BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 923
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Date of Hearing: June 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 923 (Pavley) - As Amended: June 17, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Educational apprenticeships: Educational
Apprenticeship Innovation Act
SUMMARY : Establishes the Educational Apprenticeship Innovation
Prize (EdPrize) as a competitive grant program for purposes of
promoting apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and career
pathways between local educational agencies (LEAS), institutions
of higher education, and businesses of importance to local
economies. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations relating to high rates of
youth unemployment; the lack of opportunity to earn a college
degree and its likelihood of preventing 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 resource; 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; 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 futures.
2)Establishes EdPrize as a competitive grant program for
purposes of promoting apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships,
and career pathways between LEAS, institutions of higher
education, and businesses of importance to local economies.
3)Specifies the minimum criteria that the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) must use to determine the competitive
value of an application, including the ability of the proposed
program to do all of the following:
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a) Provide at least two years of apprenticeship,
pre-apprenticeship, or other forms of workforce training to
eligible pupils;
b) Place eligible pupils in apprenticeship,
pre-apprenticeship, or other forms of workforce training in
fields of local economic importance, as specified;
c) Provide eligible pupils with the opportunity to work in
an economic sector with gainful employment opportunities or
academic pathways that lead to either a certificate or an
associate degree;
d) Address the needs of the local or regional labor market;
e) Collaborate and include businesses, workforce investment
boards, labor or trade organizations, or postsecondary
educational institutions of local importance in the
development and operation of the program;
f) Provide a performance assessment of any programs
established or operated using past economic or workforce
development grants;
g) Create a written agreement among the applicant entities,
eligible pupils or their parents, and participating
employers in order to ensure commitment of the pupil's
academic and professional success and ensure the successful
completion of the apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship,
work-based learning program, or educational pathway;
h) Provide participating eligible pupils with a worksite
mentor; and
i) Continue after the expiration of the grant funding.
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4)Defines the terms "eligible high school pupil" and "entity"
for the purposes of this article.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes various CTE programs for public schools including
but not limited to regional occupational centers and programs
(ROC/Ps), partnership academies, adult education programs, and
CTE programs in high schools and community colleges.
2)Requires each school district maintaining any of grades 7 -
12, inclusive, to offer to all otherwise qualified pupils
courses of study that provide pupils an opportunity to attain
entry-level employment skills in business or industry upon
graduation from high school.
3)Requires school districts to spend no less in 2013-14 and
2014-15 than they did in 2012-13 on ROC/Ps. If districts
received funding for ROCPs through a JPA, they must continue
to pass through those funds to the JPA in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
4)Establishes the California Career Pathways Trust which
appropriated $250 million in one-time funds in the form of a
competitive grant for expenditure in the 2013-14 fiscal year
through the 2015-16 fiscal year, inclusive.
5)Makes grants available under the California Career Pathways
Trust for programs that accomplish any of the following:
a) Fund specialists in work-based learning that connects
school districts, county offices of education, charter
schools, and community colleges with business entities;
b) Establish regional collaborative relationships and
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partnerships with business entities, community
organizations, and local institutions of postsecondary
education;
c) Develop and integrate standards-based academics with a
career-relevant, sequenced curriculum following
industry-themed pathways that are aligned to high-need,
high-growth, or emerging regional economic sectors;
d) Provide articulated pathways to postsecondary education
aligned with regional economies; or
e) Build on existing structures, requirements, and
resources of the Carl D. Perkins, California Partnership
Academies, and ROC/Ps, including staff knowledge, community
relationships, and course development.
1)Requires recipients of the California Career Pathways Trust
and the SPI to report to the Department of Finance, and to
relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature,
outcome measures, which shall include, but are not necessarily
be limited to, pupil and student academic performance
indicators, the number and rate of school or program
graduates, attainment of certificates, transfer readiness,
postsecondary enrollment, and transitions to appropriate
employment, apprenticeships, or job training.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to Senate Appropriations Committee,
this measure would have the following fiscal effects:
1)Grants: Substantial ongoing costs, likely in the millions to
tens of millions of dollars; to the extent funds are
appropriated in the annual Budget Act.
2)Program administration: Approximately $85,000 (General Fund)
in annual CDE costs to administer the program.
COMMENTS :
Career Technical Education
With the dramatic changes in business and industry processes and
procedures, as well as expectations from employers for those
preparing to enter the 21st century workforce, the SBE adopted
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revised CTE Model Curriculum Standards in January, 2013. These
CTE standards, although common to all, are customized to better
reflect the specific conditions and expectations of each
industry sector. Standards for Career Ready Practices, within
the CCSS, are intended for all students and are in response to
the expectation of career and college readiness upon completion
of the high school experience.
