Fresno, Clovis, Visalia schools get money for career education

Several central San Joaquin Valley school districts got a piece of $244 million in state grants handed out Wednesday to 40 career education programs.

Fresno Unified, Clovis Unified and Visalia Unified were among districts receiving up to $6 million. Merced County Office of Education was among districts awarded up to $600,000.

The grants are for programs that blend academic and career technical education, connect employers with schools, and train students for jobs in high-demand fields, such as health care, advanced manufacturing, information technology, and software development.

The grants are provided through the California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT) program, the largest program of its kind in the nation. The program is providing nearly $500 million in career tech grants over a two-year period.

The state Legislature created the program in 2013 and allocated $250 million for the 2013-14 budget. Last year, state schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson awarded grants to 39 recipients. After seeing the program’s popularity — the state received 123 applications requesting $709 million in CCPT grants last year — lawmakers approved an additional $250 million for this year.

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Fresno, Clovis, Visalia schools get money for career education."