Vocational Education Act of 1984

Summary

Vocational Education Act of 1984 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1989 to carry out the provisions of titles I, II, III, and IV of this Act, relating to State programs. Makes two percent of the funds appropriated for this Act for each fiscal year available to carry out the provisions of title IV, relating to national programs. Title I: Vocational Education Assistance to the States - Part A: Allotment and Allocation - Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve from sums appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under this Act: (1) two percent for the activities described in title IV (National Programs); and (2) two percent for the purpose of carrying out provisions for Indian programs. Directs the Secretary, from the remainder of such sums and subject to specified provisions, to allot to each State for each fiscal year an amount based on formulas using State allotment ratios and relative State populations of certain age groups. Allots the following percentages of such funds on the basis of population aged: (1) 15 through 19, 50 percent; (2) 20 through 24, 20 percent; and (3) 25 through 65, 15 percent. Allots the remaining 15 percent on the basis of the relative sums of such age group allotments. Sets forth a minimum State allotment amount, with specified exceptions, and minimum allotments for specified territories and possessions of the United States. Provides for reallotment among other States of any amount which the Secretary determines will not be required for carrying out a State's program for any fiscal year. Sets forth a formula for determining State allotment ratios based on relative State per capita income. Sets maximum and minimum limits on such ratios and sets ratios for specified territories and possessions of the United States. Sets forth provisions for within-State allocation of the State allotment. Directs each State to allocate from its allotment in each fiscal year: (1) up to four percent for administrative expenses; (2) one percent for expenses of the State Council on Vocational Education, within minimum and maximum dollar amounts; and (3) one percent for guidance and counseling activities at the State level. Requires that of the remainder of the State allotment: (1) 67 percent shall be available for activities described in title II (Programs for Vocational Education Opportunities); and (2) 33 percent shall be available for activities described in title III (Vocational Education Program Improvement, Innovation, and Expansion). Sets forth provisions for Indian programs. Directs the Secretary, upon the request of an eligible Indian tribe, to contract with the tribal organization to plan, conduct and administer vocational education programs with the two-percent reserved funds for such purpose. Authorizes the Secretary, from any remaining funds from such reserved funds, to enter into an agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for the operation of vocational education programs in institutions serving eligible Indians aged 15 through 24. Makes provisions of this Act applicable to the BIA as if it were a State board. Part B: State Organizational and Planning Responsibilities - Requires any State desiring to participate in the program under this Act to establish or designate a State board of vocational education to be the sole State agency responsible for the administration or supervision of the State vocational education program. Includes among State board responsibilities: (1) coordination of program policy development; (2) coordination of State plan development, approval procedures, and submission; and (3) consultation with the State council on vocational education and other appropriate State agencies, councils, and individuals involved in program planning and approval. Allows the State board to delegate any of its responsibilities, other than those listed, to other State agencies. Requires States to assign at least one individual to work full time to assist the State board to fulfill the purposes of this Act with respect to sex equity in vocational education programs. Requires each State to expend a specified minimum amount for State administration of vocational education programs under this Act. Requires States desiring to participate in programs under this Act to establish a State council on vocational education. Sets forth requirements relating to council membership, a majority of whom must be representative of business and industry. Requires the State council to advise in-State plan development and to review the State plan. Requires each State to make available a specified minimum amount for the expenses of the State council. Sets forth requirements for State plans under this Act. Requires that State plans be submitted to the Secretary and cover a three-year period in the case of the initial plan and a two-year period thereafter, with such annual revisions as the State board determines to be necessary. Requires that such planning periods be coterminous with those under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Includes among required provisions of State plans: (1) compliance with criteria for programs for the handicapped and for the disadvantaged; (2) relevant training for single working parents and homemakers desiring to enter occupations not traditionally associated with their sex; (3) program evaluation using measurements such as labor market needs; and (4) participation of private elementary and secondary school children. Sets forth requirements for State plan approval. Title II: Programs for Vocational Education Opportunities - Requires each State, from the portion of its allotment available for this title, to provide vocational education services and activities to meet the special needs, and enhance the participation, of: (1) handicapped individuals; (2) disadvantaged individuals; (3) adults who need training or retraining; (4) single working parents or individuals who have been primarily homemakers as adults; and (5) criminal offenders who are serving in a correctional institution. Limits the use of funds under this title for handicapped individuals to supplemental or additional staff, equipment, materials, and services not provided to other individuals in vocational education that are essential for handicapped individuals to participate in vocational education. Permits use of funds under this title for the improvement of vocational education programs designed to provide equal access to quality vocational