State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Winners
of Grants to Help Adult Education Students Go to College
SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced 10 school districts were awarded $750,000 in Policy to Performance Pilot Project grants. P2P was established to help adult education students transition to higher education.
"California's demand for a highly educated workforce continues to grow, and we must keep up," Torlakson said. "As part of my Blueprint for Great Schools initiative, we are working toward preparing more people for careers and college so they can compete in our global economy. These grants helped provide vital support services to adult education students so they can get a better education and ultimately a better job."
California is one of eight states that participated in P2P, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education. The state's goal is to help support adult education students to increase their transfer rates to postsecondary education programs. The school district grantees had to use the funds to strengthen an existing program or build a new comprehensive student support services component within their current postsecondary transition program. The P2P project has recently sunsetted and ran from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012.
Grantees had to have qualified for federal adult education and literacy grants called Workforce Investment Act, Title II, and had to demonstrate a clear and substantial plan for a comprehensive student support services component.
In a 2008 report, "California's Future Economy," the Public Policy Institute of California projected the state will not produce enough college graduates and people with some level of postsecondary training to meet growing workforce training demands. The report says 75 percent of occupations will require at least some college or a college graduate, whereas only 61 percent of the population will have this level of education. Absent any improvements, California's labor market is projected to be short one million college educated workers by 2025.
Torlakson's Blueprint For Great Schools initiative recognizes that student support services are needed in order to facilitate progress and successfully transition students to postsecondary education and beyond.
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Attachment
Policy to Performance Pilot Project Grantees 2011-12
County | Local Educational Agency | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Alameda | Berkeley Unified School District | $75,000 |
Contra Costa | Pittsburg Unified School District | $75,000 |
Fresno | Fresno Unified School District | $75,000 |
Los Angeles | Burbank Unified School District | $75,000 |
Los Angeles | Los Angeles Unified School District | $75,000 |
Los Angeles | Montebello Unified School District | $75,000 |
Monterey | Salinas Union High School District | $75,000 |
Sacramento | Elk Grove Unified School District | $75,000 |
San Bernardino | Chaffey Joint Union High School District | $75,000 |
San Joaquin | Stockton Unified School District | $75,000 |
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100