California Assembly Bill AB646 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: AB 646AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 16, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 6, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cooley FEBRUARY 21, 2013 An act to add  and repeal  Chapter 1.3 (commencing with Section 10050)  of   to  Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1 of  , and to add and repeal Section 10051 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, as defined, 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   Contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another statute, this  bill would require the 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.  These provisions would be repealed on July 1, 2020.   The provisions of the bill would be repealed on January 1, 2020.  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. 10051. (a)  The   Contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another statute, 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.