AN ACT Relating to the
work force training and education coordinating board; and amending RCW
28C.18.005, 28C.18.010, 28C.18.030, and 28C.18.060.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 28C.18.005 and 1991
c 238 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
The legislature finds
that the state's system of work force training and education is inadequate for
meeting the needs of the state's workers, employers, and economy. A growing
shortage of skilled workers is already hurting the state's economy. There is a
shortage of available workers and too often prospective employees lack the
skills and training needed by employers. Moreover, with demographic changes in
the state's population employers will need to employ a more culturally diverse
work force in the future.
The legislature further
finds that the state's current work force training and education system is
fragmented among numerous agencies, councils, boards, and committees, with
inadequate overall coordination. No comprehensive strategic plan guides the
different parts of the system. There is no single point of leadership and
responsibility. There is insufficient guidance from employers and workers
built into the system to ensure that the system is responsive to the needs of
its customers. Adult work force education lacks a uniform system of
governance, with an inefficient division in governance between community
colleges and vocational technical institutes, and inadequate local authority.
The parts of the system providing adult basic skills and literacy education are
especially uncoordinated and lack sufficient visibility to adequately address
the needs of the large number of adults in the state who are functionally
illiterate. The work force training and education system's data and evaluation
methods are inconsistent and unable to provide adequate information for
determining how well the system is performing on a regular basis so that the
system may be held accountable for the outcomes it produces. Much of the work
force training and education system provides inadequate opportunities to meet
the needs of people from culturally diverse backgrounds. Finally, our public
and private educational institutions are not producing the number of people
educated in vocational/technical skills needed by employers.
The legislature
recognizes that we must make certain that our public and private
institutions of education place appropriate emphasis on the needs of employers
and on the needs of the approximately eighty percent of our young people who
enter the world of work without completing a four-year program of higher
education. We must make our work force education and training system better
coordinated, more efficient, more responsive to the needs of business and
workers and local communities, more accountable for its performance, and more
open to the needs of a culturally diverse population.
Sec. 2. RCW 28C.18.010 and 1991
c 238 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless the context
clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout
this title.
(1) "Board"
means the work force training and education coordinating board.
(2)
"Director" means the director of the work force training and
education coordinating board.
(3) "Training
system" means programs and courses of secondary vocational education,
technical college programs and courses, community college vocational programs
and courses, private career school and college programs and courses,
employer-sponsored training, adult basic education programs and courses,
programs and courses funded by the job training partnership act, programs and
courses funded by the federal vocational act, programs and courses funded under
the federal adult education act, publicly funded programs and courses for adult
literacy education, and apprenticeships, and programs and courses offered by
private and public nonprofit organizations that are representative of
communities or significant segments of communities and provide job training or
adult literacy services.
(4) "Work force
skills" means skills developed through applied learning that strengthen
and reinforce an individual's academic knowledge, critical thinking, problem
solving, and work ethic and, thereby, develop the employability, occupational
skills, and management of home and work responsibilities necessary for economic
independence.
(5) "Vocational
education" means organized educational programs offering a sequence of
courses which are directly related to the preparation or retraining of
individuals in paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging occupations
requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree. Such programs shall
include competency-based applied learning which contributes to an individual's
academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning, and problem-solving skills, work
attitudes, general employability skills, and the occupational-specific skills
necessary for economic independence as a productive and contributing member of
society. Such term also includes applied technology education.
(6) "Adult basic
education" means instruction designed to achieve mastery of skills in
reading, writing, oral communication, and computation at a level sufficient to
allow the individual to function effectively as a parent, worker, and citizen
in the United States, commensurate with that individual's actual ability level,
and includes English as a second language and preparation and testing service
for the general education development exam.
Sec. 3. RCW 28C.18.030 and 1991
c 238 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
The purpose of the
board is to provide planning, coordination, evaluation, monitoring, and policy
analysis for the state training system as a whole, and advice to the governor
and legislature concerning the state training system, in cooperation with ((the
agencies which comprise)) the state training system((,)) and the
higher education coordinating board.
Sec. 4. RCW 28C.18.060 and 1993
c 280 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
The board, in
cooperation with the operating agencies of the state training system and
private career schools and colleges shall:
(1) Concentrate its
major efforts on planning, coordination evaluation, policy analysis, and
recommending improvements to the state's training system.
(2) Advocate for the
state training system and for meeting the needs of employers and the work force
for work force education and training.
(3) Establish and
maintain an inventory of the programs of the state training system, and related
state programs, and perform a biennial assessment of the vocational education,
training, and adult basic education and literacy needs of the state; identify
ongoing and strategic education needs; and assess the extent to which
employment, training, vocational and basic education, rehabilitation services,
and public assistance services represent a consistent, integrated approach to
meet such needs.