Under current law, districts are required to adopt alternative
means for pupils to complete the prescribed course of study
which may include practical demonstration of skills and
competencies, supervised work experience or other outside school
experience, CTE classes, courses offered by ROC/Ps,
interdisciplinary study, independent study, and credit earned at
a postsecondary institution. Districts also have the option of
adopting alternatives for pupils to complete high school
graduation requirements.
Apprenticeships
According to the author, youth unemployment is one of the most
serious challenges to California's economic recovery. Last
year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 20% of
Californians age 16-24 were neither working nor in school,
creating the fourth-highest youth unemployment rate in the
nation. Yet, despite this large, untapped demographic,
businesses often cite that young applicants do not have the job
skills needed to succeed. This lack of opportunity prevents
young people from fully participating in society and can stunt
professional and personal growth. To address this problem,
this bill , looks to model programs in Switzerland and Germany
which have run world renowned apprenticeship programs that are
successful in helping students develop work skills and find job
placements; Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Minnesota have
also developed successful programs.
Those model European programs have created far-reaching,
high-quality apprenticeship programs that connect young people
to well-paying careers. The German system of education and
training is renowned, and around 70 percent of Swiss young
people enter the labor market through some form of vocational
apprenticeship training. In his 2014 State of the Union address,
President Obama called for expanded access to apprenticeships
and improved job training programs at community colleges that
are better-aligned with the skills that employers demand. This
bill takes a small step in this direction.
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Committee Considerations
This bill duplicates much of the current pilot program
authorized as the California Career Pathways Trust. The
existing program, like this bill, encourages the establishment
of career pathways that include apprenticeship programs. While
this bill places an increased focus on the apprenticeship aspect
of career education, the committee may wish to consider whether
another grant program is wise until the results of the
California Career Pathways Trust program have been reported and
a more informed approach to CTE can be taken.
Related Legislation
SB 897 (Steinberg) of 2014, in relevant part, codifies the
California Career Pathways Trust. This bill is set for hearing
in the Assembly Education Committee on June 25.
AB 2033 (Salas) of 2013, pursuant to the Agricultural Career
Technical Education Incentive Program , require the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to award a grant to a
school district that, in addition to meeting the existing
requirements of the grant program, demonstrates how the
expenditure of the grant funds will be consistent with its
adopted local control and accountability plan. This bill is
pending in the Senate Agricultural Committee and has also been
referred to the Senate Education Committee.
AB 1950 (Campos) of 2014, establishes the Career Education
Incentive Program under the administration of the CDE and
authorizes school districts, county offices of education,
charter schools, and community college districts to establish
career education consortia. The bill authorizes these consortia
to be organized as joint powers agencies. and requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, in developing the program,
to consider requiring consortia, as a condition of the receipt
of funds, to annually report certain information to the
governing boards of the member local educational agencies,
including member community college districts. This bill failed
passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Prior Legislation
SB 660 (Hancock) of 2013, establishes new reporting
requirements, effective for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal
years, for county offices of education and school districts that
operate or participate in ROC/Ps. This bill was set for hearing
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in the Assembly Education Committee on August 14, 2013, but was
cancelled at the request of the author.
AB 1330 (Furutani), Chapter 621, Statutes of 2011, adds CTE, 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 sunsets these provisions
on January 1, 2017. The Assembly Education Committee passed
this bill by a vote of 8-0.
SB 253 (Wyland) of 2009, authorizes school districts and county
offices of education to offer pupils a CTE certificate upon
meeting specified requirements. The Assembly Education
Committee passed this bill by a vote of 11-0. The bill died in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 381 (Wright) of 2009, requires districts adopting a college
preparation curriculum for high school graduation to require
students to also complete CTE courses in order to earn a high
school diploma. The Assembly Education Committee passed this
bill by a vote of 6-3. The bill died in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SB 515 (Hancock) of 2009, requires that at least half of
sequenced CTE courses that are linked to regional or state high
priority workforce needs. The Assembly Education Committee
passed this bill by a vote of 9-0. This measure was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger with the following veto message:
I am returning Senate Bill 515 without my
signature.
During my Administration, I have worked to
revitalize career technical education (CTE)
programs throughout the state by increasing
funding for programs and facilities, streamlining
the credentialing process for teachers, and
supported expansion of existing programs. I
believe that current law provides sufficient
safeguards to ensure that the courses and
programs offered to our students lead them to
opportunities in the workforce or postsecondary
education. Placing additional restrictions on CTE
programs could prevent them from qualifying for
funding, limit expansion, or result in
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termination for non-compliance.
For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
SB 725 (Hancock) of 2009, authorizes ROC/Ps to offer
apprenticeship preparation programs. This bill died in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 2448 (Hancock), Chapter 527, Statutes of 2006, refocuses
ROC/P services to high school students and ensure the courses
are part of occupational course sequences. The Assembly
Education Committee passed this bill by a vote of 9-0.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Association of University Women
Butte County Office of Education
California School Employees Association
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087