BILL NUMBER: SB 747 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 9, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 28, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Romero
(Coauthor: Senator Hancock)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add and repeal Section 8157 of the Education Code,
relating to career technical education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 747, as amended, Romero. Career technical education: pilot
preapprentice aerospace machining program.
Existing law establishes the Health Science and Medical Technology
Project, administered by the State Department of Education to
provide competitive grant funds to California public schools to
enhance existing or establish new health-related career pathway
programs.
This bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature
regarding California's aerospace workforce and trends in California'
s high schools. The bill would create a pilot preapprentice aerospace
machining program, administered by the California Labor and
Workforce Development Agency , and implemented by the
California Community Colleges system, to provide career
technical education to high school pupils in the form of machining
and related curriculum that can be applied to various manufacturing
industries in California, including, but not limited to, aerospace
manufacturing, as specified. The program would be funded by a
combination of private nonprofit and public funds, as specified, that
would be deposited into the Machinist Investment Fund, which would
be created by this bill. The bill would provide that implementation
of the program would be contingent upon receipt of sufficient federal
funding. Grants would be competitively awarded to community colleges
based upon specified criteria, including their ability to address
the existing local and regional industry manufacturing needs, while
providing meaningful career technical education opportunities for
at-risk youth. The bill would require the Chancellor's Office of the
California Community Colleges system to develop preapprenticeship
curriculum in aerospace technology, and machining technology
generally. The model curriculum would be required to meet
specified criteria result in the issuance of a
certificate of completion stating that the holder has completed
curriculum that meets specified criteria . The bill would
specify that, consistent with federal guidelines, each community
college shall complete an evaluation of its participation in the
pilot program on or before the end date of the grant award, and
submit the evaluation to the Chancellor's office by that date.
The Chancellor's office would be required to compile the information
provided by the participating community colleges, and to submit an
evaluation to the Legislature by December 1, 2013. The bill
would provide that its provisions would remain in effect until
January 1, 2015.
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. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Despite the departure of several companies since the military
base closures of the early 1990s, the aerospace industry remains a
vital component of California's economy, representing at least
370,000 jobs statewide and a minimum of thirty-two billion dollars
($32,000,000,000) annually in gross domestic product.
(b) There will be a dearth of skilled machinists and technicians
to work in the aerospace industry as the baby boomers begin to retire
over the next decade.
(c) The aerospace industry is currently addressing its labor needs
by luring skilled labor away from competing companies.
(d) The highly skilled labor sought by the aerospace industry is
represented by a finite, aging pool of employees who, under current
conditions, will not be readily replaced by younger workers.
(e) The continued growth of the aerospace industry is pivotal to
California's future prosperity.
(f) Unless the Legislature acts to address labor workforce needs
in this sector, the aerospace industry will continue to leave
California or import a far greater proportion of foreign labor, in
either case, causing significant damage to the state's economy.
(g) California's high schools are struggling with a dropout rate
of 21 percent.
(h) A significant factor in California's dropout rate is the
existence of curriculum that does not engage pupils with some
immediate, real-world application.
(i) Pupils who drop out of high school are often unable to find
suitable entry-level employment and have little chance of continuing
on to higher education, and there is a strong chance that they will
ultimately join California's prison population, given the statistic
that at least two-thirds of the current inmate population does not
possess a high school diploma.
(j) The dropout rate is likely to hold, and possibly worsen,
unless the state acts to provide hands-on high school curriculum with
cross-over mathematics and science applications, that also provides
an avenue to both higher education in related disciplines, and to
skilled, high-wage employment.
SEC. 2. Section 8157 is added to the Education Code, to read:
8157. (a) There is hereby established a pilot preapprentice
aerospace machining program that shall provide career technical
education to high school pupils in the form of machining and related
curriculum that can be applied to various manufacturing industries in
California, including, but not limited to, aerospace manufacturing.
The curriculum shall include, but not be limited to, the following
green technologies in aerospace manufacturing:
(1) Use of computers to assist in metalworking to eliminate waste
of aluminum, titanium, and other costly strategic metals in the
manufacturing process.
(2) Training in the machining of lighter, strategic metals,
including titanium and composites, to reduce weight and increase
aircraft fuel efficiency.
(3) Training in the fabrication of more energy-efficient aircraft
ventilation, heating, and cooling systems.
(b) The program shall be funded by a combination of private
nonprofit and public funds, specifically
including, but not limited to, federal funds in the form of
competitively awarded community-based job training grants from the
Employment and Training Administration within the Department of
Labor, as well as funds made available to the states as part of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. All funds
appropriated for the purposes of this program shall be deposited into
the Machinist Investment Fund, which is hereby created.
(c) The pilot program and the Machinists Investment Fund shall be
administered by the California Labor and Workforce Development
Agency.
(d) Implementation of the pilot program established by this
section shall be contingent upon receipt of sufficient federal
funding.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose a mandate
on local workforce investment boards with regard to how they will
spend Workforce Investment Act funds, including funds made available
to them through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the pilot program
established by this section shall have as its goal the development of
an industry-based sector strategy to address labor needs in the
manufacturing industry generally and in the aerospace industry in
particular, specifically the need for trained machinists, and that
the Labor and Workforce Development Agency shall focus on efforts to
assist in this strategy.
(g) The California Workforce Investment Board is encouraged, in
collaboration with local workforce investment boards, industry, and
community colleges, to seek and apply for funds for related
industry-based sector strategies.
(h) Community colleges, in partnership with local,
local workforce investment boards, employers,
and high schools, shall apply for grants that shall be competitively
awarded based upon a number of criteria, including, but not limited
to:
(1) A detailed explanation regarding what actions the applicant
will take to ensure that it will meet the objectives of the program,
specifically, the ability to address the existing local and regional
industry manufacturing needs, while providing meaningful career
technical education opportunities for at-risk youth that are likely
to lead to employment after participation and to position pupils for
admission to additional higher education in a related field.
(2) Whether the adopted preapprenticeship curriculum in aerospace
technology, and machining technology generally, conforms to the model
curriculum developed by the Chancellor's Office of the California
Community Colleges system pursuant to subdivision (i).
(3) Inclusion of an aggressive outreach plan demonstrating the
degree to which the pupils targeted to receive instruction may be
considered at risk, based upon factors such as prior academic
achievement, socioeconomic background, and school disciplinary
record. Special weight may be given to the specific media employed to
reach the target pupil population.
(4) Evidence that the application will advance an industry sector
strategy for addressing current and future labor needs, as well as
provide career paths for potential employees in the manufacturing
industry consistent with Division 8 (commencing with Section 15000)
of the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(5) Evidence that the industry sector will benefit from the
regional economy in which it is located.
(6) The ability of the community college campus or of a regional
occupational center to provide sufficient in-house expertise and
laboratory facilities to teach the required curriculum.
(7) The availability and willingness of a local machinists union
to actively participate in program-related activities, including, but
not limited to, technical assistance for curriculum development,
mentoring, and recruiting pupils as future journeymen upon completion
of the preapprentice curriculum.
(8) Whether there are opportunities to build on existing
partnerships with local high schools in the region.
(i) The Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges
system shall develop preapprenticeship curriculum in aerospace
technology, and machining technology generally. The model curriculum
shall meet the standard for the awarding upon its conclusion
of a National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) certificate.
Individual result in the issuance of a certificate of
completion stating that the holder has completed curriculum that
meets the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) standard.
Upon completion of the curriculum, community colleges shall
administer to students a NIMS examination that, if passed, will
result in the issuance of a NIMS certificate. Individual
colleges wishing to participate in the pilot program established by
this section shall have the option of adopting the model curriculum
developed by the Chancellor's office or adopting an alternative
curriculum that meets the standard for NIMS certification.
(j) The applications of individual community colleges applying for
the federal grant moneys under the pilot program established in this
section shall be reviewed by the Labor and Workforce Development
Agency, in consultation with the Chancellor's office, and ranked
based on criteria which shall include, but not be limited to, all of
the following:
(1) The proximity to aerospace and other manufacturers with
machining labor needs.
(2) The ability of the community college campus or of a regional
occupational center to provide sufficient in-house expertise and
laboratory facilities to teach the required curriculum.
(3) The willingness and availability of a local machinists union
to actively participate in program-related activities, including, but
not limited to, technical assistance for curriculum development,
mentoring, and recruiting pupils as future journeymen upon completion
of the preapprentice curriculum.
(4) Whether there
are opportunities to build on existing partnerships with local high
schools in the region. the certificate of completion.
(k)
(j) To provide maximum flexibility at the local level
regarding the details of implementation, community college campuses
selected for receipt of a competitive grant, in consultation with
area high schools, shall identify the location at which instruction
shall occur, whether on the high school campus, at a regional
occupation center, or at a community college. Factors such as
availability of curriculum, instructors, lab facilities, and
transportation may be considered.
(l)
(k) To the degree consistent with federal guidelines,
the community-based job training grant award recipients shall reserve
10 percent of the funds received for an evaluation component. Each
community college, in consultation with its local workforce
investment board, shall complete an evaluation of its participation
in the pilot program on or before the end date of the grant award,
and submit it to the Chancellor's office by that date. The
Chancellor's office shall compile the information provided by
participating community colleges and submit an evaluation to the
Legislature by December 1, 2013. The evaluation shall include
all of the following:
(1) A report of the number of students who received training.
(2) The number of students who completed training and received a
NIMS certificate.
(3) The number of private companies participating in the training,
either via in-kind equipment donations, mentorship and apprentice
activities, or other support.
(4) The number of students who obtained related employment
otherwise secured placement in a machining apprentice program as a
result of the training.
(m)
(l) This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or
extends that date.