Series Descriptions

Physical Description: 84 file folders

Arranged chronologically by meeting date.

This series contains agendas from the council's general meetings and executive meetings. The agendas include the minutes of previous meetings, reports, possible position outlines, and informational and action items. The agenda items typically included the status of the annual and biennial reports, the status of the local education programs, important legislation, and discussion on managing the budget. The council frequently discussed coordinating various statewide job training programs administered by the State Job Training Coordinating Council, the Employment Development Department, and the California Cooperative Occupational Information System. Another frequent issue for the council was private sector outreach. This entailed coordinating other state agencies in contacting businesses, corporations, and industry associations to help identify promising job fields. After 1994, Governor Pete Wilson put increasing pressure on the council to reduce its budget with the goal of possibly turning over some the council's functions to private businesses. This culminated in 1996 when the council ceased receiving federal funds. The agendas also document the council's struggle to secure additional funding sources.

Physical Description: 12 file folders

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

The majority of the records in this series are correspondence with various organizations concerned with vocational education. In addition to the correspondence, various memoranda, agendas, and meeting minutes make up this series. Some important files include Board of Governors Meeting Agendas, Auditor General, and the United States Department of Education. In some instances the folders are identified by the correspondent, for example the Auditor General and the United States Department of Education. However, other folders are identified by the general subject matter of the correspondence, for example annual reports, audits, and press releases. One folder contains the monthly faxes issued to unlisted recipients. The faxes focus on a variety of contemporary issues including changes to vocational education state government personal, important pending legislation, and budget issues.

Physical Description: 22 file folders

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

This series is composed of administrative files that contain records relating to the council's administration, technical training issues, and funding problems. The records consist of memoranda, reports, letters, and testimony transcripts. Prominent topics include History, Contracts, Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education Testimony, and US Department of Education Audit. The files in this series typically reflect on the council's history and the plight of vocational and technical education in the state as well as the nation.

Physical Description: 24 file folders

Arranged chronologically by meeting date.

The Minutes series contains the monthly meeting minutes of the council and the executive committee. During their meetings the council discussed their legislative agenda, administrative details, reports, and funding issues. The minutes also cover specific issues addressed at each meeting. In 1977, Proposition 13 was one of the issues facing the council. The proposition caused the council to reexamine the previous funding mechanism for most local vocational education programs. The council also discussed the use of job training to reduce poverty. Much of what appears in the agendas series also appears in the minutes series. However, the agendas include more substantial information and documentation about each meeting, whereas the minutes offer only a brief synopsis of each meeting. Also, the minutes begin in 1969 whereas the agenda series starts in 1985.

Physical Description: 41 file folders

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

The Report series contains background files compiled and used by the council to prepare various reports relating to the council's functions. The council produced and gathered many reports on various aspects of vocational education. The Carl D. Perkins Act required the council to submit Biennial Reports to the Governor. Within the series are biennial reports from 1989, 1991, and 1993. The reports focus on coordinating local programs and measuring their effectiveness at teaching various job skills. It is unknown if these were the only biennial reports produced by the council.

A Biennial Southeast ROP report from 1986 is included in this series but does not appear to be connected to the other biennial reports. This report was an in-depth measurement of the southeastern region of the ROP. The report gathered information from individual students and measured how well they did in the program. The Economic Development Committee Report, 1992, included background files for a report not in the series. The file does include a report from the Council on California Competitiveness from 1992 titled "California's Jobs and Future" that castigated the education system as a failure of "one of history's great social experiments." The Planning Process Committee Report, 1992, was another prominent report file that contained background documents on a committee's development of a policy paper to "establish the overall direction for the states' efforts in vocational and employment training," with long- and short- term planning. Vision: California 2000 was a 1988 report not authored by the council that predicted the direction of California's economy and recommended steps to ensure that workers maintained their competitive advantage over workers in other areas.