| 1 | The Education Appropriations Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to postsecondary education funding; |
| 7 | creating part VI of ch. 1011, F.S.; establishing the |
| 8 | SUCCEED, Florida ? Crucial Professionals Program; |
| 9 | providing for the appropriation of funds to the Department |
| 10 | of Education to be distributed on a competitive basis to |
| 11 | postsecondary educational institutions to offer programs |
| 12 | that meet critical workforce needs; providing for an |
| 13 | annual request for proposals and requirements of such |
| 14 | proposals; requiring establishment annually by the |
| 15 | Legislature of a priority list for funding and selection |
| 16 | by the State Board of Education; providing requirements |
| 17 | for grant recipients and renewal grants; providing an |
| 18 | effective date. |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Section 1. Part VI of chapter 1011, Florida Statutes, |
| 23 | consisting of section 1011.96, is created to read: |
| 24 | 1011.96 SUCCEED, Florida ? Crucial Professionals |
| 25 | Program.-- |
| 26 | (1) The SUCCEED, Florida ? Crucial Professionals Program |
| 27 | is established to award funds to accredited postsecondary |
| 28 | educational institutions in the state on a competitive basis to |
| 29 | offer programs that meet the critical workforce needs of the |
| 30 | state and to maximize the number of diplomas, certificates, and |
| 31 | degrees that are awarded to postsecondary education students in |
| 32 | fields vital to the citizens of the state. |
| 33 | (2) Beginning with the 2006-2007 fiscal year, funds |
| 34 | appropriated by the Legislature to the Department of Education |
| 35 | for the SUCCEED, Florida ? Crucial Professionals Program shall |
| 36 | be distributed according to the provisions of this section. |
| 37 | (3) The department shall develop and issue annually a |
| 38 | request for proposals. The department shall establish |
| 39 | application procedures, guidelines, accountability measures, and |
| 40 | timelines for implementation of the grant program. |
| 41 | (4) Proposals for a grant authorized pursuant to this |
| 42 | section must: |
| 43 | (a) Indicate the number of students to be served, the |
| 44 | length of the proposed program, and the projected cost. Funds |
| 45 | for a grant provided pursuant to this section must be used to |
| 46 | support new students and not to supplant current funding or |
| 47 | students. |
| 48 | (b) Document the workforce need to be addressed. |
| 49 | (c) Demonstrate a pool of qualified applicants. |
| 50 | (d) Be submitted by an accredited public or nonpublic |
| 51 | postsecondary educational institution in the state that provides |
| 52 | postsecondary instruction in a field specified in the priority |
| 53 | list established pursuant to subsection (5). For purposes of |
| 54 | this section, postsecondary educational institutions include |
| 55 | school district career centers that offer postsecondary |
| 56 | programs. |
| 57 | (e) Indicate the number of postsecondary diplomas, |
| 58 | certificates, or degrees that the institution will award using |
| 59 | funds received pursuant to this section and the fields in which |
| 60 | the diplomas, certificates, or degrees will be awarded. |
| 61 | (f) Indicate how the funds received will leverage other |
| 62 | grants and scholarships and how the funds will be used to offset |
| 63 | student tuition costs. |
| 64 | (5) By March 1, 2006, and annually thereafter, the chair |
| 65 | of Workforce Florida, Inc., shall advise the Legislature of the |
| 66 | state's most pressing workforce needs for postsecondary |
| 67 | instruction and the geographic locations of these needs. The |
| 68 | Legislature shall annually establish a priority list for funds |
| 69 | provided pursuant to this section in the General Appropriations |
| 70 | Act. |
| 71 | (6) The rankings and decisions of the request-for- |
| 72 | proposals process shall be made by the State Board of Education |
| 73 | based on the priority list established pursuant to subsection |
| 74 | (5). |
| 75 | (7) Grant recipients must enter into a contract with the |
| 76 | state to produce a specific number of graduates in the |
| 77 | designated program within a specific time period. Grant |
| 78 | recipients must submit periodic reports to the department |
| 79 | documenting compliance with the accountability measures |
| 80 | established by the department. |
| 81 | (8) Subsequent to the first year of funding for the |
| 82 | SUCCEED, Florida - Crucial Professionals Program, priority for |
| 83 | awarding grants shall be for renewal grants to programs that are |
| 84 | making adequate progress toward their contracted production, |
| 85 | including nursing programs and teaching programs at institutions |
| 86 | that received funding from the SUCCEED, Florida - Crucial |
| 87 | Professionals Program during the 2005-2006 fiscal year. Renewal |
| 88 | award amounts shall be tied to student retention; the production |
| 89 | of degrees, certificates, or diplomas; and the number of |
| 90 | graduates placed in the targeted professions in the state. |
| 91 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |