The California Career Pathways Trust: Sustaining Cross-Sector Partnerships

The California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT), established in July 2014 by Assembly Bill 86 and administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), funded new regional consortia to establish career pathways that would lead high school students to a postsecondary credential or certification aligned with regional workforce needs. The California State Legislature allocated $500 million to finance two CCPT rounds for three years each, making it one of the largest CTE investments across all states. The Legislature also intended that new CCPT partnerships and programs ultimately would be sustained by grantees. The CCPT grant required recipients to identify and set aside funds within their own budgets, or secure funding from education and business partners, in order to underwrite program costs for at least two years beyond state funding. This report considers the experiences of the 39 Round One grantees. CCPT Round One funded 12 consortia at around $600,000 (awards ranged between $527,000 and $875,000), 17 consortia at around $6 million (awards ranged between $1.2 million and $9.9 million), and 10 consortia at approximately $15 million (awards ranged between $13.2 million and $15 million), for a grant total of $250 million. Consortia fiscal agents included K-12 school districts, community college districts, county offices of education, and one charter school. This report takes up questions of sustainability: (1) Were grantees able to identify resources necessary to sustain CCPT work and relationships?; (2) To what extent were career pathways, partnerships, and regional relationships continued at grant's end?; (3) Which elements remain in place?; (4) Which have been curtailed or eliminated?; and (5) But first, what did Round One consortia accomplish?