Text: HF00564 Text: HF00566 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 256.38 SCHOOL-TO-WORK TRANSITION
1 2 SYSTEM.
1 3 1. It is the policy of the state of Iowa to provide an
1 4 education system that prepares the students of this state to
1 5 meet the high skills demands of today's workplace. The
1 6 general assembly recognizes the need to prepare students for
1 7 any postsecondary opportunity that leads to high-wage, high-
1 8 skill careers. In order to meet this need, the high school
1 9 curriculum must be redesigned so students appreciate the
1 10 relevance of academic course work, reach higher levels of
1 11 learning in science, math, and communications skills, and
1 12 acquire the ability to apply this knowledge. Career pathways
1 13 will modify high school curricula and instruction to provide
1 14 students with opportunities to achieve high levels of skills
1 15 and knowledge within a broad range of related career areas,
1 16 which will require a variety of levels of preparation.
1 17 2. The departments of education, employment services, and
1 18 economic development shall develop a statewide school-to-work
1 19 transition system in consultation with local school districts,
1 20 community colleges, and labor, business, and industry
1 21 interests. The system shall be designed to attain the
1 22 following objectives:
1 23 a. Motivate youths to stay in school and become productive
1 24 citizens.
1 25 b. Set high standards by promoting higher academic
1 26 performance levels.
1 27 c. Connect work and learning so that the classroom is
1 28 linked to worksite learning and experience.
1 29 d. Ready students for work in order to improve their
1 30 prospects for immediate employment after leaving school
1 31 through career pathways that provide significant opportunity
1 32 to continued education and career development.
1 33 e. Engage employers and workers by promoting their
1 34 participation in the education of youth in order to ensure the
1 35 development of a skilled, flexible, entry-level workforce.
2 1 f. Provide a framework to position the state to access
2 2 federal resources for state youth apprenticeship systems and
2 3 local programs.
2 4 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 256.39 CAREER PATHWAYS PROGRAM.
2 5 1. If the general assembly appropriates moneys for the
2 6 establishment of a career pathways program, the department of
2 7 education shall develop a career pathways grant program,
2 8 criteria for the formation of ongoing career pathways
2 9 consortia in each merged area, and guidelines and a process to
2 10 be used in selecting career pathways consortium grant
2 11 recipients, including a requirement that grant recipients
2 12 shall provide matching funds or match grant funds with in-kind
2 13 resources on a dollar-for-dollar basis. A portion of the
2 14 moneys appropriated by the general assembly shall be made
2 15 available to schools to pay for the issuance of employability
2 16 skills assessments to public or nonpublic school students. An
2 17 existing partnership or organization, including a regional
2 18 school-to-work partnership, that meets the established
2 19 criteria, may be considered a consortium for grant application
2 20 purposes. One or more school districts may be considered a
2 21 consortium for grant application purposes, provided the
2 22 district can demonstrate the manner in which a community
2 23 college, area education agency, representatives from business
2 24 and labor organizations, and others as determined within the
2 25 region will be involved. Existing school-to-work partnerships
2 26 are encouraged to assist the local consortia in developing a
2 27 plan and budget. The department shall provide assistance to
2 28 consortia in planning and implementing career pathways program
2 29 efforts.
2 30 2. To be eligible for a career pathways grant, a career
2 31 pathways consortium shall develop a career pathways program
2 32 that includes, but is not limited to, the following:
2 33 a. Measure the employability skills of students.
2 34 Employability skills shall include, but are not limited to,
2 35 reading for information, applied mathematics, listening, and
3 1 writing.
3 2 b. Curricula designed to integrate academic and work-based
3 3 learning to achieve high employability skills by all students
3 4 related to career pathways. The curricula shall be designed
3 5 through the cooperative efforts of secondary and postsecondary
3 6 education professionals, business professionals, and community
3 7 services professionals.
3 8 c. Staff development to implement the high-standard
3 9 curriculum. These efforts may include team teaching
3 10 techniques that utilize expertise from partnership businesses
3 11 and postsecondary institutions.
3 12 3. In addition to the provisions of subsection 2, a career
3 13 pathways program may include, but is not limited to, the
3 14 following:
3 15 a. Career guidance and exploration for students.
3 16 b. Involvement and recognition of business, labor, and
3 17 community organizations as partners in the career pathways
3 18 program.
3 19 c. Provision for program accountability.
3 20 d. Encouragement of team teaching within the school or in
3 21 partnership with postsecondary schools, and business, labor,
3 22 community, and nonprofit organizations.
3 23 e. Service learning opportunities for students.
3 24 4. Business, labor, and community organizations are
3 25 encouraged to market the career pathways program to the local
3 26 community and provide students with mentors, shadow
3 27 professionals, speakers, field trip sites, summer jobs,
3 28 internships, and job offers for students who graduate with
3 29 high performance records. Students are encouraged to
3 30 volunteer their time to community organizations in exchange
3 31 for workplace learning opportunities that do not displace
3 32 current employees.
3 33 5. In developing career pathways program efforts, each
3 34 consortium shall make every effort to cooperate with the
3 35 juvenile courts, the department of economic development, the
4 1 department of employment services, the department of human
4 2 services, and the new Iowa schools development corporation.
4 3 6. The department of education shall direct and monitor
4 4 the progress of each career pathways consortium in developing
4 5 career pathways programs. By January 15, 1998, the department
4 6 shall submit to the general assembly any findings and
4 7 recommendations of the career pathways consortia, along with
4 8 the department's recommendations for specific career pathways
4 9 program efforts and for appropriate funding levels to
4 10 implement and sustain the recommended programs.
4 11 7. Notwithstanding section 8.33, unencumbered or
4 12 unobligated funds remaining on June 30 of the fiscal year for
4 13 which the funds were appropriated shall not revert but shall
4 14 be available for expenditure for the following fiscal year for
4 15 the purposes of this section.
4 16 8. A career pathways program is a comprehensive school
4 17 transformation program under section 294A.14.
4 18 Sec. 3. REPEAL. Section 258.18, Code 1995, is repealed.
4 19 HF 565
4 20 kh/pk/25
Text: HF00564 Text: HF00566 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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