Legislature moves to protect career tech
By Kimberly Beltran
Monday, May 06, 2013
Monday, May 06, 2013
When Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his new education spending plan as part of his January budget, Christine Hoffman, who oversees one of the largest career preparation programs in California, knew she – and arguably, the rest of the state – had a problem.
The governor’s budget would consolidate myriad education funds into one giant pool of money to be redistributed to districts, removing restrictions on cash previously allocated for specific programs and wiping out completely the $8 million set aside for the 45-year old Southern California Regional Occupation Center.
Since then, supporters of the center and career technical training programs in general have inundated the Capitol with protest, both in person before legislative budget panels and in personal contact with lawmakers. And with just a few weeks to go before the governor unveils his revised May budget plan, their message seems to have resonated, at least among lawmakers.
“I think we all went through a bit of a transformation after our recent visit to Cabrillo High School seeing the linked learning there,” said Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, during a hearing last week on several education bills, including