Brief Description: Requiring a study on the availability and use of skill centers.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education (originally sponsored by Senators Rockefeller, Benton, Fairley, Oke, Keiser, Zarelli, Shin, Rasmussen and Kohl-Welles).

Senate Committee on Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education
House Committee on Education
House Committee on Appropriations

Background: About 7,000 students from 85 school districts attend one of the 10 skill centers operating in the state. Many of the students attend part-time. Skill centers operate under cooperative agreements among participating school districts and primarily provide students with instruction in career and technical education. The superintendents of the participating cooperative school districts serve on an administrative council that governs the skill center. Skill centers receive state funding based on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students at an enhanced funding rate.

Summary: The Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB), in collaboration with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, is directed to study and recommend to the 2007 Legislature how to increase opportunities for students living in areas of the state that are not adequately served by a skills center. If plausible, WTECB must provide preliminary recommendations to Washington Learns by June 2006.

The study must focus on these primary issues:
   1)   report on the current skill center geographic coverage and identification gaps in the service area;
   2)   recommendations on how best to increase program access to students in rural and remote areas and address the difficulties in providing adequate services in high density areas;
   3)   recommendations on how best to integrate core academic content into skill center programs and how to determine and report skill center course equivalencies for the purpose of meeting high school graduation requirements; and
   4)   recommendations on the role that skills centers can play as a dropout prevention/retrieval program.

In making the recommendations, WTECB must explore the feasibility of creating satellite sites, creating joint programs between high schools and community colleges, using the K-20 network, and offering additional evening and summer programs. The report must also provide an analysis of any additional funding needs or different funding methods necessary to implement the recommendations.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate      44   0
House      97   0

Effective: June 7, 2006