Florida Senate - 2017 SB 1290
By Senator Hutson
7-01024A-17 20171290__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to career and technical education;
3 amending s. 1003.493, F.S.; defining the term “CAPE
4 pathway”; specifying goals for a CAPE pathway;
5 requiring CareerSource Florida, Inc., to advise and
6 offer technical assistance for CAPE pathways;
7 requiring each school district, in consultation with
8 local businesses and Florida College System
9 institutions, to develop at least one CAPE pathway in
10 a specified area by a specified school year; requiring
11 each school district to submit a report on the
12 expected costs of a CAPE pathway to the Legislature by
13 a specified date; requiring each district school board
14 to provide students and their parents with specified
15 information regarding CAPE pathways; requiring an
16 annual report to the Commissioner of Education by a
17 specified date; authorizing parents to enroll their
18 children in any school’s CAPE pathway in the school
19 district under certain circumstances; requiring each
20 school to have a career education program specialist;
21 amending ss. 1003.491, 1003.492, 1003.4935, and
22 1011.62, F.S.; conforming cross-references; providing
23 an effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Section 1003.493, Florida Statutes, is amended
28 to read:
29 1003.493 Career and professional academies, and career
30 themed courses, and CAPE pathways.—
31 (1) As used in this section, the term:
32 (a) “CAPE pathway” means a coherent, articulated sequence
33 of rigorous academic and career courses which leads to one or
34 more industry-recognized certificates or certification and
35 transitions to a postsecondary certificate, an associate degree,
36 or a baccalaureate degree at a public postsecondary educational
37 institution in this state.
38 (b)(a) A “Career and professional academy” means is a
39 research-based program that integrates a rigorous academic
40 curriculum with an industry-specific curriculum aligned directly
41 to priority workforce needs established by the local workforce
42 development board or the Department of Economic Opportunity.
43 Career and professional academies shall be offered by public
44 schools and school districts. The Florida Virtual School is
45 encouraged to develop and offer rigorous career and professional
46 courses as appropriate. Students completing career and
47 professional academy programs must receive a standard high
48 school diploma, the highest available industry certification,
49 and opportunities to earn postsecondary credit if the academy
50 partners with a postsecondary institution approved to operate in
51 the state.
52 (c)(b) A “Career-themed course” means is a course, or a
53 course in a series of courses, that leads to an industry
54 certification identified in the CAPE Industry Certification
55 Funding List pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of
56 Education. Career-themed courses have industry-specific
57 curriculum aligned directly to priority workforce needs
58 established by the local workforce development board or the
59 Department of Economic Opportunity. School districts shall offer
60 at least two career-themed courses, and each secondary school is
61 encouraged to offer at least one career-themed course. The
62 Florida Virtual School is encouraged to develop and offer
63 rigorous career-themed courses as appropriate. Students
64 completing a career-themed course must be provided opportunities
65 to earn postsecondary credit if the credit for the career-themed
66 course can be articulated to a postsecondary institution
67 approved to operate in the state.
68 (2) The goals of a career and professional academy, and
69 career-themed courses, and CAPE pathways are to:
70 (a) Increase student academic achievement and graduation
71 rates through integrated academic and career curricula.
72 (b) Prepare graduating high school students to make
73 appropriate choices relative to employment and future
74 educational experiences.
75 (c) Focus on career preparation through rigorous academics
76 and industry certification.
77 (d) Raise student aspiration and commitment to academic
78 achievement and work ethics through relevant coursework.
79 (e) Promote acceleration mechanisms, such as dual
80 enrollment or articulated credit, so that students may earn
81 postsecondary credit while in high school.
82 (f) Support the state’s economy by meeting industry needs
83 for skilled employees in high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand
84 occupations.
85 (g) Provide students a map of the required coursework to
86 earn an industry-recognized certificate or certification and
87 transition to the workforce or to a postsecondary certificate,
88 an associate degree, or a baccalaureate degree in this state.
89 (3)(a) Career-themed courses may be offered in any public
90 secondary school.
91 (b) Existing career education courses may serve as a
92 foundation for the creation of a career and professional
93 academy. A career and professional academy may be offered as one
94 of the following small learning communities:
95 1. A school-within-a-school career academy, as part of an
96 existing high school, that provides courses in one or more
97 occupational clusters. Students who attend the school are not
98 required to attend the academy.
99 2. A total school configuration that provides courses in
100 one or more occupational clusters. Every student who attends the
101 school also attends the academy.
102 (4) Each career and professional academy and secondary
103 school providing a career-themed course must:
104 (a) Provide a rigorous standards-based academic curriculum
105 integrated with a career curriculum; consider multiple styles of
106 student learning; promote learning by doing through application
107 and adaptation; maximize relevance of the subject matter;
108 enhance each student’s capacity to excel; and include an
109 emphasis on work habits and work ethics.