education to disadvantaged individuals. Permits use of funds under this title to improve or expand vocational educational services and activities to train and retrain adult workers. Requires that such services and activities be developed in coordination with the State agency administering title III (Employment and Training Assistance for Dislocated Workers) of JTPA. Permits such funds to be used for: (1) additional training under title III of JTPA; (2) vocational education programs for training or retraining adults, including programs for older Americans and displaced homemakers; and (3) costs of serving adults in other vocational programs. Permits use of funds under this title for programs for single parents and homemakers, including basic literacy instruction, educational materials for marketable skills, and assistance with child care, transportation, or scheduling to make such programs more accessible. Permits use of funds under this title for basic skills instruction for specified groups with special needs. Allows States to use funds under this title to arrange with private vocational training institutions for educational training, equipment, or services under specified circumstances. Requires that services and activities for groups with special needs under this title include, to the extent practicable, worksite programs such as cooperative vocational education, work study, and apprenticeship programs. Distributes title II assistance as follows: (1) 20 percent for handicapped individuals; (2) 40 percent for disadvantaged individuals; (3) 20 percent for adult training or retraining; (4) 19 percent for single working parents and individuals who have been primarily homemakers as adults; and (5) one percent for criminal offenders in correctional institutions. Allocates the 60 percent of title II funds which shall be available for the handicapped and disadvantaged among local educational agencies (LEAs) in a State based on the relative number of children in public schools counted under specified provisions of title I (Financial Assistance to Meet the Special Educational Needs of Children) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Sets forth provisions relating to area vocational schools, use of community-based organizations, and joint projects with other LEAs. Directs the State board to establish criteria for the distribution of the remaining 40 percent of title II funds to eligible recipients for purposes of the programs for adult training, single working parents and dislocated homemakers, and criminal offenders. Sets forth criteria for services and activities for the handicapped and for the disadvantaged. Title III: Vocational Education Program Improvement, Innovation, and Expansion - Permits each State, from the portion of its allotment available for this title, to use grants for: (1) improvement of programs within the State; (2) expansion of activities to meet student needs, particularly in economically depressed areas where there are inadequate vocational education programs; (3) introduction of new programs, particularly in economically depressed areas; (4) exemplary and innovative programs stressing new and emerging technologies and designed to strengthen vocational education services and activities; (5) guidance and counseling activities in the improvement of programs; (6) inservice and preservice training for vocational education teachers, counselors, and administrators, with special emphasis on integration of handicapped and disadvantaged students in regular vocational education courses; (7) curriculum development, including basic skills training; (8) expansion and improvement of programs at area vocational schools; and (9) equipment acquisition and facilities renovation to improve or expand programs within the State. Distributes title III assistance as follows: (1) 25 percent for activities at the State level; and (2) 75 percent for distribution among eligible recipients, or combinations of eligible recipients, pursuant to criteria established by the State board. Directs the State board, in prescribing such criteria, to give special emphasis to economically depressed urban and rural areas of the State and to area vocational education schools serving such areas. Requires that at least ten percent of title III funds available to each State in each fiscal year shall be available only for conducting consumer and homemaking education programs. Sets forth criteria for program improvement, innovation and expansion. Title IV: National Programs - Part A: Research - Directs the Secretary, in order to carry out specified research objectives, to conduct, through the National Institute of Education (NIE), applied research on aspects of vocational education specifically related to this Act. Includes in such research: (1) methods for providing quality vocational education to handicapped individuals, disadvantaged individuals, men and women in nontraditional fields, adults, single working parents or individuals who have been primarily homemakers as adults, individuals with limited English-speaking proficiency, and individuals incarcerated in correctional institutions; (2) strategies for coordinating local, State, and Federal vocational education, manpower training, and economic development programs; (3) private sector involvement in public vocational education; (4) methods of reinforcing and enhancing basic academic skills in vocational settings; and (5) curriculum and instructional methods development relating to new and emerging technologies. Directs the Secretary to: (1) operate an information clearinghouse on activities conducted by States under titles II and III, and on research contracts made by the Secretary under this part; (2) compile an annotated bibliography of research, exemplary and innovative program projects, and curriculum development projects assisted with funds under this Act; (3) initiate leadership development and inservice education activities for State and local vocational education instructors and administrators; and (4) support meritorious, unsolicited research proposals from State and local educators relating to the goals of this Act. Limits an award to any single recipient to no more than 20 percent of the amount made available under this part in any fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to conduct a national assessment of vocational education assisted under this Act, through independent studies and analysis by the NIE. Requires that descriptions and evaluations of specified aspects of such programs be