The Assembly Education Committee voted 6-0 to pass Assembly Bill 1743 by Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D—Long Beach) Wednesday.
The measure would increase funding for vocational/career technical education (CTE) programs in K-12 schools from $200 million to $500 million each year, on an ongoing basis.
“As a teacher and chair of the Assembly Education Committee, I am confident that securing ongoing funding for K-12 CTE programs benefits our students and our state,” O’Donnell said. “Vocational/CTE programs engage students who might otherwise drop out of school and strengthen our economy by better preparing our students to join the California workforce. Current funding for CTE expires this year, which means we must act now, or we risk leaving our students and our state behind.”
O’Donnell has received bi-partisan support for the effort from 25 colleagues who have signed on as joint or co-authors, according to his office. AB 1743 would increase annual funding for the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant program.
The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Source: O’Donnell’s office
