Senate Bill sb2326c1
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 2326
By the Committee on Education; and Senator Baker
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to postsecondary education;
3 amending s. 1007.22, F.S.; revising provisions
4 relating to establishment of interinstitutional
5 mechanisms by public postsecondary educational
6 institutions; amending s. 1007.23, F.S.;
7 revising components of the statewide
8 articulation agreement; revising terminology;
9 requiring the State Board of Education to
10 establish articulated career paths for specific
11 professions; requiring career paths to provide
12 credit for certain programs and experiential
13 learning; providing prerequisites to the
14 participation by nonpublic schools and colleges
15 in the statewide agreements for articulated
16 career paths; amending s. 1009.50, F.S.;
17 authorizing certain students in postsecondary
18 career certificate programs to receive Florida
19 public student assistance grants; creating s.
20 1009.521, F.S.; creating the GED Success
21 Scholarship Program; providing for
22 administration; providing for the award of
23 scholarships from appropriated funds; providing
24 eligibility criteria; providing for transmittal
25 of funds to eligible institutions; providing
26 for reporting; providing for rulemaking;
27 creating s. 1011.802, F.S.; establishing the
28 School District Career Center Facility
29 Enhancement Challenge Grant Program;
30 authorizing a school district direct-support
31 organization to solicit funds and establish a
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1 separate career center capital facilities
2 matching account for private contributions for
3 instructional facility construction projects;
4 providing for match by state appropriations;
5 providing for a portion of the cost of a
6 facility construction project to be provided
7 from a school district's local capital funds;
8 providing State Board of Education requirements
9 relating to capital outlay budget requests for
10 such projects; providing for reversion of
11 funds; requiring the Office of Program Policy
12 Analysis and Government Accountability to
13 assess articulation agreements and identify
14 career center programs that may articulate to
15 certain degree programs; requiring
16 recommendations; requiring the Office of
17 Program Policy Analysis and Government
18 Accountability to review all career paths that
19 provide for the articulation credit and submit
20 a report to legislative leaders; providing an
21 effective date.
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23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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25 Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 1007.22, Florida
26 Statutes, is amended to read:
27 1007.22 Articulation; postsecondary institution
28 coordination and collaboration.--
29 (3) Public postsecondary educational institutions
30 serving the same students in a geographic and service area are
31 encouraged to establish appropriate interinstitutional
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1 mechanisms to achieve cooperative planning and delivery of
2 academic programs and related services, share a high-cost
3 instructional facility and equipment, coordinate credit and
4 noncredit outreach activities, have access to each other's
5 library and media holdings and services, and provide
6 cooperative campus activities and consultative relationships
7 for the discussion and resolution of interinstitutional issues
8 and problems which discourage student access or transfer.
9 Section 2. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 1007.23,
10 Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (6) is added to
11 that section, to read:
12 1007.23 Statewide articulation agreement.--
13 (1) The State Board of Education shall establish in
14 rule a statewide articulation agreement that governs:
15 (a) Articulation between secondary and postsecondary
16 education, including credit earned through high school career
17 and technical education majors and career academies;
18 (b) Admission of associate in arts degree graduates
19 from community colleges and state universities;
20 (c) Admission of applied technology diploma program
21 graduates from community colleges or career centers;
22 (d) Admission of associate in science degree and
23 associate in applied science degree graduates from community
24 colleges;
25 (e) The use of acceleration mechanisms, including
26 nationally standardized examinations through which students
27 may earn credit;
28 (f) General education requirements and statewide
29 course numbers as provided for in ss. 1007.24 and 1007.25; and
30 (g) Articulation among programs in nursing; and.
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1 (h) Admission of postsecondary vocational, technical,
2 or career certificate or diploma graduates from school
3 district career centers or charter technical career centers.
4 (3) The articulation agreement must guarantee the
5 statewide articulation of appropriate workforce education
6 development programs and courses between school districts and
7 community colleges and specifically provide that every applied
8 technology diploma graduate must be granted the same amount of
9 credit upon admission to an associate in science degree or
10 associate in applied science degree program unless it is a
11 limited access program. Preference for admission must be given
12 to graduates who are residents of Florida. By March 1, 2007,
13 the State Board of Education shall establish an articulated
14 career path for specific workforce education professions,
15 including, but not limited to, the program areas of criminal
16 justice, business, nursing, allied health, and early childhood
17 education. The career paths shall provide for the articulation
18 of:
19 (a) Credit earned in vocational, technical, or career
20 certificate or diploma programs to associate in science
21 degrees or associate in applied science degrees.
