# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Official Website - Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell Representing the 70th California Assembly District

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Please join Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, and Assemblymember Autumn Burke, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Career Technical Education, for an informational hearing on The Future of K-12 Career Technical Education (CTE) in California. CTE prepares students for the world of work by introducing them to workplace competencies, and makes academic content accessible to students by providing it in a hands-on context. In this way students develop career-relevant, real-world 21st Century skills.

The hearing, jointly hosted by the Assembly Education Committee, the Assembly Budget Sub-Committee on Education Finance, and the Assembly Select Committee on Career Technical Education, will provide an overview of the current state of CTE in California schools and will showcase a number of successful CTE programs. Finally, the hearing will include a discussion of the challenges and barriers facing CTE in the future, including the need for ongoing funding as 2017-18 is the third and final year of authorized state funding for the Career Technical Education Grant Program.

There will be an opportunity for public comment at the conclusion of the hearing.
Monday, October 2, 2017
1:00 - 3:00 pm
Buena Park High School
Performing Arts Center
8833 Academy Drive
Buena Park, CA 90621 View Agenda + Legislative Analyst's Office Overview +
For more information, please contact Marisol Barajas at Marisol.Barajas@asm.ca.gov or (562) 429-0470.

This event will be streamed live:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Informational Hearing: The Future of K-12 Career Technical Education in California

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Please join Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, and Assemblymember Autumn Burke, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Career Technical Education, for an informational hearing on The Future of K-12 Career Technical Education (CTE) in California.

# data[].attributes.body
Jason's video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The best chefs in the world all share one thing in common: they've undergone training to perfect their craft. Working with food in the Coast Guard is no different. Once you make the decision to become an FS, you'll undergo 13 weeks of training at the Coast Guard culinary school in Petaluma, California.

During your training, you'll receive comprehensive instruction in culinary fundamentals and advanced techniques, including:

In addition to the culinary techniques you'll acquire, your training will also equip you with an in-depth understanding of accounting and purchasing, inventory management, military leadership, nutrition, and time management. That's in addition to the equipment, safety, sanitation, and dining-facility management training you will undergo. Further advanced culinary and leadership training is also available.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The best chefs in the world all share one thing in common: they've undergone training to perfect their craft. Working with food in the Coast Guard is no different. Once you make the decision to become an FS, you'll undergo 13 weeks of training at the Coast Guard culinary school in Petaluma, California.

# data[].attributes.body
Jason SIdell IDI

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
And this fall, students enrolled in simulated workplaces will need to participate in one of the program's boldest elements: random drug testing.

Given the extent of the state's opioid crisis, employers "wouldn't take anything we were doing seriously until we passed that hurdle," said Barry Crist, principal of the Fayette Institute of Technology in Oak Hill.

West Virginia's heavy push on vocational education comes as leaders of both parties have talked about making it a priority, a shift from the No Child Left Behind era of education reform, in which college for everyone was often the goal. In 2015, fewer than half of 25- to 34-year-olds nationwide had earned an associate or bachelor's degree, according to census figures.

"Vocational training is a great thing," President Trump said a week before Election Day. "We're going to start it up big league." In June, he signed an executive order that redirected federal job training funds toward apprenticeships, in which students learn skills at actual work sites.

Democrats, too, are talking about vocational training. The agenda they introduced in July, "A Better Deal," speaks of increasing support for "technical education that leads to a good job."

But Mr. Trump's budget calls for $166 million in cuts, a 15 percent reduction, in Perkins Act grants to the states, the government's main funding stream for technical education in high school and college. The House passed a bipartisan reauthorization of the Perkins program in June, but the bill has not moved forward in the Senate. Even if it passes, the legislation will represent a tweak to the program, not a substantial new commitment of the type Mr. Trump and Democrats have touted.

