HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 2742

BYRepresentatives Dorn, Ebersole, Ferguson, Jones, Jacobsen, Crane, Wineberry and Rasmussen

Establishing the state board for vocational technical institutes.

House Committe on Education

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (12)

      Signed by Representatives Peery, Chair; Betrozoff, Ranking Republican Member; Brumsickle, Cole, Dorn, Fuhrman, Jones, P. King, Pruitt, Rayburn, Schoon and K. Wilson.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (4)

      Signed by Representatives G. Fisher, Vice Chair; Holland, Horn and Walker.

House Staff:Susan Patrick (786-7111)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION JANUARY 31, 1990

BACKGROUND:

There are five vocational technical institutes (VTI's) in Washington State.  The VTI's operate under the jurisdiction of the local school districts as part of the secondary education system.

Each VTI is administered by a local school district, and the local school board serves as the governing body for each of the VTI's.  Funding for the VTI's comes through the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI).  Funds for construction or modernization of VTI's come from the Common School Construction Fund.  Currently, two VTI projects are on the eligibility list for funding.

The VTI's served 168,000 part-time and full-time clients in 1989. The average age of the people being served by the VTI's is 30.

The question has been raised of whether the VTI's should be part of SPI because the VTI's serve a primarily adult population.

SUMMARY:

SUBSTITUTE BILL:  The vocational technical institutes are transferred from the governance of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and local school districts to the governance of the Vocational Technical Institute Board and a local vocational technical institute board.

The state level Vocational Technical Institute Board shall be composed of eight members appointed by the governor.  One member shall be appointed from each congressional district.  Members shall serve a term of four years.  The duties of the board shall include appointing a director, adopting by-laws, establishing an office and generally supervising the operation of the vocational technical institute system.  The majority of board members shall represent business and labor, and the remainder of the members shall represent education and the community.

Local vocational technical institute boards of trustees shall be composed of five members appointed by the governor to serve a term of five years.  The first appointees shall be selected from the members of the existing local advisory boards for the vocational technical institutes.  The boards of trustees shall have the authority to operate the existing vocational technical institute, hire a president, faculty and other necessary employees.

Title and all interests in real estate and all other assets of the vocational technical institutes are transferred from the school district to the Vocational Technical Institute Board.  All employees, equipment, books and records are transferred from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and school districts where the vocational technical institutes are located to the vocational technical institutes.  All powers, duties and functions of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the effected school districts are also transferred.  This also includes the transfer of an apportionment of budgeted funds for the operation of the vocational technical institutes.

Vocational technical institutes will no longer be eligible for school construction money from the common school construction fund.

School districts which have outstanding bonds for the construction of vocational technical institute facilities shall continue to be responsible for repayment of the bonds.

Contracts and bargaining units for transferred employees shall remain in effect until their termination.  At that time there may be a change in representation, and coverage of employment and collective bargaining rights of employees shall be treated like other higher education employees.  Transferred employees shall retain their rights and continue in their existing retirement system.

Tuition, awarding of credit and transfer of credit shall be regulated by the rules followed by the higher education institutions.

The Vocational Technical Institute Board will have authority to enforce the Private Vocational School Act.

This act shall take effect July 1, 1990.

SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  The transfer to a state level Vocational Technical Institute Board and the local vocational technical institute boards of trustees is set forth in more detail.  It is made clear that the local school districts will retain no control of the vocational technical institute.  Provisions are added to make the vocational technical institutes part of the higher education system.  Detail is added on the transfer of property, staff, equipment, books, records and money to the Vocational Technical Institute Board and the local vocational technical institute boards of trustees.

Authority to enforce the Private Vocational School Act is given to the Vocational Technical Institute Board.

An effective date of July 1, 1990 is added.

Fiscal Note:      Requested January 24, 1990.

Effective Date:The bill takes effect on July 1, 1990.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Representative Randy Dorn.

House Committee - Testified Against:      Jan Carlson, Superintendent of Public Instruction; Charles Alexander, Superintendent, Clover Park School District;  Barbara Otterson, Washington Federation of Teachers; Pam McCarthy, Tacoma School District Board of Directors; and Chuck Bailey, Washington State Labor Council.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The vocational technical institutes serve an adult population that averages between the ages of 28 and 30.  In 1985, the temporary committee, in its review of education in the state, recommended that the vocational technical institutes be removed from the Superintendent of Public Instruction.  The recognition that we are dealing with an adult population becomes even more important as we look at the increasing needs for adult training and retraining.  This is the right time to allow the separation of the vocational technical institutes and for them to develop as a viable institution to meet the retraining needs of our adult population.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      The superintendents of the district which contain the vocational technical institutes support the retention of local control of the vocational technical institutes.  We do not need to create another board and further split the supervision of vocational technical education.  The inclusion of the vocational technical institutes within the school districts strengthens the vocational program that can be offered to high school students.  There is also no indication that the creation of a new board would, in any way, improve the vocational and job training occurring at the vocational technical institutes.  The value of the bill is to get all the cards on the table.  The underlying problem for the vocational technical institutes is funding to build facilities.  There are other alternatives such as use of skill center facilities by adults in the late afternoon and evening.  There is a need for discussion; not a hasty creation of a new board and movement of the vocational technical institutes.