22 (b) Credit earned in associate in science degree
23 programs to credit in baccalaureate degree programs.
24 (c) Credit awarded by public and private institutions.
25 (d) Credit for experiential learning associated with
26 minimum training requirements for employment.
27 (6) To participate in the statewide agreements for
28 articulated career paths required in this section, nonpublic
29 colleges and schools must be fully accredited by a regional or
30 national accrediting agency recognized by the United States
31 Department of Education and must:
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1 (a)1. Be eligible to participate in the William L.
2 Boyd, IV, Florida Resident Access Grant; or
3 2. Have been issued a regular license pursuant to s.
4 1005.31 and must use an assessment required in s.
5 1005.04(1)(b) which has also been recommended by the State
6 Board of Education. For courses that are not in the statewide
7 course numbering system pursuant to s. 1007.24, the Department
8 of Education shall ensure that credits to be accepted by a
9 receiving institution are generated in courses for which the
10 faculty possess credentials that are comparable to those
11 required by the accrediting association of the receiving
12 institution; and
13 (b) Participate in the Florida Education and Training
14 Placement Information Program pursuant to s. 1008.39.
15 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
16 1009.50, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
17 1009.50 Florida Public Student Assistance Grant
18 Program; eligibility for grants.--
19 (2)(a) State student assistance grants through the
20 program may be made only to degree-seeking students who enroll
21 in at least 6 semester hours, or the equivalent per term, or
22 students who enroll in a postsecondary career certificate
23 program of at least 450 clock hours, and who meet the general
24 requirements for student eligibility as provided in s.
25 1009.40, except as otherwise provided in this section. The
26 grants shall be awarded annually for the amount of
27 demonstrated unmet need for the cost of education and may not
28 exceed an amount equal to the average prior academic year cost
29 of tuition fees and other registration fees for 30 credit
30 hours at state universities or such other amount as specified
31 in the General Appropriations Act, to any recipient. A
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1 demonstrated unmet need of less than $200 shall render the
2 applicant ineligible for a state student assistance grant.
3 Recipients of the grants must have been accepted at a state
4 university, or community college, school district career
5 center, or charter technical career center authorized by
6 Florida law. A student is eligible for the award for 110
7 percent of the number of credit hours required to complete the
8 program in which enrolled, except as otherwise provided in s.
9 1009.40(3).
10 Section 4. Section 1009.521, Florida Statutes, is
11 created to read:
12 1009.521 GED Success Scholarship Program.--
13 (1) The GED Success Scholarship Program is created to
14 establish a scholarship program to encourage students who
15 successfully complete a GED program to attend a program
16 offered by an accredited public or private technical or career
17 center or a community college program identified by the
18 Department of Education as a program that provides a career
19 path to one of the top 15 occupations in number of annual
20 openings as listed on the Agency for Workforce Innovation's
21 Florida Statewide Targeted Occupations List or on a regional
22 targeted occupations list at the time of the student's initial
23 enrollment.
24 (2) The scholarship program shall be administered by
25 the department pursuant to the requirements of this section
26 and rules of the State Board of Education.
27 (3) For each year in which funds are appropriated in
28 the General Appropriations Act, the department shall allocate
29 funds to eligible students in the amount of one $500
30 scholarship per eligible student. The scholarships shall be
31 awarded by the department on a first-come, first-served basis
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1 to eligible recipients until all funds specifically designated
2 for the GED Success Scholarships for that fiscal year have
3 been allocated.
4 (4) A student who meets all of the following
5 requirements is eligible to receive a scholarship pursuant to
6 this section:
7 (a) The student is a Florida resident for tuition
8 purposes pursuant to s. 1009.21.
9 (b) The student has successfully completed all
10 sections of the GED tests.