When it comes to technical education, the United States is an outlier compared with other developed nations. Only 6 percent of American high school students were enrolled in a vocational course of study, according to a 2013 Department of Education report. In the United Kingdom, 42 percent were on the vocational track; in Germany, it was 59 percent; in the Netherlands, 67 percent; and in Japan, 25 percent.

"We are so focused on academic routes as opposed to other routes that can be high quality," said Mary Alice McCarthy, director of the Center on Education and Skills at New America and a former official at the Education and Labor Departments. "There's a desperate need."

West Virginia has especially big challenges transitioning students to life after high school. According to the Social Science Research Council, 17 percent of the state's young adults are "disconnected," neither working nor in school, the second-highest rate among states, behind only New Mexico.

But in few other states have the changes in vocational education - now rebranded as "career and technical education" - been as dramatic. Thirty-seven percent of West Virginia high school seniors completed a technical course of study in 2016, up from 18 percent in 2010.

Many are now in simulated workplaces where they learn to work with stethoscopes, welding torches and drafting tables as well as more sophisticated technology.

As an eighth grader, Dillon Brasse, who will be a senior this fall, planned to enter the vocational track to learn masonry. But on a tour of the Fayette Institute, he was fascinated by the computer-assisted drafting classroom, where students work with a 3-D printer, a laser engraver, a vinyl cutter and professional computer software like AutoDesk's Inventor, which is used in product development.

In his classroom, Dillon said, music plays and students are permitted breaks throughout the day, like employees at a real work site. He and his classmates have designed and produced objects like saltshakers and fidget spinners, the faddish hand-held toys.

"It's a great experience," Dillon said, because "you're treated like an adult."

That treatment now includes drug testing. West Virginia policy makers say such testing prepares students for the work force, where employers are increasingly checking for drug use, though the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes mandatory testing, citing a "lack of solid evidence" for its effectiveness in helping teenagers avoid substances.

Rachel Peal, who graduated this spring from the pre-engineering simulated workplace program at the Fayette Institute, said the protocol kicked up little protest among her peers. They are well aware that opioid users can't get or hold down jobs, she said.

"A lot of kids and their families saw the struggle," she said. "It's an epidemic here."

Ron Foster, president of Foster Supply Inc., an 80-employee construction and fabrication firm, has hired eight graduates of the state's high school simulated workplace program over the past two years. They can earn as much as $15 per hour doing jobs such as welding and machinery repair.

Compared with previous hires, this group is more punctual and focused on building a career, Mr. Foster said. "If you're dedicated enough to go through that program, you're more apt to do a good, quality job," he said.

But far from being strictly a job training program for teenagers, classes like Advanced Career Energy and Power, the four-course sequence for which teachers were training at Marshall University, require math and physics instruction as rigorous as in the College Board's Advanced Placement track. Of the four teachers tinkering with the miniature boiler, three came from traditional math and science departments.

The hope is to prepare students for higher-skilled work. In the fracking industry, for example, they might qualify for jobs in equipment maintenance or environmental compliance instead of laying pipeline, an entry-level and sometimes dangerous job.

About half of the state's technical-track graduates go on to two- or four-year colleges. Dillon Brasse, for example, is now planning to pursue a bachelor's degree in engineering or architecture.

"There's so much technical information that's needed today," said Jeri Matheney, communications director for Appalachian Power, which runs coal, natural gas and hydropower plants in West Virginia. "Where we counted on just on-the-job training 50 years ago, that has changed."

The classes mimic the workplace in another way, one perhaps not intended. According to federal data from the 2015-16 school year, 90 percent of West Virginia high school technical students concentrating in science fields were male, while 89 percent of those concentrating in health fields were female.

And economists debate whether better vocational education, at either the high school or college level, can be a large-scale fix for underemployment. After all, if firms aren't hiring, even a highly skilled worker will struggle to land a job.

The energy sector is especially cyclical, a challenge for the Appalachian region. Nationwide, the number of jobs in coal and gas fell by more than a quarter between 2014 and 2016, and hiring is only now beginning to creep back up.

