Education: career technical education and workforce development.

(1) Existing law prohibits a pupil from receiving a diploma of graduation from high school unless he or she completes specified requirements, including, but not limited to, completing one course in visual or performing arts or foreign language. This bill, commencing with the 2011–12 school year and until July 1, 2016, would add completion of a course in career technical education, as defined, as an alternative to the requirement that a pupil complete a course in visual or performing arts or foreign language. The bill would require the State Department of Education to report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2015, the number of pupils who took a career technical education course in order to fulfill this graduation requirement. (2) Under existing law, the public school system of the state includes, among other schools, secondary and technical schools. Existing law provides for various career technical and workforce preparation programs in the public schools. Existing law also establishes the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law declares that it is the intent of the Legislature that those institutions provide a collegiate experience that gives each student specified skills and that an undergraduate education prepare students to have the flexibility to adapt to, among other things, new workforce needs. Existing law establishes the California Workforce Investment Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system. Existing law declares that the board is appointed by the Governor to assist in the development of the State Workforce Investment Plan. This bill would require the California Workforce Investment Board, the Office of the Chancellor, and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to develop a strategic plan, containing specified elements, for connecting education and workforce development in the state. The bill would require the board and the Office of the Chancellor to cooperate with the State Department of Education, the California Postsecondary Education Commission, and representatives from education, business, and labor organizations to make specified recommendations in the strategic plan. The bill would require the board and the Office of the Chancellor to report their recommendations for the strategic plan to the Governor and the Legislature on or before July 1, 2011, and would require the Office of the Chancellor to provide the staffing and resources necessary for developing and reporting the strategic plan.