110 (b) Include one or more partnerships with postsecondary
111 institutions, businesses, industry, employers, economic
112 development organizations, or other appropriate partners from
113 the local community. Such partnerships with postsecondary
114 institutions shall be delineated in articulation agreements and
115 include any career and professional academy courses or career
116 themed courses that earn postsecondary credit. Such agreements
117 may include articulation between the secondary school and public
118 or private 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions and
119 technical centers. The Department of Education, in consultation
120 with the Board of Governors, shall establish a mechanism to
121 ensure articulation and transfer of credits to postsecondary
122 institutions in this state. Such partnerships must provide
123 opportunities for:
124 1. Instruction from highly skilled professionals who
125 possess industry-certification credentials for courses they are
126 teaching.
127 2. Internships, externships, and on-the-job training.
128 3. A postsecondary degree, diploma, or certificate.
129 4. The highest available level of industry certification.
130 5. Maximum articulation of credits pursuant to s. 1007.23
131 upon program completion.
132 (c) Promote and provide opportunities for students enrolled
133 in a career and professional academy or a career-themed course
134 to attain, at minimum, the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars
135 award pursuant to s. 1009.536.
136 (d) Provide instruction in careers designated as high
137 skill, high-wage, and high-demand by the local workforce
138 development board, the chamber of commerce, economic development
139 agencies, or the Department of Economic Opportunity.
140 (e) Deliver academic content through instruction relevant
141 to the career, including intensive reading and mathematics
142 intervention required by s. 1003.4282, with an emphasis on
143 strengthening reading for information skills.
144 (f) Offer applied courses that combine academic content
145 with technical skills.
146 (g) Provide instruction resulting in competency,
147 certification, or credentials in workplace skills, including,
148 but not limited to, communication skills, interpersonal skills,
149 decisionmaking skills, the importance of attendance and
150 timeliness in the work environment, and work ethics.
151 (5) All career courses offered in a career and professional
152 academy and each career-themed course offered by a secondary
153 school must lead to industry certification or college credit. If
154 the passage rate on an industry certification examination that
155 is associated with the career and professional academy or a
156 career-themed course falls below 50 percent, the 3-year
157 strategic plan must be amended to include specific strategies to
158 improve the passage rate of the academy or career-themed course.
159 (6) CareerSource Florida, Inc., shall serve in an advisory
160 role and offer technical assistance in the development and
161 deployment of newly established career and professional
162 academies, and career-themed courses, and CAPE pathways.
163 (7) Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, each school
164 district, in consultation with local businesses and the local
165 Florida College System institution, shall develop at least one
166 CAPE pathway in an area of regional high demand, as determined
167 by CareerSource Florida, Inc., and the regional boards so that,
168 at a minimum, students enrolled in high schools in the school
169 district may participate in a CAPE pathway. By November 1, 2019,
170 each school district must submit a report to the Legislature
171 detailing the expected costs to develop a CAPE pathway. Each
172 district school board must do all of the following:
173 (a) Provide students and their families with electronic
174 access to the CAPE pathways offered by the school district,
175 which must specify the sequence of rigorous academic and career
176 courses which leads to one or more industry-recognized
177 certificates or certification pursuant to ss. 1003.492 and
178 1008.44 and to transition to a postsecondary certificate, an
179 associate degree, or a baccalaureate degree at a public
180 postsecondary educational institution in this state. Each CAPE
181 pathway must also identify the occupation that corresponds to
182 the specified coursework and industry-recognized certificate or
183 certification.
184 (b) Annually, by November 1, report to the Commissioner of
185 Education:
186 1. The CAPE pathways offered by the school district;
187 2. The number and percentage of students enrolled in each
188 CAPE pathway during the current and prior school year; and
189 3. The number and percentage of high school graduates, for
190 the prior school year, who completed the sequence of courses
191 specified under a CAPE pathway which led to such students
192 earning one or more industry-recognized certificates or
193 certification.
194 (c) Allow a parent from the school district to enroll his
195 or her child in and transport his or her child to any school’s
196 CAPE pathway in the school district that has not reached
197 capacity, subject to the maximum class size pursuant to s.
198 1003.03 and s. 1, Art. IX of the State Constitution.
