Career technical education: California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program: Strong Workforce Program.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program, administered by the State Department of Education, with the purpose of encouraging, maintaining, and strengthening the delivery of high-quality career technical education programs. Existing law provides, for the 2021–22 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, that $300,000,000 shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the program. Existing law requires an applicant to demonstrate a proportional dollar-for-dollar match and sets that amount for the 2021–22 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, at $2 for every $1 received from the program. Existing law prohibits an applicant from being awarded an amount higher than the amount that the allocation formula determines them to be eligible to receive under the program. This bill instead would provide, for the 2024–25 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, that $450,000,000 shall be made available to the department upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the program. The bill would reduce the proportional match for the 2023–24 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, to $1 for regional occupational centers or programs operated by a joint powers authority or those operated by a county office of education, and to $1.50 for local educational agencies. The bill would delete the prohibition against an applicant being awarded more than the amount determined by the allocation formula. (2) Existing law requires grant applicants to meet minimum requirements, including, among other things, reporting to the Superintendent of Public Instruction data on the number of pupils completing career technical education coursework. This bill would require applicants to additionally report data on the number of pupils completing a career technical education pathway consisting of a sequence of 2 or more career technical education courses in the same career technical education subject matter discipline. (3) Existing law requires the Superintendent to take specified actions for purposes of administering the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program. This bill would require the Superintendent to establish, in collaboration with the executive director of the State Board of Education, a stakeholder workgroup on or before January 31, 2024, to consider and provide recommendations on methods to simplify the allocation of funding under the program and maximize career technical education opportunities for pupils, as provided, and to report those recommendations to the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Department of Finance, and the Governor by July 1, 2024. The bill would require the Superintendent to ensure a level of professional staffing within the department that is dedicated to career technical education, sufficient to effectively administer the program and other federal and state career technical education programs, as specified. (4) Existing law requires the K–12 Workforce Pathway Coordinators and the K–14 Technical Assistance Providers to provide technical assistance and support to grant recipients, as provided. This bill would, commencing with the 2024–25 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, instead require $12,000,000 to be made available to the department, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute, to provide regional career technical education coordinators for the provision of technical assistance and support to local educational agencies in implementing all of their career technical education courses, programs, and pathways, as provided. (5) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes the Strong Workforce Program to provide funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts, as specified. Existing law also establishes a K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program. Existing law provides that, commencing with the 2018–19 fiscal year, the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the K–12 component of the program is used to create, support, or expand high-quality career technical education programs at the K–12 level that are aligned with the workforce development efforts occurring through the program. This bill would, as of July 1, 2024, repeal the K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program and would require the administration of any outstanding allocations for the K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program to be administered by the department pursuant to the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program.