Partnership academies: Clean Technology and Renewable Energy Job Training, Career Technical Education, and Dropout Prevention Program.

(1) Existing law establishes the partnership academies program as a school-business partnership program to provide occupational training to educationally disadvantaged high school pupils. Under existing law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is required to award grants to school districts maintaining high schools to plan, establish, and maintain these partnership academies. Existing law establishes the Renewable Resource Trust Fund as a fund that is continuously appropriated, with certain exceptions for administrative expenses, in the State Treasury, requires that certain moneys collected to support renewable energy resources through the public goods charge, as defined, are deposited into the fund, and authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to expend the moneys pursuant to the renewable energy resources program. This bill would require the Controller annually to allocate $8,000,000 from the Renewable Resource Trust Fund or other related fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for expenditure in the form of grants to school districts to be allocated pursuant to the existing provisions for creating and maintaining partnership academies. If funds from the Renewable Resource Trust Fund are insufficient to fully meet that funding requirement in specified fiscal years, the bill would require the Controller to allocate the balance of funds required to meet the funding requirement from the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund for these purposes. The bill would require the Superintendent to award grants, as specified, to school districts that propose to implement or maintain a partnership academy that focuses on employment in clean technology businesses and renewable energy businesses and provides skilled workforces for the products and services for energy or water conservation, or both, renewable energy, pollution reduction, or other technologies. The bill would require the Energy Commission, no later than 60 days after the effective date of these provisions, in consultation with the Superintendent, to adopt guidelines to ensure that programs receiving grants reflect current state energy policies and priorities as well as provide skills and education linked to the needs of relevant industries. The bill would authorize a school district to apply for planning grants for implementing a partnership academy and would allow the Superintendent to expend up to 5% of the funds transferred to the Superintendent to pay the costs incurred in the administration of this program. The bill would require the Superintendent, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to provide a report to the Legislature that includes a description of the curriculum and substance of the programs funded by grants awarded pursuant to these provisions, and specified data. The bill would provide that the bill's provisions would become inoperative on June 30, 2017, and, as of January 1, 2018, would repeal these provisions. (2) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. Governor Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on December 6, 2010. Governor Brown issued a proclamation on January 20, 2011, declaring and reaffirming that a fiscal emergency exists and stating that his proclamation supersedes the earlier proclamation for purposes of that constitutional provision. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared and reaffirmed by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 20, 2011, pursuant to the California Constitution.