The State of California will be releasing the California Careers Pathway Trust career-readiness grant program soon.
In July 2013, the California Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 86, Chapter 48, Statutes of 2013, creating the California Career Pathways Trust. Funds in the amount of $250 million will be made available to school districts, county superintendents of school, charter schools, and community college districts in the form of one-time competitive grants. Grants will be made available for kindergarten through grade fourteen career pathways programs that accomplish the following:
- Fund specialists in work-based learning, as defined in Section 51760.1 of the Education Code, to convene, connect, measure, or broker efforts to establish or enhance a locally defined career pathways program that connects school districts, county superintendents of schools, charter schools, and community colleges with business entities.
- Establish regional collaborative relationships and partnerships with business entities, community organizations, and local institutions of postsecondary education.
- Develop and integrate standards-based academics with a career-relevant, sequenced curriculum following industry-themed pathways that are aligned to high-need, high-growth, or emerging regional economic sectors.
- Provide articulated pathways to postsecondary education aligned with regional economies.
- Leverage and build on any of the following:
- Existing structures, requirements, and resources of the Carl D. Perkins, California Partnership Academies, and regional occupational programs, including staff knowledge, community relationships, and course development.
- Matching resources and in-kind contributions from public, private, and philanthropic sources.
- The California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development Program and its sector strategies and deputy sector navigators.
- Participation in the local California Community Colleges Skills Panel.
As of today, the California Career Pathways Trust Request for Application (RFA) has not been released. Once the RFA is ready to be release, it will be posted on the California Department of Education Available Funding Web page.
Contact me today if you are interested in applying for the California Careers Pathway Trust career-readiness grant program.
