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.