Florida Senate - 2021 SB 508
By Senator Brandes
24-00657-21 2021508__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to apprenticeship and
3 preapprenticeship programs; amending s. 446.011, F.S.;
4 revising legislative intent; amending s. 446.032,
5 F.S.; revising the requirements for the Department of
6 Education’s annual report on apprenticeship and
7 preapprenticeship programs; amending s. 446.041, F.S.;
8 revising and providing additional duties for the
9 department relating to apprenticeship programs;
10 specifying that apprenticeship program sponsors who
11 meet certain conditions are eligible to receive direct
12 reimbursements from the department for apprenticeship
13 programs; amending s. 446.045, F.S.; revising the
14 membership of the State Apprenticeship Advisory
15 Council; amending s. 1002.20, F.S.; expanding the
16 rights of parents of public school students to include
17 rights relating to workforce education opportunities;
18 requiring that parents of public school students be
19 informed of certain workforce education opportunities
20 and the costs and benefits of postsecondary workforce
21 education; providing an effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 446.011, Florida
26 Statutes, is amended to read:
27 446.011 Legislative intent regarding apprenticeship
28 training.—
29 (4) It is the intent of The Legislature does not intend for
30 that this act to not require, or authorize the requirement of,
31 the use of apprentices on construction projects financed by the
32 state or any county, municipality, town or township, public
33 authority, special district, municipal service taxing unit, or
34 other agency of state or local government. Notwithstanding this
35 intent, whenever any government or agency of government employs,
36 of its own choice, apprentices or employs contractors who employ
37 apprentices, the behavior of the government and the contractors
38 employed by the government shall be governed by the provisions
39 of this act.
40 Section 2. Present paragraphs (b) through (f) of subsection
41 (2) of section 446.032, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
42 paragraphs (c) through (g), respectively, a new paragraph (b) is
43 added to that subsection, and present paragraph (b) of that
44 subsection is amended, to read:
45 446.032 General duties of the department for apprenticeship
46 training.—The department shall:
47 (2) By September 1 of each year, publish an annual report
48 on apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs. The report
49 must be published on the department’s website and, at a minimum,
50 include all of the following:
51 (b) The total amount of funding appropriated by the
52 Legislature for workforce education programs pursuant to s.
53 1011.80(7).
54 (c)(b) A detailed summary of each local educational
55 agency’s expenditure of funds for apprenticeship and
56 preapprenticeship programs, including all of the following:
57 1. The total amount of state funds expended by local
58 educational agencies received for apprenticeship and
59 preapprenticeship programs, itemized by local educational agency
60 and apprenticeship or preapprenticeship program, and the amount
61 of funding per program offering.
62 2. The total amount of funds expended by each local
63 educational agency for workforce education programs, as defined
64 in s. 1011.80(1), and the amount of funding per local
65 educational agency per program offering.;
66 3.2. The total amount of funds allocated to each trade or
67 occupation.;
68 4.3. The total amount of funds expended for administrative
69 costs per trade or occupation.; and
70 5.4. The total amount of funds expended for instructional
71 costs per trade and occupation.
72 Section 3. Subsection (7) of section 446.041, Florida
73 Statutes, is amended, and subsections (14) and (15) are added to
74 that section, to read:
75 446.041 Apprenticeship program, duties of the department.
76 The department shall:
77 (7) Lead and coordinate outreach efforts to educate
78 students in grades 6 through 12 and veterans about
79 apprenticeship and career opportunities.
80 (14) Develop detailed instructions on the process by which
81 a local educational agency may partner with a private
82 apprenticeship program sponsor to offer apprenticeship education
83 and training services in the state. The instructions must be
84 easily accessible and located under the Apprenticeship Programs
85 webpage in the Career and Adult Education section of the
86 department’s website. The instructions must include the elements
87 required for an agreement with an apprenticeship program
88 sponsor, including information on how the local educational
89 agency may expend state funding for its workforce education
90 programs and the current FTE weight attributed to each
91 apprenticeable occupation, by industry.
92 (15) Develop criteria for an apprenticeship program sponsor
93 to attain high-performing status. If an apprenticeship program
94 sponsor meets the criteria and attains high-performing status,
95 such sponsor is eligible to receive direct reimbursement for its
96 apprenticeship program from the department. In developing such
97 criteria, the department shall consider all of the following:
98 (a) The relevant licenses and certifications held by an
99 apprenticeship sponsor.
100 (b) The number of apprentices graduating on an annual
101 basis.
102 (c) The number of apprenticeship program graduates, by
103 program offering.
104 (d) The percentage of apprenticeship program graduates who
105 continue to work in their respective fields after graduation.
106 Section 4. Paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (2)
107 of section 446.045, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
108 446.045 State Apprenticeship Advisory Council.—
109 (2)(a) There is created a State Apprenticeship Advisory
110 Council to be composed of 10 voting members appointed by the
111 Governor and 3 two ex officio nonvoting members. The purpose of
112 the advisory council is to advise the department on matters
113 relating to apprenticeship. The advisory council may not
114 establish policy, adopt rules, or consider whether particular
115 apprenticeship programs should be approved by the department.
116 (b) The Commissioner of Education or the commissioner’s
117 designee shall serve ex officio as chair of the State
118 Apprenticeship Advisory Council, but may not vote. The state
119 director of the Office of Apprenticeship of the United States
120 Department of Labor and the executive director of the Department
121 of Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee, shall serve ex
122 officio as a nonvoting members member of the council. The
123 Governor shall appoint to the council four members representing
124 employee organizations and four members representing employer
125 organizations. Each of these eight members shall represent
126 industries that have registered apprenticeship programs. The
127 Governor shall also appoint two public members who are
128 knowledgeable about registered apprenticeship and apprenticeable
129 occupations and who are independent of any joint or nonjoint
130 organization. Members shall be appointed for 4-year staggered
131 terms. A vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the
132 unexpired term.
133 (c) The council shall meet at the call of the chair or at
134 the request of a majority of its membership, but at least twice
135 a year. A majority of the voting members constitutes shall
136 constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of a majority of a
137 quorum is necessary to take action.
138 Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section
139 1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
140 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
141 school students must receive accurate and timely information
142 regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
143 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
144 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
145 rights including, but not limited to, the following:
146 (6) EDUCATIONAL CHOICE.—
147 (a) Public educational school choices.—
148 1. Parents of public school students may seek any public
149 educational school choice options that are applicable and
150 available to students throughout the state. These options may
151 include controlled open enrollment, single-gender programs, lab
152 schools, virtual instruction programs, charter schools, charter
153 technical career centers, magnet schools, alternative schools,
154 special programs, auditory-oral education programs, advanced
155 placement, dual enrollment, International Baccalaureate,
156 International General Certificate of Secondary Education (pre
157 AICE), CAPE digital tools, CAPE industry certifications,
158 collegiate high school programs, Advanced International
159 Certificate of Education, early admissions, credit by
160 examination or demonstration of competency, the New World School
161 of the Arts, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, and
162 the Florida Virtual School. These options may also include the
163 public educational choice options of the Opportunity Scholarship
164 Program and the McKay Scholarships for Students with
165 Disabilities Program.
166 2. Parents of public school students may seek any workforce
167 education opportunities that are available to students
168 throughout the state. These options may include
169 preapprenticeship or apprenticeship programs, career and
170 technical education, industry credentialing, or any other
171 workforce education opportunity. Parents must be informed of
172 these opportunities as other pathways that are available to
173 their student and must also be informed of the relative costs
174 and benefits of postsecondary workforce education opportunities
175 as compared to other postsecondary pathways.
176 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.