Still, West Virginia educators and policy makers are believers in the "skills gap" hypothesis.

Kathy D'Antoni, the state director for career and technical education since 2010, said a better-educated work force would attract new types of jobs to the state. And she would like to see more support from Washington targeted toward struggling rural states. In no state did Mr. Trump win a greater percentage of the vote than in West Virginia, with 68.5 percent.

Adjusted for inflation, West Virginia's funding through the Perkins Act has been flat since the program's inception in 1984, according to the state. Asked about the president's proposed cuts to Perkins, Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the federal Department of Education, said innovation in career and technical education would continue locally through "public-private partnerships" between schools and industry.

Ms. D'Antoni said she appreciated the attention Mr. Trump had given to vocational education. But, she said, "I want to see the action."

Correction: August 15, 2017

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Seeing Hope for Flagging Economy, West Virginia Revamps Vocational Track

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
And this fall, students enrolled in simulated workplaces will need to participate in one of the program's boldest elements: random drug testing. Given the extent of the state's opioid crisis, employers "wouldn't take anything we were doing seriously until we passed that hurdle," said Barry Crist, principal of the Fayette Institute of Technology in Oak Hill.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office is launching a statewide branding campaign for career technical education programs as called for in the Strong Work Force Task Force recommendations. The objective of the campaign is to:

Define and raise awareness among students, their influencers, key stakeholders and others about the variety of career pathways available through career technical education programs at California community colleges that can lead to good-paying jobs.

Increase awareness and engagement by business and union leaders for community college career technical education programs.

Working with regional consortia chairs and their lead communications and marketing representatives, the branding team is developing strategies and tactics leading up to a phased campaign launch starting in summer of 2017.

The purpose of this web site is to provide ongoing updates on the progress of the awareness campaign, provide an inventory of relevant background documents such as research findings, the original RFP and memos regarding use of local resources available through the "projects in common" guidance.

Research conducted by the Chancellor's Office in 2016 concluded that while awareness of the term CTE among students, prospective students and influencers is fairly high, knowledge of CTE offerings and benefits is extremely shallow. In short, lack of knowledge about CTE programs and opportunities is the biggest barrier to enrollment.

This campaign seeks to establish a statewide brand that lifts the profile of CTE and community colleges in general, while producing highly customizable assets in English and Spanish that regions and colleges can use to leverage the umbrella brand. Critical components of the awareness campaign include community and faith-based outreach and outreach to employers and organized labor.

We will be launching a landing page in May with more information about the Career Technical Education initiative and a full website in July, designed to be the go-to resource for all prospective students.

Jan: RFP, hired Ogilvy Public Relations

Feb/March: Initial planning, creative development on three concepts

April: Qualitative testing (completed 4/6), creative production, photo & video shoots

May: Launching microsite landing page, marketing update site (nanosite), quantitative testing

July: Launching paid media

July/August: Launch of full microsite

Fall: Online toolkit available

Paul Feist

Vice Chancellor for Communications and Marketing
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office is launching a statewide branding campaign for career technical education programs as called for in the Strong Work Force Task Force recommendations. The objective of the campaign is to: Define and raise awareness among students, their influencers, key stakeholders and others about the variety of career pathways available through career technical education programs at California community colleges that can lead to good-paying jobs.

# data[].attributes.headline
Best Practices and Innovations in CTE Conference

# data[].attributes.subject
Best Practices and Innovations in CTE Conference

# data[].attributes.body
Albequerque Spet 27-29, 2017

# data[].attributes.body
First Friday in October

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC) encourages all California manufacturers to participate in Manufacturing Day on October 7, 2016

# data[].attributes.body
SHUSD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Much of public schooling today is designed to prepare students to go to college, but not everyone is on a college track. Our district recognizes the need to prepare students for life beyond school, and our Career Technical Education program helps us do just that.

