SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 5468
BYSenator Gaspard; by request of Office of the Governor
Establishing the office of educational assistance.
Senate Committee on Education
Senate Hearing Date(s):March 5, 1987
Senate Staff:Don Bennett (786-7424)
AS OF MARCH 5, 1987
BACKGROUND:
The enabling statutes for the Commission for Vocational Education (CVE) will automatically be repealed under the sunset law on June 30, 1987 unless the agency is reauthorized or a new agency is created in its place. In addition, the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) has recommended delegation of certain planning, administrative, and coordination functions to another agency. These include the Displaced Homemaker Program, student financial aid programs, the Degree Authorization Act, and the Veteran's Administration State Approving Agency functions.
The Governor's Task Force on Reorganization recently recommended that the delegated HECB functions and the responsibilities of CVE should be carried out by a single agency under the Governor to be known as the Office of Educational Services.
SUMMARY:
The Office of Educational Services (OES) is established with a director appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the Senate. The office is responsible for a variety of postsecondary education responsibilities and, in cooperation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), the State Board for Community College Education (SBCCE), business, labor, agriculture, public and private educators, and community-based organizations, will also provide for planning and coordination of vocational education.
OES is responsible for initiating the state vocational education planning process, receiving federal funds for vocational education and acting as the state liaison with the federal government for the purposes of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984, and working with the Employment Security Department on occupational and career information systems. The office will administer the job skills program, all student assistance programs, regulation of private vocational schools, the vocational excellence program, the approval of institutions for the purposes of veteran's educational benefits, the displaced homemaker act, and program approval for degree-granting institutions.
A comprehensive state planning process for vocational education is to be developed by OES, SPI, and SBCCE within 180 days after the effective date of the bill. If the three agencies do not agree on a process by such time, the Governor may prescribe a standard state planning process. SPI and SBCCE jointly develop an integrated state plan for vocational education services and a consistent and reliable data base on enrollments, costs, program activities and job placements. Supervision and delivery of vocational education remains the responsibility of SPI and SBCCE.
The vocational education advisory board is created to advise OES consisting of the executive director of SBCCE, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or their respective designees, the Director of the Department of Employment Security, and four persons appointed by the Governor for staggered five-year terms. The four appointees will include two persons knowledgeable about vocational education, a representative of labor, and a representative of business. The board carries on a wide variety of advisory functions including approval of the state plan, recommending policy to OES, SPI, and SBCCE, and monitoring the state's participation in the federal program of vocational education.
A financial aid advisory committee is appointed by the director to advise OES and shall include financial aid administrators from postsecondary institutions and a member of the HECB.
Local advisory committees are required to provide local school districts and community colleges with advice on current job needs.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction may authorize contracts between school districts and community colleges for adult high school completion programs. This authority does not affect existing adult high school completion programs conducted by the community colleges.
The balance of the bill amends existing references to either the Higher Education Coordinating Board or the Commission for Vocational Education by inserting the Office of Educational Services wherever appropriate. The sunset provisions providing for the automatic repeal of many of the CVE statutes are technically amended as well. The bill contains a severability clause and declares an emergency with an effective date of July 1, 1987.
Fiscal Note: available
Effective Date:July 1, 1987