize program,
the applicant entity shall employ a supervisor to evaluate business
workforce needs and pupil outcomes. The supervisor shall be
responsible for all of the following:

(1) Making recommendations for coordinating the curriculum
and pupil services in a way that addresses business workforce
needs and maximizes pupil outcomes.

(2) Ensuring the transferability of course credits and adherence
to statewide standards.

(3) Establishing an outreach program for pupils in grades 8, 9,
and 10.

(4) Ensuring that the curriculum includes coursework that is
applicable to a certificate program, or to a two-year degree
program.

(c) A recipient of grant funding pursuant to this article shall
submit a report to the department, the Senate Committee on
Education, and the Assembly Committee on Education annually
during the lifetime of the grant. These reports shall include, but
not necessarily be limited to, information on all of the following:

(1) Apprenticeships, preapprenticeships, and work-based
learning programs the applicant entities offered, the economic
sector and targeted workforce need, and the participating employer
or employers.

(2) An assessment of the educational and training goals, the
projected numbers of pupils and workers served and the projected
rates of course and program completion, and the projected wages
and rate of employment placement for those entering the labor
market.

(3) An assessment of the purported beneficial impacts on
participating businesses, which may include a review of the grant’s
purported impacts on any of the following: increased labor
productivity, and personnel or workforce needs addressed through
the apprenticeship, preapprenticeship, or work-based learning
program.

(4) An assessment of the educational attainment of the pupils
served, including the percentage who earned a certificate or
associate’s degree, transfer-readiness, and the projected rate of
skills attainment for certificates and degrees.

(5) The long-term viability of the apprenticeship,
preapprenticeship, work-based learning program, or educational
pathway established under this article, ability to attract material,
in-kind, or financial support from private and philanthropic sources,
areas for improvement, and possible expansion into other economic
sectors of local importance.

33136.5.  

As used in this article:

(a) “Eligible high school pupil” means a pupil in grade 11 or
12 who has passed, or is exempt from, the high school exit
examination administered under Section 60851 and is satisfactorily
meeting the requirements of Section 51225.3.

(b) “Entity” means a school district, county office of education,
charter school, or campus of the California Community Colleges,
applying for funding under this article.

SEC. 3.  

The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is hereby
appropriated from the Career Pathways Trust Fund to the State
Department of Education, without regard to fiscal year, for the
funding of grants issued pursuant to the Educational Apprenticeship
Innovation Prize program established pursuant to Article 2.3
(commencing with Section 33135) of Chapter 2 of Part 20 of
Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code.