Thursday, April 7, 2011

Career tech turns to ratepayers | Thoughts on Public Education

Career tech turns to ratepayers | Thoughts on Public Education

Career tech turns to ratepayers

Bill would tap new source to fund green tech academies
By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Funding is in jeopardy for 200 of the state’s 470 partnership academies, the three-year high school programs that prepare students for jobs and college majors in a range of industries. Gov. Jerry Brown can secure the future for 45 of them and create an additional 42, all focusing on the emerging fields of green and clean technologies, if he signs SBX 1-1.

The bill, authored by Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, would pay for the academies by directing $8 million annually for five years from a fund for conservation and alternative energy uses. The fund is financed by a small surcharge ($.0003 per kilowatt-hour)