The Budget Conference Committee will begin meeting this afternoon on the 2010-11 State Budget. As you know, the conference committee will be looking at three versions of the budget on most issues: the Governor's version, the Assembly version and the Senate version. The initial meetings will take a broad look at the budget and the state's fiscal situation. We expect the Conference Committee will begin in earnest after next Tuesday's election.
With regard to career technical education, the Senate approved the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) recommendation to consolidate five CTE programs "into a single block grant and loosen restrictions on funds in order to improve student outcomes." The five programs are ROCPs, specialized secondary programs, apprenticeship programs, partnership academies, and agricultural vocational education incentive grants. There is no bill language available, but the LAO document says "we recommend consolidating all high school CTE funding ($427 million) and eliminating programmatic requirements in favor of monitoring related student outcomes. (One such consolidation approach would be to roll the funds into high schools' revenue limits.)"
The Assembly version makes no changes for these five programs, leaving ROP in flexibility. The Assembly version and the Governor's version are the same on this issue.
Should you desire to express your preference on this subject, you are encouraged to contact the ten members of the budget conference committee.
They are accessible by e-mail at assemblymember.name@asm.ca.gov
They are:
Senate Democrats: Ducheny, Leno, Lowenthal
Senate Republicans: Dutton, Huff
Assembly Democrats: Blumenfield, Fuentes, Skinner
Assembly Republicans: Conway, Nielsen
B. Teri Burns
SCHOOL INNOVATIONS & ADVOCACY
916 669-5416