(4) Develop and
maintain a state comprehensive plan for work force training and education,
including but not limited to, goals, objectives, and priorities for the state
training system, and review the state training system for consistency with the
state comprehensive plan. In developing the state comprehensive plan for work
force training and education, the board shall use, but shall not be limited
to: Economic, labor market, and populations trends reports in office of
financial management forecasts; joint office of financial management and
employment security department labor force, industry employment, and
occupational forecasts; the results of scientifically based outcome, net-impact
and cost-benefit evaluations; the needs of employers as evidenced in formal
employer surveys and other employer input; and the needs of program participants
and workers as evidenced in formal surveys and other input from program
participants and the labor community.
(5) In consultation
with the higher education coordinating board, review and make recommendations
to the office of financial management and the legislature on operating and
capital facilities budget requests for operating agencies of the state training
system for purposes of consistency with the state comprehensive plan for work
force training and education.
(6) Provide for
coordination among the different operating agencies and components of
the state training system at the state level and at the regional level.
(7) Develop a
consistent and reliable data base on vocational education enrollments, costs,
program activities, and job placements from publicly funded vocational
education programs in this state.
(8) Establish standards
for data collection and maintenance for the operating agencies of the state
training system in a format that is accessible to use by the board. The board
shall require a minimum of common core data to be collected by each operating
agency of the state training system.
The board shall develop
requirements for minimum common core data in consultation with the office of
financial management and the operating agencies of the training system.
(9) Establish minimum
standards for program evaluation for the operating agencies of the state
training system, including, but not limited to, the use of common survey
instruments and procedures for measuring perceptions of program participants
and employers of program participants, and monitor such program evaluation.
(10) Every two years
administer scientifically based outcome evaluations of the state training
system, including, but not limited to, surveys of program participants, surveys
of employers of program participants, and matches with employment security
department payroll and wage files. Every five years administer scientifically
based net-impact and cost-benefit evaluations of the state training system.
(11) In cooperation
with the employment security department, provide for the improvement and
maintenance of quality and utility in occupational information and forecasts
for use in training system planning and evaluation. Improvements shall
include, but not be limited to, development of state-based occupational change
factors involving input by employers and employees, and delineation of skill
and training requirements by education level associated with current and
forecasted occupations.
(12) Provide for the
development of common course description formats, common reporting
requirements, and common definitions for operating agencies of the training
system.
(13) Provide for
effectiveness and efficiency reviews of the state training system.
(14) In cooperation
with the higher education coordinating board, facilitate transfer of credit
policies and agreements between institutions of the state training system, and
encourage articulation agreements for programs encompassing two years of
secondary work force education and two years of postsecondary work force
education.
(15) In cooperation
with the higher education coordinating board, facilitate transfer of credit
policies and agreements between private training institutions and institutions
of the state training system.
(16) Participate in the
development of coordination criteria for activities under the job training
partnership act with related programs and services provided by state and local
education and training agencies.
(17) Make
recommendations to the commission of student assessment, the state board of
education, and the superintendent of public instruction, concerning basic skill
competencies and essential core competencies for K‑12 education. Basic
skills for this purpose shall be reading, writing, computation, speaking, and
critical thinking, essential core competencies for this purpose shall be
English, math, science/technology, history, geography, and critical thinking.
The board shall monitor the development of and provide advice concerning
secondary curriculum which integrates vocational and academic education.
(18) Establish and
administer programs for marketing and outreach to businesses and potential
program participants.
(19) Facilitate the
location of support services, including but not limited to, child care,
financial aid, career counseling, and job placement services, for students and
trainees at institutions in the state training system, and advocate for support
services for trainees and students in the state training system.
(20) Facilitate private
sector assistance for the state training system, including but not limited to:
Financial assistance, rotation of private and public personnel, and vocational
counseling.
(21) Facilitate
programs for school-to-work transition that combine classroom education and
on-the-job training in industries and occupations without a significant number
of apprenticeship programs.
(22) Encourage and
assess progress for the equitable representation of racial and ethnic
minorities, women, and people with disabilities among the students, teachers,
and administrators of the state training system. Equitable, for this purpose,
shall mean substantially proportional to their percentage of the state
population in the geographic area served. This function of the board shall in
no way lessen more stringent state or federal requirements for representation
of racial and ethnic minorities, women, and people with disabilities.
(23) Participate in the
planning and policy development of governor set-aside grants under P.L. 97‑300,
as amended.
(24) Administer
veterans' programs, licensure of private vocational schools, the job skills
program, and the Washington award for vocational excellence.
(25) Allocate funding
from the state job training trust fund.
(26) Work with the director
of community, trade, and economic development to ensure coordination between
work force training priorities and that department's economic development
efforts.
(27) Adopt rules as
necessary to implement this chapter.
The board may delegate
to the director any of the functions of this section.
