Career technical education: funding.

Existing law provides funding for various career technical education programs, including regional occupational centers and programs, specialized secondary programs, partnership academies, and agricultural career technical education programs. This bill would require county superintendents of schools and school districts, subject to existing expenditure requirements for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 fiscal years for the purpose of regional occupational centers or programs, to comply with specified requirements, including, among others, certifying to the State Department of Education that each course within a sequence is aligned with the California Career Technical Education Standards and, where appropriate, the Common Core State Standards. The bill would require the Superintendent to incorporate various factors and quality indicators into the accountability measures for regional occupational centers and programs, and would require the Superintendent to develop an evaluation instrument to evaluate the programs within each county office of education and school district commencing with the 2014–15 school year. By imposing new requirements on specified county superintendents of schools and school districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.