11 (c) The student has enrolled in a program identified
12 by the department as a program in an accredited public or
13 private technical or career center or a community college that
14 provides a career path to one of the top 15 occupations in
15 number of annual openings as listed on the Agency for
16 Workforce Innovation's Florida Statewide Targeted Occupations
17 List or on a regional targeted occupations list at the time of
18 the student's initial enrollment.
19 (d) The student has submitted an application for the
20 scholarship to the department, in the manner prescribed by the
21 department, after December 1 for the following school year and
22 before June 1 of the year in which funding is requested.
23 (5)(a) Payment of GED Success Scholarships shall be
24 transmitted to the director or president of the eligible
25 institution, or his or her representative, in advance of the
26 registration period. Institutions shall notify students of the
27 amount of their awards.
28 (b) Each participating institution shall report to the
29 department by the established date the eligible students to
30 whom scholarship moneys were disbursed each academic term.
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1 Each institution shall also report to the department necessary
2 demographic and eligibility data for such students.
3 (c) Each accredited private institution that receives
4 moneys through the GED Success Scholarship Program shall
5 prepare a biennial report that includes a financial audit,
6 conducted by an independent certified public accountant, of
7 the institution's administration of the program and a complete
8 accounting of the moneys allocated to the institution for the
9 program. The report shall be submitted to the department no
10 later than March 1 of every even-numbered year.
11 (6) The State Board of Education may adopt rules
12 pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 relating to the
13 administration of the scholarship program.
14 Section 5. Section 1011.802, Florida Statutes, is
15 created to read:
16 1011.802 School District Career Center Facility
17 Enhancement Challenge Grant Program.--
18 (1) There is established the School District Career
19 Center Facility Enhancement Challenge Grant Program for the
20 purpose of assisting career centers in building high priority
21 instructional capital facilities consistent with s. 1001.44,
22 including common areas connecting such facilities. The
23 direct-support organizations that serve the school districts
24 may solicit gifts from private sources which are eligible for
25 state matching funds for capital facilities. For purposes of
26 this section, private sources of funds shall not include any
27 federal, state, or local government funds that a school
28 district may receive.
29 (2) The School District Career Center Facility
30 Enhancement Challenge Grant Program shall provide funds to
31 match private contributions for the development of high
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1 priority instructional capital facilities, including common
2 areas connecting such facilities, within the career centers.
3 (3) Within the direct-support organization of each
4 school district, a separate career center capital facilities
5 matching account must be established for the purpose of
6 providing matching funds from the direct-support
7 organization's unrestricted donations or other private
8 contributions for the development of high priority
9 instructional capital facilities, including common areas
10 connecting such facilities. The Legislature may appropriate
11 funds for distribution to a school district after matching
12 funds are certified by the direct-support organization and
13 school district to the Department of Education. The Public
14 Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund shall not
15 be used as the source of the state match for private
16 contributions.
17 (4) A project may not be initiated unless all private
18 funds for planning, construction, and equipping the facility
19 have been received and deposited in the direct-support
20 organization's matching account and the state's share for the
21 minimum amount of funds needed to begin the project has been
22 appropriated by the Legislature. The Legislature may
23 appropriate the state's matching funds in one or more fiscal
24 years for the planning, construction, and equipping of an
25 eligible facility. However, these requirements shall not
26 preclude the school district or direct-support organization
27 from expending available funds from private sources to develop
28 a prospectus, including preliminary architectural schematics
29 or models, for use in its efforts to raise private funds for a
30 facility. Additionally, any private sources of funds expended
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1 for this purpose are eligible for state matching funds if the
2 project is awarded grant funds under this section.
3 (5) To be eligible to participate in the School
4 District Career Center Facility Enhancement Challenge Grant
5 Program, a school district, through its direct-support
6 organization, shall raise contributions from private sources
7 equal to one-third of the total cost of a facility
8 construction project. After raising such contributions, the
9 school district shall be eligible for a match by a state
10 appropriation equal to the amount raised for a facility
11 construction project up to one-third of the cost of the
12 project, subject to the General Appropriations Act. Another
13 one-third of the total cost must be provided from the school
14 district's local capital funds.