Four years ago, the school board and I worked hard to reinstate our wood shop and metal shop classes, and were only able to do so thanks to financial assistance from the Humboldt County Office of Education. HCOE gave SHUSD more than a quarter of a million dollars to cover personnel costs, upgrade the welding shop and wood shop, and purchase technology and supplies.

The second year after we started the program, the shop teacher had to go out on medical leave, so we brought in a substitute. The substitute didn't have much shop experience, so we asked a local machinist to help out.

Kenny Ingalls, a South Fork High School graduate, volunteered to teach the substitute some basic shop procedures and tool safety. Ingalls thought he'd help out for a few weeks at most, but months later he was still volunteering. He really liked the classroom environment.

At the end of the school year, the permanent shop teacher resigned and we asked Ingalls if he would be interested in becoming a CTE instructor. Thanks to the CTE program, his technical education and work experience made him eligible for this special credential.

STUDENT BECOME TEACHER

When he was younger, Ingalls didn't enjoy school and only attributes his interest in a college shop class to a friend's encouragement. Once he took that College of the Redwoods class, however, he was hooked. Inspired by the ability to make things, he pursued an associate degree, graduating with highest honors.

When Ingalls was informed by SHUSD that he could become our industrial arts teacher, he took on the challenge with enthusiasm. He brushed up on the few additional skills he needed to build a robust program, and he spent hours learning to use and repair the expensive machinery in the school's shop.

Today, Ingalls teaches students in junior high and high school, offering three sections of wood shop and two sections of welding, plus an introductory junior high shop class. The courses can only accept 16 students per class to keep everyone safe and make sure students get enough time with the tools. And Ingalls depends on student teaching assistants to keep an eye on the less experienced students. His classes have a waiting list.

He is building a curriculum that meets the rigorous CTE standards, including doing his best to connect students with internships in the community. He says it's difficult to find enough internships because our communities do not have many metal and carpentry businesses, but those who do are often willing to take on student interns.

WHO BENEFITS FROM THE TRAINING?

Last year, almost all South Fork High students who submitted projects at the annual Redwood Acres Youth Expo in Eureka received awards for their work. One female student won her category and was able to sell her sculpture.

Ingalls told me he likes having diversity of genders in the program. They often approach the work a bit differently, he explained, and always come up with really impressive projects. He personally bought a nightstand from one of his students because he liked it so much.

This year, he plans to take students to the Expo again. He envisions his students competing in Humboldt County's spring tradition, the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race one day. Until he can afford to support that, he'll continue to break his classes into teams and let them compete on campus.

HOW IS THIS FUNDED?

Funding is always a difficult topic, but Ingalls takes that in stride, too. This year, he asked experienced students to use some left-over wood to make cutting boards and sell them to raise money to buy new class materials. And when he explained his plight to the parents, many of them donated to the program.

Ingalls recently invited a representative from the nationwide trade school Universal Technical Institute to speak to his students.

"Part of CTE includes planning ahead, thinking about career options. Some of these students may decide technical school is a better fit than a traditional four-year college. I want to introduce them to as many options as possible," Ingalls said.

I am so pleased we've been able to bring back industrial arts classes to the students of Southern Humboldt, and I'm even more pleased to have found Mr. Ingalls, whose dedication and enthusiasm will grow the program for generations of trade professionals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Much of public schooling today is designed to prepare students to go to college, but not everyone is on a college track. Our district recognizes the need to prepare students for life beyond school, and our Career Technical Education program helps us d

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
CCC Career Education Regional Video - North-Far North

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is "CCC Career Education Regional Video - North-Far North" by California Community Colleges on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people...

