Agriculture teachers balk at what governor proposes to do with $15 million in budget

High school agriculture teachers object to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed shift of $15 million for technical career training.

The plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 would put this money under workforce programs at community colleges, added to the $33 million they already were getting in recent years.

The shift would mean less money for in-service training of new high school teachers and for Future Farmers of America, which is closely tied to ag education. It also would reduce spending on “academies” at the secondary level for farming and other fields.

And the proposal would end a program that reviews whether ag classes can count toward admission to the University of California and California State University systems.

“It’s been huge for agriculture,” said Jim Aschwanden, executive director of the California Agricultural Teachers Association. “Over half of our courses are now recognized by UC and CSU.”

The proposal was in Brown’s initial 2017-18 budget, released in January. It remained in the revision announced last week despite efforts by ag education advocates to reverse it.

Aschwanden said his Galt-based group is working with state lawmakers to prevent the shift.

The current structure “remains vitally important to the economic well-being of our state,” said a letter to lawmakers from GetREAL, a coalition of business, labor and education leaders. It stands for Relevance in Education and Learning.

This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Agriculture teachers balk at what governor proposes to do with $15 million in budget."