15 (6) If the state's share of the required match is
16 insufficient to meet the requirements of subsection (5), the
17 school district shall renegotiate the terms of the
18 contribution with the donors. If the project is terminated,
19 each private donation, plus accrued interest, shall revert to
20 the direct-support organization for remittance to the donor at
21 the donor's discretion.
22 (7) By September 1 of each year, the State Board of
23 Education shall transmit to the Legislature, in the capital
24 outlay budget request, a list of projects that meet all
25 eligibility requirements to participate in the School District
26 Career Center Facility Enhancement Challenge Grant Program and
27 a budget request that includes the recommended schedule
28 necessary to complete each project.
29 (8) In order for a project to be eligible under this
30 program, it must be survey-recommended under the provisions of
31 s. 1013.31, included in the school district's 5-year capital
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1 improvement plan, and receive prior approval from the State
2 Board of Education.
3 (9) Any project funds that are unexpended after a
4 project is completed shall revert to the school district
5 direct-support organization's career center capital facilities
6 matching account. One-third of such unexpended funds shall be
7 reserved for the school district career center that originally
8 received the private contribution for the purpose of providing
9 private matching funds for future facility construction
10 projects as provided in this section. One-third of such
11 unexpended funds shall be returned to the General Revenue
12 Fund. One-third of such unexpended funds shall be returned to
13 the school district.
14 (10) The surveys, architectural plans, facility, and
15 equipment shall be the property of the participating school
16 district.
17 Section 6. (1) As part of determining the appropriate
18 courses and programs for statewide articulation, the Office of
19 Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability shall
20 collect, review, and conduct an assessment of all existing
21 statewide articulation agreements and all existing
22 articulation agreements between school district career centers
23 or charter technical career centers and community colleges by
24 September 30, 2006.
25 (2) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
26 Government Accountability shall use the information compiled
27 pursuant to subsection (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of
28 local and statewide interinstitutional articulation agreements
29 and to identify other postsecondary technical or career
30 programs within a school district career center or charter
31 technical career center that may articulate to an associate in
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1 science degree program or an associate in applied science
2 degree program on an individual course or block basis for
3 statewide interinstitutional articulation agreements. By
4 December 31, 2006, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
5 Government Accountability shall submit a report to the
6 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
7 Representatives.
8 (3) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
9 Government Accountability shall review all career paths that
10 provide for the articulation of credit awarded by public and
11 private institutions as required pursuant to s. 1007.23(3)(c),
12 Florida Statutes. The review must include an assessment of
13 methods used to evaluate a student's ability to successfully
14 complete the course of study for which the student has applied
15 before accepting the student into the program, completion
16 rates, job-placement rates, and the method used by
17 institutions to report data. By December 31, 2007, the Office
18 of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability shall
19 submit a report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
20 of the House of Representatives.
21 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 Senate Bill 2326
3
4 The committee substitute:
5 Deletes the provisions to establish the Crucial Professionals
Program, the Career Paths Program, and the Critical Jobs
6 Program under the Succeed, Florida! Initiative;
7 Includes in the statewide articulation agreement between
secondary and postsecondary education credit earned through
8 high school career and technical majors and career academies
and includes admission of postsecondary career graduates from
9 school district or charter technical career centers;
10 Requires the State Board of Education to establish articulated
career paths in program areas of workforce need by March 1,
11 2007, and includes eligible credit earning mechanisms for
articulation;
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Specifies that nonpublic colleges and schools participating in
13 the career path articulation must be accredited by an agency
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, must be
14 eligible to participate in the Florida Resident Access Grant
Program, must be issued a license pursuant to s. 1005.31,F.S.,
15 must use an assessment required pursuant to s. 1005.04, F.S.,
must meet specific requirements for courses not included in
16 the statewide course numbering system, and must participate in
the Florida Education and Training Placement Information
17 Program pursuant to s. 1008.39, F.S.
18 Expands eligibility in the Florida Public Student Assistance
Grant Program to students enrolled in postsecondary career
19 programs of at least 450 clock hours and students accepted
into school district and charter technical carrier centers;
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Requires OPPAGA to conduct a review and assessment of existing
21 articulation agreements and to conduct a review of all career
paths that provide for articulation of credit awarded by
22 public and private institutions and to include in the review
methods used to evaluate student abilities, completion rates,
23 and placement rates.
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