# data[].attributes.headline
CBEDS COdes presentation from Carol Zachry

# data[].attributes.subject
CBEDS COdes presentation from Carol Zachry

# data[].attributes.body
Check for Bureau approved schools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
About Us - Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A website for the State of California, Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Income inequality is rising across the United States. There are many ways to measure this growing gap in pay, but there is broad-based evidence that it is real. California is an interesting laboratory for examining innovative ways to address the income inequality challenge. Many states and cities, including California, are raising the minimum wage as a policy lever. While raising the minimum wage can assist in addressing some of the income disparity, other market-based measures are required to have a meaningful, long-lasting solution in California and throughout the nation.

Boosting the skills of California workers, and for workers in other states, will pay dividends over the long term. Specifically, cost-effective opportunities in reducing income inequality and promoting economic growth in California can be developed by working with the California Community Colleges System and other postsecondary institutions by increasing postsecondary career technical education (CTE) through associate degree and certification programs.

Many factors underpin the expanding income gap. Globalization has exposed low-skilled California workers to foreign competition from Asia and other emerging economies; technological change has placed a greater value on highly skilled workers, lifting their wages relative to lower-skilled workers; institutional changes, such as the weakening of private-sector unions, have reduced workers' bargaining power; and the inflation adjusted minimum wage in California declined. http://assets1b.milkeninstitute.org/assets/Publication/ResearchReport/PDF/Career-Technical-Education.pdf

In 1979, the premium of having attended college or obtained an associate degree, compared to less than a high school education, was 34.3 percent, as measured by median weekly earnings in 2014 dollars of people 25 or older. By 2014, that same premium had widened to 55.9 percent. http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/more-education-still-means-more-pay-in-2014.htm

The state's community colleges play a vital role in providing workplace skills. Students can enroll in certification and degree programs in 350 fields of study. Additionally, the community colleges offer short-term training synchronized to third-party credentials, apprenticeship programs, and incumbent worker training to update skill sets in a variety of industrial sectors.

The California Community Colleges system was given an important assignment under the California Master Plan: preparing students for transfer to a four-year university. However, this legacy has left the system struggling to gain traction in garnering a similar level of support for its CTE and workforce mission.

The need for workers with such CTE training will grow. If current trends prevail, 1.9 million jobs, or 30 percent of all job openings in California by 2030, will require postsecondary education below the level of a four-year degree. http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/Home.aspx California's middle-skills education channel is falling behind relative to the skills and education demanded by employers now and for the future.

Herein lies the opportunity. The role that well-aligned CTE programs can play in reducing wage inequality is illustrated by a comparison of wages earned by workers with CTE degrees versus those with more general associate degrees. Based on information from the California Community Colleges, a CTE associate degree (AA) on average results in annual wages of $66,000 five years later, while a general AA yields just $38,500, a premium of 71.4 percent. http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/Executive/StudentSuccessTaskForce/SSTF_Final_Report_1-17-12_Print.pdf

Given the vast differences in the composition of industry clusters around the state, it is essential to base CTE programs on regional needs. For example, the entertainment cluster in Los Angeles requires programs in such areas as graphic design and special-effects production while the information and communications technology sectors of the San Francisco Bay Area demand CTE programs aligned with their needs.

Although lawmakers and other senior policy officials are aware of the critical need for CTE offerings, efforts to increase funding to expand CTE programs have been insufficient. In many respects, CTE courses are discouraged because they usually are more expensive due to equipment requirements such as machine tools, medical equipment, digital editing bays, etc.

The funding formula for California community colleges is based on a constant rate per full-time-equivalent student and includes required annual enrollment targets. The result: A financing disincentive is institutionalized for CTE programs because a similar dollar allocation is extended across more non-CTE courses. This funding imbalance has clearly played a role in restriction of CTE course offerings.

It is necessary to institute a funding mechanism that sustains community colleges' capacity to create, adjust, and maintain CTE courses and programs that are responsive to regional industry market requirements. Adequate funding of equipment and facilities must be provided through a new, sustainable funding stream by partnering with industry cluster representatives. A formula could be developed where regional industry businesses match any increase in state CTE funding above the average of non-CTE programs. Additional financial incentives may need to be provided to institutions based on the percentage of graduates hired by regional firms.