199 (d) Ensure that each school within the district has one
200 career education program specialist who serves as the
201 coordinator for career programs at the school and who is a
202 resource to staff, focuses on best practices to enhance student
203 achievement and career preparation, and has the following
204 duties:
205 1. Assists in the coordination, evaluation, and revision,
206 when necessary, of school district career education curriculum
207 and career programs;
208 2. Assists teachers in methods of diagnosing student
209 learning needs;
210 3. Assists teachers in planning, implementing, and
211 evaluating instructional programs and activities to enhance
212 student learning;
213 4. Models lessons for teachers, other staff, and
214 administrators relative to assigned areas using technology
215 expertise;
216 5. Administers assigned grants and ensures compliance with
217 grant requirements;
218 6. Assists with textbooks and other instructional materials
219 for adoption, selection, and training;
220 7. Develops Modified Occupation Completion Points plans for
221 exceptional student education students; and
222 8. Guides career education students in their customized
223 learning paths.
224 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 1003.491, Florida
225 Statutes, is amended to read:
226 1003.491 Florida Career and Professional Education Act.—The
227 Florida Career and Professional Education Act is created to
228 provide a statewide planning partnership between the business
229 and education communities in order to attract, expand, and
230 retain targeted, high-value industry and to sustain a strong,
231 knowledge-based economy.
232 (2) Each district school board shall develop, in
233 collaboration with local workforce development boards, economic
234 development agencies, and postsecondary institutions approved to
235 operate in the state, a strategic 3-year plan to address and
236 meet local and regional workforce demands. If involvement of a
237 local workforce development board or an economic development
238 agency in the strategic plan development is not feasible, the
239 local school board, with the approval of the Department of
240 Economic Opportunity, shall collaborate with the most
241 appropriate regional business leadership board. Two or more
242 school districts may collaborate in the development of the
243 strategic plan and offer career-themed courses, as defined in s.
244 1003.493(1) s. 1003.493(1)(b), or a career and professional
245 academy as a joint venture. The strategic plan must describe in
246 detail provisions for the efficient transportation of students,
247 the maximum use of shared resources, access to courses aligned
248 to state curriculum standards through virtual education
249 providers legislatively authorized to provide part-time
250 instruction to middle school students, and an objective review
251 of proposed career and professional academy courses and other
252 career-themed courses to determine if the courses will lead to
253 the attainment of industry certifications included on the
254 Industry Certified Funding List pursuant to rules adopted by the
255 State Board of Education. Each strategic plan shall be reviewed,
256 updated, and jointly approved every 3 years by the local school
257 district, local workforce development boards, economic
258 development agencies, and state-approved postsecondary
259 institutions.
260 Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 1003.492, Florida
261 Statutes, is amended to read:
262 1003.492 Industry-certified career education programs.—
263 (1) Secondary schools offering career-themed courses, as
264 defined in s. 1003.493(1) s. 1003.493(1)(b), and career and
265 professional academies shall be coordinated with the relevant
266 and appropriate industry to prepare a student for further
267 education or for employment in that industry.
268 Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 1003.4935, Florida
269 Statutes, is amended to read:
270 1003.4935 Middle grades career and professional academy
271 courses and career-themed courses.—
272 (1) Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, each district
273 school board, in collaboration with local workforce development
274 boards, economic development agencies, and state-approved
275 postsecondary institutions, shall include plans to implement a
276 career and professional academy or a career-themed course, as
277 defined in s. 1003.493(1) s. 1003.493(1)(b), in at least one
278 middle school in the district as part of the strategic 3-year
279 plan pursuant to s. 1003.491(2). The strategic plan must provide
280 students the opportunity to transfer from a middle school career
281 and professional academy or a career-themed course to a high
282 school career and professional academy or a career-themed course
283 currently operating within the school district. Students who
284 complete a middle school career and professional academy or a
285 career-themed course must have the opportunity to earn an
286 industry certificate and high school credit and participate in
287 career planning, job shadowing, and business leadership
288 development activities.
289 Section 5. Paragraph (o) of subsection (1) of section
290 1011.62, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
291 1011.62 Funds for operation of schools.—If the annual
292 allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each
293 district for operation of schools is not determined in the
294 annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing
295 the annual appropriations act, it shall be determined as
296 follows:
297 (1) COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC AMOUNT TO BE INCLUDED FOR
298 OPERATION.—The following procedure shall be followed in
299 determining the annual allocation to each district for
300 operation:
301 (o) Calculation of additional full-time equivalent
302 membership based on successful completion of a career-themed
303 course pursuant to ss. 1003.491, 1003.492, and 1003.493, or
304 courses with embedded CAPE industry certifications or CAPE
305 Digital Tool certificates, and issuance of industry
306 certification identified on the CAPE Industry Certification
307 Funding List pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of
308 Education or CAPE Digital Tool certificates pursuant to s.
309 1003.4203.—
310 1.a. A value of 0.025 full-time equivalent student
311 membership shall be calculated for CAPE Digital Tool
312 certificates earned by students in elementary and middle school
313 grades.
