State Funds Student Access to Careers and Higher Ed.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond May 31 announced the awarding of $470 million to 302 local educational agencies or LEAs from the Golden State Pathways program. The program integrates college preparatory coursework meeting the A–G course requirements for admission to state universities and the opportunity to earn 12 college credits with career exploration, career technical education courses, and work-based learning. The program also helps students identify high-need opportunities in their regions and aligns their higher education and career goals with the jobs needed in their communities.

The Golden State Pathways Program provides LEAs with resources to promote pathways for students in high-wage, high-skill, high-growth areas including technology, health care, education, and climate-related fields, which allows students to advance seamlessly from high school to college and career and provides the workforce needed for economic growth.

Of the $470 million awarded, $422 million was awarded to LEAs in the form of implementation grants slated to support the grant recipient’s ability to offer participating pupils college and career pathways opportunities. The program integrates college preparatory coursework meeting the A-G course requirements for admission to state universities and the opportunity to earn 12 college credits with career exploration, CTE courses and work-based learning.

The remaining nearly $48 million went to LEAs in the form of consortium development and planning grants. These grants are to support collaborative planning between a grant recipient and their program partners in the development of high-quality college and career pathways opportunities.

Golden State Pathways Program was established to do all of the following:

• Promote pathways in high-wage, high-skill, high-growth areas, including (but not limited to) technology, health care, education (including early education and child development), and climate-related fields.
• Encourage collaboration between LEAs, institutions of higher education, local and regional employers, and other relevant community interest holders to develop or expand the availability of innovative college and career pathways that simultaneously align with an LEA’s local or regional labor market needs.
• Enable more pupils to access postsecondary education opportunities and workforce training opportunities or to obtain gainful employment in an industry that simultaneously aligns with local, regional, or state labor market needs.
• Support the continued development of a skilled and educated workforce with an emphasis on addressing areas of acute statewide need, such as developing a diverse workforce to meet the need for professional and learning support positions in child care settings; preschools; and schools maintaining prekindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

This program is in alignment with the Governor’s Master Plan for Career Education