BILL REQ. #:  S-0228.1 

Read first time 01/11/2007.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to expanding the definition of training system; and amending RCW 28C.18.010.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 28C.18.010 and 1996 c 99 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Unless the context clearly requires otherwise,)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this title unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (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, customized training programs, 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.