included in such assessment. Directs the NIE to: (1) consult with specified congressional committees in the design and implementation of such assessment; (2) report preliminary results to Congress in January and July of 1988; and (3) submit a final report to Congress by January 1, 1989. Prohibits any review of such reports outside the Department of Education before transmittal to Congress, but allows the President and the Secretary to make additional recommendations with respect to the assessment. Limits expenditures for such assessment to no more than 20 percent of the amounts available under this part in any fiscal year. Part B: Secretarial Fund - Authorizes the Secretary, from the amounts available for this part, to carry out, directly or through grants or contracts with public and private entities, programs and projects which support: (1) model programs providing improved access to quality vocational education programs for specified groups of individuals with special needs and for men and women seeking nontraditional occupations; (2) examples of successful cooperation between the private sector and public agencies in vocational education; (3) programs to overcome national skill shortages, as designated by the Secretary in cooperation with the Secretaries of Labor, Defense, and Commerce; and (4) other activities designated by the Secretary and related to the purposes of this Act. Requires that all programs funded under this part be: (1) of direct service to individuals enrolled; and (2) capable of wide replication by service providers. Directs the Secretary to disseminate the results of programs and projects assisted under this part in a manner designed to improve the training of teachers, other instructional personnel, counselors, and administrators. Part C: Vocational Education and Occupational Information Data Systems - Directs the Secretary to develop a national vocational education data reporting and accounting system including specified information. Requires that such system be as compatible as possible with the occupational information data system developed under this Act and other information systems involving data on programs assisted under the JTPA. Requires States receiving assistance under this Act to cooperate with such system. Provides for updates and annual data acquisition plans for such system. Requires that one-third of the funds available for this part be used for such vocational education data reporting and accounting system, and that the remaining two-thirds of funds for this part be used for an occupational information system. Establishes a National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee consisting of specified Federal officials. Directs the Committee, with specified funds, to: (1) improve coordination and communication among administrators and planners of programs authorized by this Act and by the JTPA, employment security agency administrators, research personnel, and employment and training planning and administering agencies at Federal, State, and local levels; (2) develop and implement an occupational information system to meet the common needs of vocational education and employment and training programs at all levels; and (3) assist State occupational information coordinating committees established under this Act. Requires each State receiving assistance under this Act to establish a State occupational information coordinating committee composed of representatives of specified State agencies. Directs the State committee, with funds from the National Coordinating Committee, to: (1) implement an occupational information system in the State to meet the common needs of programs of the State board under this Act and of the administering agencies under the JTPA; and (2) use the occupational information system to develop a career information delivery system. Sets forth requirements relating to the information base for the national vocational education data system. Part D: General Provisions - Distributes title IV assistance as follows: (1) 30 percent for part A (Research); (2) 40 percent for part B (Secretarial Fund); and (3) 30 percent for part C (Vocational Education and Occupational Information Data Systems). Title V: General Provisions - Part A: Federal Administrative Provisions - Directs the Secretary to pay from the State allotment the Federal share of the costs of carrying out the approved State plan. Sets the Federal share at 50 percent of the costs of: (1) administration of the State plan; (2) vocational education opportunities services and activities under title II described in the State plan for specified groups of individuals with special needs; and (3) vocational education improvement, innovation, and expansion programs under title III. Sets forth maintenance of effort provisions. Sets forth provisions for withholding of funds from States and for judicial review of such withholding. Sets forth provisions for audits. Part B: Transitional and Conforming Provisions - Makes the effective date of this Act October 1, 1984, but directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth transition provisions. Authorizes each State and eligible recipient of financial assistance under this Act, or under the Vocational Education Act of 1963, to expend funds received under such Acts to conduct: (1) planning for any program or activity under this Act; and (2) any other activity deemed necessary by the recipient to provide for an orderly transition to the operation of programs under this Act. Transfers, on October 1, 1984, the personnel, property, and records of the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee established under the Vocational Education Act of 1963 to the Nation Occupational Information Coordinating Committee established under this Act. Repeals the Vocational Education Act of 1963. Makes conforming amendments to: (1) the JTPA; (2) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; (3) the Higher Education Act of 1965; (4) the Adult Education Act; (5) the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965; (6) the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and (7) the Vocational Education Amendments of 1968.

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3 official files

• Indefinitely postponed in Senate

  summary · EN · 8 August 1984

  Open at official source

• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 23 May 1984

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 23 February 1984

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