California's community colleges have a strong career technical education mission and, with added emphasis and sustained funding support, are well positioned to close the existing and impending wage and skills gaps. Along with efforts to improve California community college transfer success, we must adjust how the state communicates with nontraditional students, adult learners, and their families on the value of CTE/workforce programs to their short- and long-term career objectives.

An increase in funding for CTE funding in California and throughout the county would be among the highest rates of return for reducing income disparity, boosting economic growth and future tax bases. We need our elected officials and businesses to provide leadership.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Address Income Inequality through Investing in CTE Skills Training

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Income inequality is rising across the United States. There are many ways to measure this growing gap in pay, but there is broad-based evidence that it is real. California is an interesting laboratory for examining innovative ways to address the income inequality challenge.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
EGUSD EXPLORE | YOUR FUTURE STARTS HERE | EGUSD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Being in MPTA has taught me many new skills that I can apply in the real world. This academy has changed my approach to projects and their complications for the better. Working in groups have improved my social skills and offered me many opportunities to creatively express myself in a life-like environment."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) - Data Collections (CA Dept of Education)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CBEDS is an annual collection of district and school information. This page contains information about CBEDS and includes resources to aid local educational agencies in completing their CBEDS data submission.

# data[].attributes.body
AHS 2016

# data[].attributes.headline
AB 2063 - Work Based learning age lowered

# data[].attributes.subject
AB 2063 - Work Based learning age lowered

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bill Text - AB-2063 Work-based learning opportunities: work experience education and job shadowing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This bill would authorize work experience education credit to be granted to a pupil who is at least 14 years of age if the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled certifies that it is necessary for the pupil's participation in a career technical education program and would also authorize a pupil to participate in a job shadowing experience for up to 40 hours in a specified period if the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled certifies that it is necessary for the pupil's participation in a career technical education program.

# data[].attributes.body
Connecting Learning to Work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Career Technical Education | Advance CTE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Career Technical Education (CTE) provides students of all ages with the academic and technical skills, knowledge and training necessary to succeed in future careers and to become lifelong learners. In total, about 12.5 million high school and college students are enrolled in CTE across the nation.

# data[].attributes.body
Building Trades and American Hydroponics greenhouse project - see it develop before your eyes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
FROM THIS EPISODE

Many manufacturing jobs have left America in recent decades. However, factories have been coming back to the US, but the jobs have changed due to high levels of automation. So what are those jobs and are there enough of them? In the first part of our series called "Modern Trades," we spoke to Kelly Candaele. He's a writer and filmmaker who served four terms as a Trustee of the LA Community College District. He's spent many months capturing the stories of the construction workers at the 73-story high Wilshire Grand Center in downtown LA.

Photo: An ironworker at the Wilshire Grand Center (Sandoval Media)

Modern Trades 9 MIN, 59 SEC

The United States has reportedly lost more than 4.5 million manufacturing jobs since NAFTA took effect in 1994. Now, factories have been coming back to the US, but the jobs have changed due to high levels of automation. So what are those jobs and are there enough of them? In the first part of our series called "Modern Trades," we spoke to Kelly Candaele. He's a writer and filmmaker who served four terms as a Trustee of the LA Community College District. He's spent many months capturing the stories of the construction workers at the 73-story-high Wilshire Grand Center in downtown LA.

Guests:
Kelly Candaele, writer and filmmaker

More:
Candaele's documentary 'Heads, Hands and Hearts: Craftsmanship at Work'
Candaele reflects on the Wilshire Grand tragedy

Build Better LA 5 MIN, 46 SEC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Modern Trades, Build Better LA, TOM House

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jobs have left America, but there's growth in new high-tech manufacturing jobs. What are they? How are people being trained for them? First there was the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, now there's the Build Better LA initiative. Why has housing become a ballot box battle?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Career Readiness Initiative 2015 - Initiatives & Programs (CA Dept of Education)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Through his California Career Readiness Initiative, SSPI Tom Torlakson has directed the California Department of Education to proceed with 21 key objectives to support, sustain and strengthen Career and Technical Education (CTE) in the State.