314 b. A value of 0.1 or 0.2 full-time equivalent student
315 membership shall be calculated for each student who completes a
316 course as defined in s. 1003.493(1)(c) s. 1003.493(1)(b) or
317 courses with embedded CAPE industry certifications and who is
318 issued an industry certification identified annually on the CAPE
319 Industry Certification Funding List approved under rules adopted
320 by the State Board of Education. A value of 0.2 full-time
321 equivalent membership shall be calculated for each student who
322 is issued a CAPE industry certification that has a statewide
323 articulation agreement for college credit approved by the State
324 Board of Education. For CAPE industry certifications that do not
325 articulate for college credit, the Department of Education shall
326 assign a full-time equivalent value of 0.1 for each
327 certification. Middle grades students who earn additional FTE
328 membership for a CAPE Digital Tool certificate pursuant to sub
329 subparagraph a. may not use the previously funded examination to
330 satisfy the requirements for earning an industry certification
331 under this sub-subparagraph. Additional FTE membership for an
332 elementary or middle grades student may not exceed 0.1 for
333 certificates or certifications earned within the same fiscal
334 year. The State Board of Education shall include the assigned
335 values on the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List under
336 rules adopted by the state board. Such value shall be added to
337 the total full-time equivalent student membership for grades 6
338 through 12 in the subsequent year. CAPE industry certifications
339 earned through dual enrollment must be reported and funded
340 pursuant to s. 1011.80. However, if a student earns a
341 certification through a dual enrollment course and the
342 certification is not a fundable certification on the
343 postsecondary certification funding list, or the dual enrollment
344 certification is earned as a result of an agreement between a
345 school district and a nonpublic postsecondary institution, the
346 bonus value shall be funded in the same manner as other nondual
347 enrollment course industry certifications. In such cases, the
348 school district may provide for an agreement between the high
349 school and the technical center, or the school district and the
350 postsecondary institution may enter into an agreement for
351 equitable distribution of the bonus funds.
352 c. A value of 0.3 full-time equivalent student membership
353 shall be calculated for student completion of the courses and
354 the embedded certifications identified on the CAPE Industry
355 Certification Funding List and approved by the commissioner
356 pursuant to ss. 1003.4203(5)(a) and 1008.44.
357 d. A value of 0.5 full-time equivalent student membership
358 shall be calculated for CAPE Acceleration Industry
359 Certifications that articulate for 15 to 29 college credit
360 hours, and 1.0 full-time equivalent student membership shall be
361 calculated for CAPE Acceleration Industry Certifications that
362 articulate for 30 or more college credit hours pursuant to CAPE
363 Acceleration Industry Certifications approved by the
364 commissioner pursuant to ss. 1003.4203(5)(b) and 1008.44.
365 2. Each district must allocate at least 80 percent of the
366 funds provided for CAPE industry certification, in accordance
367 with this paragraph, to the program that generated the funds.
368 This allocation may not be used to supplant funds provided for
369 basic operation of the program.
370 3. For CAPE industry certifications earned in the 2013-2014
371 school year and in subsequent years, the school district shall
372 distribute to each classroom teacher who provided direct
373 instruction toward the attainment of a CAPE industry
374 certification that qualified for additional full-time equivalent
375 membership under subparagraph 1.:
376 a. A bonus of $25 for each student taught by a teacher who
377 provided instruction in a course that led to the attainment of a
378 CAPE industry certification on the CAPE Industry Certification
379 Funding List with a weight of 0.1.
380 b. A bonus of $50 for each student taught by a teacher who
381 provided instruction in a course that led to the attainment of a
382 CAPE industry certification on the CAPE Industry Certification
383 Funding List with a weight of 0.2.
384 c. A bonus of $75 for each student taught by a teacher who
385 provided instruction in a course that led to the attainment of a
386 CAPE industry certification on the CAPE Industry Certification
387 Funding List with a weight of 0.3.
388 d. A bonus of $100 for each student taught by a teacher who
389 provided instruction in a course that led to the attainment of a
390 CAPE industry certification on the CAPE Industry Certification
391 Funding List with a weight of 0.5 or 1.0.
392
393 Bonuses awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall be provided to
394 teachers who are employed by the district in the year in which
395 the additional FTE membership calculation is included in the
396 calculation. Bonuses shall be calculated based upon the
397 associated weight of a CAPE industry certification on the CAPE
398 Industry Certification Funding List for the year in which the
399 certification is earned by the student. Any bonus awarded to a
400 teacher under this paragraph may not exceed $3,000 in any given
401 school year and is in addition to any regular wage or other
402 bonus the teacher received or is scheduled to receive.
403 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.