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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Sanchez, B.
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
02/02/08
HB
SHORT TITLE Study Pre-Apprenticeship Curriculum
SM 36
ANALYST Hanika-Ortiz
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY08
FY09
No Appropriation
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
New Mexico Public Education Department (PED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Memorial 36 requests a study be performed on the implementation of a pre-
apprenticeship curriculum in high school career-technical programs.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Agencies will have expenditures in providing staff time to support the study.
The PED’s Career Technical Workforce Education Bureau (CTWEB) would be charged with
participating in the study committee. However, CTWEB is federally funded and absorbing this
charge with existing federally funded positions may raise the issue of supplanting.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Senate Memorial 36 provides for the following:
New Mexico has one of the highest dropout rates in the United States.
Only twenty-three and nine-tenths percent of New Mexico high school graduates go on to
attend college.
pg_0002
Senate Memorial 36 – Page
2
Students who are not college-bound currently have inadequate options to keep them
engaged in school and on track for graduation.
Limited educational resources are currently dedicated to career-technical and vocational
training.
An untrained and uninterested student has a higher likelihood of becoming involved in
gangs and other counterproductive behavior.
There is an ongoing demand for well-trained employees in many technical fields in this
State and those jobs have high pay scales and provide benefits.
Students should have an opportunity to start a trades-based career path during their junior
and senior years of high school through pre-apprenticeship programs.
Students enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship curriculum will be better prepared to enter
registered apprenticeship programs with some required coursework completed after high
school graduation.
Industry experts are often the most qualified teachers for pre-apprenticeship programs
and pre-apprenticeship curriculum development.
It is in the public interest of the state to encourage and facilitate the formation of
cooperative relationships among business, labor and educational institutions to develop
industry-taught pre-apprenticeship programs in order to give students the skills to meet
workforce needs.
Any program or curriculum development that results from the cooperative relationship
among business, labor and educational institutions should be called "Running Start for
Careers.
The Memorial resolves that findings and recommendations be presented to the legislative
education study committee and any other appropriate legislative committee during the 2008
interim.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
PED reports that to advance economic development, Governor Richardson initiated seven career
clusters to address the need for a highly trained workforce. This memorial could closely align to
clusters like the following, which encompass career and technical education programs already
being implemented across the state and others: Engineering, Construction, Manufacturing and
Agriculture Cluster (with pathways in construction, trades, installation and repair, etc.) and the
Energy and Environmental Cluster (with pathways in government inspection, machining,
instrument and electrical, etc.).
PED also reports that this study would support PED’s goal to increase academic excellence and
student achievement. Additionally, CTE provides relevance to a curriculum and hands-on
instruction that may impact the annual cohort graduation rate for ninth graders who entered
school year 2004-2005.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The Memorial requests that the public education department, the higher education department,
the workforce solutions department, the economic development department, the association of
commerce and industry, industry advocacy groups and registered apprenticeship programs in the
state be requested to study the feasibility of implementing an industry-taught pre-apprenticeship
curriculum in high school career-technical programs.
pg_0003
Senate Memorial 36 – Page
3
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Duplicates HM 46
TECHNICAL ISSUES
PED notes that this study would be supportive of educational redesign in New Mexico. The
memorial expresses that New Mexico demographics show a need for supporting the position of
the Rural Economic Development Committee in seeking funding for schools throughout the state
to ensure that students get instruction in industrial arts, auto mechanics, welding, plumbing,
electricity, etc. However, this memorial does not appear to use language parallel to the high
school redesign legislation enacted in 2007. A name change could:
differentiate between the old (‘vocational’) and new (career technical education CTE)
paradigm of instructional best practices;
address professional development for teachers to include Programs Of Study (POS). The
POS is a rigorous, sequential, aligned course of study leading to an industry recognized
credential/certificate, or Associate or Bachelor’s Degree; the POS is based on innovative ideas
contained within high school redesign for the 21
st
Century.
The memorial does not identify a lead agency to develop, administer and oversee the activities
designated in the memorial.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
PED has the following comments:
More than 80 percent of respondents in the 2005 National Association of Manufacturer’s Skills
GAP Report indicated that business is experiencing a shortage of qualified workers overall –
with 13 percent reporting severe shortages in some areas and 68 percent indicating moderate
shortages in others. Career technical education plays a vital role in helping American business
close this gap by building a competitive workforce for the 21st Century.
Further, CTWEB will begin collecting data in 2008-2009 regarding academic and CTE
improvement by instituting performance measures applicable not only to schools receiving Carl
D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act funding, but to all CTE students. To
promote continuous program improvement, criteria has been established to support state and
local performance measures, and an electronic data reporting system has been designed to assess
the effectiveness of CTE throughout the state. The core indicators for success have been
identified as follows:
Student attainment of challenging academic content-aligned standards (New Mexico Content
Standards, Benchmarks, along with Performance Standards) and student academic
achievement standards, as adopted by the state under the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) (NCLB) and measured by the state-determined proficiency levels on
the academic assessment under ESEA;
Student attainment of career and technical skill proficiencies, including student achievement
on technical assessments, that are aligned with industry-recognized standards, if available and
appropriate;
Student rates of attainment in each of the following areas: A) a secondary school diploma; B)
a GED credential, or other state-recognized equivalent (including recognized alternative
pg_0004
Senate Memorial 36 – Page
4
standards for individuals with disabilities); C) a proficiency credential, certificate, or degree,
in conjunction with a secondary school diploma (if offered by the state);
Student graduation rates as described in the ESEA (NCLB);
Student placement in postsecondary education or advanced training, in military service, or in
employment; and
Student participation in and completion of career-technical education programs that lead to
nontraditional fields.
ALTERNATIVES
PED suggests that this study could be incorporated into other related funded legislation such as
SB 170, High School Vocational Training.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
It is likely that a feasibility study would not be performed on the implementation of an industry-
taught pre-apprenticeship curriculum in high school career-technical programs.
AHO/bb