# data[].attributes.body
CCSP Dual Enrollment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bill Text - AB-288 Public schools: College and Career Access Pathways partnerships.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This bill would authorize the governing board of a community college district to enter into a College and Career Access Pathways partnership with the governing board of a school district with the goal of developing seamless pathways from high school to community college for career technical education or preparation for transfer, improving high school graduation rates, or helping high school pupils achieve college and career readiness.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the Extranet for the California Community College's Chancellor's Office. This webiste is for public communication between the Chancellor's Office and the college system. Here you will find information about policy, planning information, budget information, grants distribution, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
Post-Secondary licensing difficult to obtain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In January 2014, the state bureau that regulates for-profit vocational schools sent cease-and-desist letters to nine coding boot camps operating in California without a license, threatening to shut them down if they didn't get approval.

It later sent similar letters to at least eight others that appeared to be unlicensed boot camps. Yet in all that time, only two have gotten licensed - Dev Bootcamp and General Assembly.

Of the original nine, eight have "submitted some kind of application," said Joanne Wenzel, chief of the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.

The bureau fined five boot camps $50,000 apiece for operating without a license. Two of them, Coding Dojo and Rocket Space, paid a reduced fine after agreeing to submit an application. Fines are still pending against Hackbright Academy, App Academy/Hash Map Labs and LAN WAN Professional, according to the bureau's website.

Some coding schools blame the bureau for the delay in approving coding camps. The bureau says camps often submit incomplete applications.

Coding camps have sprung up in the last four or five years to help fill the gaping shortage of high-tech workers. They generally offer nine- to 12-week training programs for jobs in software development or related fields. Full-time programs cost around $9,000 to $18,000.

Their students are not eligible for federal grants or loans, because the camps are not accredited. Getting licensed is not the same as getting accredited and does not make the camps eligible for federal financial aid.

The bureau is part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs and is concerned with "basic consumer protection," Wenzel said.

Among other things, the schools must publicly disclose their refund policies, program-completion and job-placement rates, and alumni salary ranges. The bureau does not verify this information before granting a license, but once a school is licensed, it is subject to compliance inspections at least once every five years. If a licensed school shuts down abruptly, students are eligible for fee reimbursement from the Student Tuition Recovery Fund.

Vocational schools are supposed to be licensed before they open, but in the beginning, boot camps did not think they were subject to this requirement. "They don't see it as a traditional education," Wenzel said.

Many of their students already have four-year degrees. Many of their teachers do not have a degree in computer science, which some camps thought would prevent them from getting licensed.

"We don't hire Ph.D.s in computer science. We hire practicing engineers who have been writing code on software development teams for 10 years. So far, when we explain that (to regulators), it hasn't been an issue," said John Stowe, president of Dev Bootcamp. The San Francisco company was acquired by Kaplan, a large for-profit education provider, in mid-2014. That made it easier for it to get licensed in the three states where it operates.

General Assembly was licensed in California early last year. "Our experience with California regulators has been extremely positive, (although) it did take more time than a lot of places where we have gotten licensed," said Liz Simon, the New York company's vice president for legal and external affairs. She said the disclosure requirements are more extensive in California than elsewhere. "I think that's a good thing."

Coding camps are required to post fact sheets for students online, including placement rates and salary ranges. For example, you can find General Assembly's data by clicking on "Regulatory Information" at the bottom of its home page. Its fact sheet for San Francisco has information only through 2014, and little salary data. Information for 2015 should be available in August, Simon said.

