BILL REQ. #:  S-4176.1 

Read first time 01/14/08.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     WHEREAS, The higher education coordinating board is charged under RCW 28B.76.200 with developing a statewide strategic master plan for higher education, encompassing all sectors including the two-year system, workforce training, the four-year institutions, and financial aid; and
     WHEREAS, The legislature enacted chapter 458, Laws of 2007, requiring the strategic master plan to present a vision, measurable goals, and priorities spanning a ten-year period of time, with strategies for expanding access, affordability, quality, efficiency, and accountability; and
     WHEREAS, The law provides that the legislature shall by concurrent resolution approve or recommend changes to the plan, following public hearings, after which the board shall incorporate legislative changes and adopt a final plan by June of the year in which the legislature passes the concurrent resolution; and
     WHEREAS, The higher education coordinating board from February through November 2007 conducted regular public meetings of the board and the board's advisory council and in fall 2007 organized public forums and focus group meetings around the state bringing educational, business, and community leaders together to engage stakeholders and the public in developing ideas for the strategic master plan; and
     WHEREAS, The higher education coordinating board received input for the plan from a wide range of perspectives through presentations provided by leaders from the legislature, business, public and independent baccalaureate institutions, community and technical colleges, workforce training agencies, the common school system, and representatives of the governor, students, faculty, and communities of color, economists, and other experts; and
     WHEREAS, The final report issued by Washington Learns called for a world-class, learner-focused seamless educational system from preschool through higher education and articulated a vision for the improvement of educational attainment at all levels of the educational system in the state of Washington, a vision that lies at the heart of the proposed 2008 update of the master plan submitted by the higher education coordinating board; and
     WHEREAS, The higher education coordinating board finds that while many of the world's developed nations have made huge gains in the educational attainment levels of their populations, the United States has not and Washingtonians aged twenty-five to thirty-four actually are less well educated than Washingtonians aged forty-five to fifty-four; and
     WHEREAS, Demographic projections indicate the population of Washington will grow thirty-seven percent by the year 2030 while the state's population simultaneously becomes much more diverse; and
     WHEREAS, Over seventy percent of the workforce of the year 2030 is currently employed, and many will be required to upgrade their skills to keep up with technological and other workplace changes; and
     WHEREAS, One out of four people age eighteen to twenty-four does not have a high school diploma and Washington's undereducated working population is equal in size to its next ten high school graduating classes; and
     WHEREAS, Global competition, process automation, the increased pace of technological change, and the progressively shortened life span of many products has and will continue to result in worker layoffs, and laid off workers will need to retool their skills in order to be reemployed; and
     WHEREAS, Our growing economy also depends on a skilled workforce including workers who have completed certificates, associate degrees, and apprenticeship programs; and
     WHEREAS, Washington must attract annually to the state over thirty-six thousand people who hold at least a bachelor's degree in order to fill the jobs being created by the state's economy, a net in-migration of highly educated workers second among Washington's Global Challenge State peers, behind only California, which attracts about thirty-nine thousand similarly educated people annually; and
     WHEREAS, Depending on other states and nations to provide educational attainment levels necessary to fill the best jobs being created in Washington may not be a sustainable economic strategy and misses the opportunity to prepare Washington residents for some of the best jobs being created by Washington's economy; and
     WHEREAS, The higher education coordinating board recommends creating opportunities for Washington residents and fueling the growth of Washington's economy by increasing annual production of certificates and two-year degrees by nine thousand four hundred to an annual total of thirty-six thousand two hundred by 2018 and recommends increasing bachelor's degree production by 2018 to a benchmark level equal to the seventy-fifth percentile of degree production in the Global Challenge States and increasing advanced degree production to a benchmark level equal to the fiftieth percentile of degree production in the Global Challenge States; and
     WHEREAS, The proposed master plan update recommends raising educational attainment by addressing diversity, raising expectations in the common school system, promoting lifelong learning, and improving affordable access, and recommends a series of strategies for promoting economic growth, innovation, and funding for accountability and results;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the state of Washington, the House of Representatives concurring, That the statewide strategic master plan update submitted by the higher education coordinating board on December 15, 2007, be approved; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the higher education coordinating board shall actively involve public and independent two-year and four-year institutions, private vocational schools, the council of presidents, the independent colleges of Washington, the state board for community and technical colleges, the workforce training and education coordinating board, faculty, students, representatives of business and other interested stakeholders, the office of financial management, and appropriate committees of the legislature in collaboratively refining the strategies and specifying next steps required to implement strategies recommended in the 2008 update of the master plan; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the higher education coordinating board shall report to the higher education committees of the Senate and House of Representatives on progress implementing the 2008 update of the master plan by February 1, 2009.