LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This week the Lake County Board of Education will discuss a proposal to help fill the gap in career and technical education funding over the next three years while the new state funding formula to districts catches up.
The county board will meet beginning at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, at the Lake County Office of Education administrative office, 1152 S. Main St. in Lakeport.
The discussion, which does not include board action, is untimed during the meeting.
Career technical education includes training in skills needed in the trades – welding, automotive, agriculture and even health care.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said teacher Dan Renninger of Middletown Unified will give the board a report highlighting the various career technical education programs still operating throughout the county to show what the funding will mean to local programs before the board discussion on the funding proposal.
Funding for career technical education – formerly known as Regional Occupational Programs, or ROP – was eliminated by the state more than two years ago, Falkenberg explained.
“The county office has continued to support career technical education out of our general fund,” he said.
This week's agenda item – which is a prelude to budgeting discussions later this spring – is a discussion about how the Lake County Office of Education can continue to support career technical education in the future, according to Falkenberg.
The county office's budget projections haven't included continued funding for career technical education past this fiscal year. However, Falkenberg – who took office last fall after the current budget had been accepted – wants to change that.
“What I'm trying to do at this point in time is assure that there is a transitionary plan for career technical education funding into the future,” he said.
The proposal, said Falkenberg, is that over the coming three fiscal years, the Lake County Office of Education would fund the difference between what the state is funding districts through the new local control funding formula – which he said isn't yet fully funded – and the amount the districts received historically under the ROP program.
“Our goal is to fill that gap,” he said.
Formerly, the $400 million statewide for ROP programs went to agencies like the Lake County Office of Education for distribution. Now, the local control funding formula sends the money directly to the districts, which Falkenberg said aren't required to use it for career technical education – as offices of education were.
Falkenberg said that the former ROP funding was never enough money to support all of the career technical functions in education, with districts always providing a level of support. ROP, he explained, sought to fund the “capstone” – or more advanced – courses.
In order to cover the existing funding gap, “Our plan is that it would be a one-time deficit spending model so we could get through this transition period,” Falkenberg said.
“The dilemma for us,” Falkenberg continued, “is that this will lead the county office into deficit spending. We can’t sustain ourselves in a deficit spending model.”
However, Falkenberg said planned deficit spending on a temporary basis – in this case, for a one-time expense – is an acceptable budget practice.
According to the proposal, approximately $837,430 would be allocated for the three-year period. Of that, 45 percent – or $376,844 – would be spent in the first year; 33 percent, or $276,352 in the second year; and 22 percent, or $184,234, in the third year.
Decisions on that funding proposal aren't expected to take place until June, when the Lake County Board of Education meets to finalize its 2015-16 budget, Falkenberg said.
The board budget workshop is tentatively scheduled for June 17, he said.
He said the county office is trying to be transparent and pull this particular item out of the larger budget document in order to have a detailed discussion about the agency continuing to be a leader in this educational area.
At the state level, there could be help on the way in the form of much-needed funding.
In January, state Sen. Mike McGuire – who represents Lake County in the State Senate – introduced SB 148, the Career and Job Skills Education Act.
Lake County's State Assembly member, Bill Dodd, is among the bill's co-authors.
Dodd, who visited the Middletown Area Town Hall meeting on Friday, explained, “Not everybody's going to go to college.”
He said the investment in career technical education is important. With high schools getting away from that type of training, “We're starting to see that when these kids get out of high school, they don't have the basics and training.”
The bill would appropriate $600 million of Proposition 98 funds and create a career technical incentive grant for local educational agencies, joint power authorities, and regional occupational centers and programs.
McGuire's office said the bill closely mirrors the $250 million career technical education incentive matching grant program that Gov. Jerry Brown outlined in his 2015-16 budget proposal and expands on it, while preserving the local control funding formula.
The legislation also establishes performance standards and accountability measures based on student outcomes, according to McGuire's office, which also reported that career technical education has been shown to decrease dropout rates.
In a statement on the bill, McGuire said the bipartisan legislation would ensure that the 70 percent of California's students who will not go on to obtain a four-year university degree will have a greater opportunity to receive career and job skills training.
On March 25, SB 148 unanimously passed the Senate Education Committee with a 7-0 vote. It's now with the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Falkenberg said he's spoken with McGuire about SB 148. “Certainly, I think it is a positive indicator of what could be ahead in terms of career technical education funding,” he said.
“SB 148 would be more aligned to the concept of local control,” said Falkenberg, with districts needing to produce matching funds, meaning the total value to career technical education programs statewide would be twice the proposed $600 million, or $1.2 billion.
In the case that SB 148 passes, Falkenberg said the Lake County Office of Education's contribution to cover the gap in the coming three years could serve as that necessary local match.
For community members who want to get involved in the discussion, Falkenberg invited them to attend the Lake County Board of Education meetings and send letters to the Legislature supporting SB 148 .
“There does need to be some sort of focused categorical support for career technical education throughout California going forward,” Falkenberg said.
He added, “Certainly, I think we're going to move ahead in a very positive direction here.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Lake County Board of Education to discuss proposal to cover gap in career technical education funding
- Elizabeth Larson
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