Dev Bootcamp's fact sheets are harder to find. "We don't give it prominence, since we decided some time ago not to use employment and salary claims for advertising purposes," a spokesman said.

Its fact sheet for San Francisco shows that of 243 graduates from 2014 employed in the field, 53 were making $30,000 to $70,000 a year, 52 were making $72,000 to $88,100 and 35 were making $90,000 to $135,100. The remaining 103 did not report their salary. (The fact sheet can be found at http://bit.ly/1MspAUl.)

Some boot camps have faced longer delays getting licensed in California. "We submitted our full application for licensure in early June of 2015," said Jenna Wolfe, director of corporate and legal affairs for Coding Dojo. "We pretty quickly got a confirmation that the office received it. We haven't heard anything since then."

The company, based outside Seattle, submitted a licensing application in Washington the same month and it was approved in early October. "They have a very user-friendly website ... and more immediate back-and-forth exchange of information," Wolfe said, adding that she is eager to get licensed in California. "We really want that stamp of approval."

Hack Reactor said the bureau received its licensing application last March 30. "It took them three or four months to review it," said Sam Singer, an outside spokesman for the company. It took Hack Reactor several more months to provide the bureau with information it requested. The application requires "a tremendous amount of documentation," Singer said. "Hack Reactor is pleased with how the state is being thoughtful about its regulation of coding academies."

Sharon Wienbar, CEO of Hackbright Academy, said in an email, "We are working closely with (the bureau) to become licensed. Our application is under review."

Eric Choi, executive director of LAN WAN Professional in Irvine, said his company does not teach coding, it trains network engineers and architects. He said it should not be regulated by the bureau because it is a membership organization and students don't pay for training until "after services are rendered." They typically pay a percentage of their salary for three years.

Wenzel said the bureau "does have a backlog. But for most of these applications that we have pending, it has taken a while to get complete and compliant applications from them." Some of the schools that got cease-and-desist letters after the initial nine "have never responded to us."

Meanwhile, the bureau has been holding task force meetings, required by a 2014 state law, to determine whether coding camps should be regulated differently than other postsecondary schools.

The task force met seven times last year, said Angela Perry, a law fellow with Public Advocates, a civil rights law firm in San Francisco. A report issued at the end of December recommended "an expedited approval process for coding boot camps," she said.

Her firm does not think these camps should be treated differently. "These are untested programs. Most approvals are delayed because schools make errors in filling out their paperwork. We think that should raise a red flag," Perry said.

California "has a long history of computer training programs. We've had these tech booms multiple times." And in the past, some programs "have enrolled a lot of students and then did not deliver on their promise," she said.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with coding boot camps," Perry added. "We just want to make sure if a student is investing $10,000 or $20,000 for a 10- or 12-week program, they are getting the services that are promised."

Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Blog: http://blog.sfgate.com/pender Twitter: @kathpender

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why coding camps are taking so long to get licensed in California

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In January 2014, the state bureau that regulates for-profit vocational schools sent cease-and-desist letters to nine coding boot camps operating in California without a license, threatening to shut them down if they didn't get approval. Of the original nine, eight have "submitted some kind of application," said Joanne Wenzel, chief of the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.

# data[].attributes.headline
Kerman USD CTE Certificate Program - The Essential Piece

# data[].attributes.subject
Kerman USD CTE Certificate Program - The Essential Piece

# data[].attributes.body
See slides 15-19 for details about the certificate details

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers & industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA helps each student excel.

# data[].attributes.body
Video by Kevin Fleming

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Introduction to TIJCC - TREASURE ISLAND JOB CORPS CENTER

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This video introduces the Treasure Island Job Corps Center. TIJCC, San Francisco, Ca

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PBS North Coast - Local Production - Stories of Champions from American Graduate Day 2015: Gene Callahan

# data[].attributes.body
All things Perkins can be found in these files

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Thinking of creating a website? Google Sites is a free and easy way to create and share webpages.