PRINTER'S NO. 2115
No. 1436 Session of 1984
INTRODUCED BY JUBELIRER, ZEMPRELLI, HESS, REIBMAN, FISHER,
HANKINS, HELFRICK, ANDREZESKI, BODACK, CORMAN, HOPPER,
HOWARD, KRATZER, KUSSE, LEWIS, LINCOLN, LLOYD, LOEPER, LYNCH,
MELLOW, MOORE, MUSTO, O'CONNELL, O'PAKE, RHOADES, ROCKS,
ROMANELLI, ROSS, SCANLON, SHAFFER, SHUMAKER, SINGEL,
STAPLETON, STAUFFER, STOUT, STREET, WILLIAMS, WILT AND HAGER,
JUNE 15, 1984
REFERRED TO APPROPRIATIONS, JUNE 15, 1984
AN ACT
1 Establishing a program within the Department of Education for
2 the acquisition of new vocational-technical equipment and the
3 upgrading of existing vocational-technical equipment that is
4 necessary to provide secondary, postsecondary and adult
5 students with relevant occupational training; providing for
6 allocations and grants of money; and making a nonlapsing
7 appropriation.
8 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
9 hereby enacts as follows:
10 Section 1. Short title.
11 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Updating of
12 Vocational-Technical Equipment Act.
13 Section 2. Definitions.
14 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
15 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
16 context clearly indicates otherwise:
17 "Department." The Department of Education.
18 "Enrollment." Secondary and adult enrollments collected
1 through the Vocational Education Management Information System.
2 "Equivalent full-time students." Equivalent full-time
3 students enrolled in two-year or less than two-year terminal
4 non-liberal arts programs as set forth in the act of August 24,
5 1963 (P.L.1132, No.484), known as the Community College Act of
6 1963.
7 "Private industry council." The private industry councils
8 established under the Federal Job Training Partnership Act
9 (Public Law 97-300, 29 U.S.C. § 1501, et seq.).
10 "Secretary." The Secretary of Education.
11 Section 3. Acquisition and upgrading of vocational-technical
12 equipment.
13 (a) Program.--There is established within the department a
14 program to provide funds directly to school districts, area
15 vocational-technical schools and community colleges for the
16 acquisition and upgrading of vocational-technical equipment. The
17 program shall provide funds to be used exclusively for the
18 purchase or lease of new vocational-technical equipment and the
19 upgrading of existing vocational-technical equipment that is
20 necessary to offer vocational-technical courses or programs to
21 secondary, postsecondary and adult students that provide skills
22 needed in the labor market.
23 (b) Funds available to school districts and regional
24 vocational-technical schools.--Of the total funds available,
25 school districts and area vocational-technical schools shall be
26 granted 55% to acquire or lease new equipment or to upgrade
27 existing equipment necessary to provide occupationally related
28 vocational-technical courses to secondary and adult students.
29 The department shall compute the grants for each school district
30 or area vocational-technical school using the grant formula
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1 provided in section 5(a).
2 (c) Funds available to community colleges.--Of the total
3 funds available, community colleges shall be granted 45% to
4 acquire new equipment or to upgrade existing equipment necessary
5 to provide courses to students enrolled in two-year or less than
6 two-year terminal non-liberal arts programs. The department
7 shall compute the grants for each community college using the
8 grant formula provided in section 5(b).
9 Section 4. Receipt of funds.
10 (a) Allocation approval requirements.--Before the department
11 allocates any of the funds, it shall require the appropriate
12 school district, area vocational-technical school or community
13 college to document that:
14 (1) The courses to be provided with the equipment will
15 provide students with occupational skills in demand in the
16 labor market.
17 (2) The funds will be expended only for equipment.
18 (3) The funds shall not be used to supplant existing
19 Federal, State and local funds used for equipment acquisition
20 and upgrading by reporting the average annual expeditures for
21 vocational-technical equipment for the fiscal years 1981-
22 1982, 1982-1983 and 1983-1984, and by certifying that the
23 average annual expenditures from funds other than those
24 appropriated by this act for the fiscal years 1984-1985,
25 1985-1986 and 1986-1987 equal or exceed the average annual
26 expenditures for the fiscal years 1981-1982, 1982-1983 and
27 1983-1984.
28 (4) The funds will not be used as matching funds for any
29 other State program.
30 (5) The equipment relates to the needs of the labor
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1 market.
2 Further, the department shall not allocate any of the entitled
3 funds until it receives comments from the appropriate private
4 industry council.
5 (b) Private industry council review.--Documentation provided
6 to the department pursuant to subsection (a) shall be provided
7 by the school district, area vocational-technical school or
8 community college to the private industry council in the
9 geographical area in which the school district, area vocational-
10 technical school or community college is located or serves. It
11 shall be the responsibility of the private industry council to
12 review the proposed acquisition or lease of new equipment or
13 upgrading of existing equipment and submit to the department
14 within 90 days from the date it receives the documentation its
15 comments on the appropriateness of the proposed equipment plans
16 in light of labor market needs and other existing or planned
17 training programs.
18 Section 5. Grant formula.
19 (a) Formula for school districts and regional vocational-
20 technical schools.--Each school district and area vocational-
21 technical school shall receive a portion of the funds provided
22 pursuant to section 3(b), which shall be determined by dividing
23 the number of enrollments for the school district or area
24 vocational-technical school by the Statewide enrollment and
25 multiplying the result by the total amount provided in this act
26 pursuant to section 3(b). Enrollments shall be determined using
27 the latest available data.
28 (b) Formula for community colleges.--Each community college
29 shall receive a portion of the funds provided pursuant to
30 section 3(c), which shall be determined by dividing the number
19840S1436B2115 - 4 -
1 of equivalent full-time students enrolled in the community
2 colleges by the number of equivalent full-time students for all
3 community colleges and multiplying the results by the total
4 amount provided in this act pursuant to section 3(c). Equivalent
5 full-time students shall be determined using latest available
6 data.
7 Section 6. Equipment sharing agreements.
8 In order to maximize the use of the equipment provided by
9 funds appropriated in this act, the recipient may enter into
10 agreements with other government-sponsored vocational training
11 providers for the use of the equipment.
12 Section 7. Indicators of program need and impact.
13 (a) Timely documentation.--The department shall require the
14 school districts, area vocational-technical schools and
15 community colleges to specify the extent to which the
16 documentation provided pursuant to section 4 reflects the demand
17 for labor market skills based upon analyses conducted within the
18 last five years.
19 (b) Annual legislative report required.--By March 1 of each
20 year, the department shall submit to the Chief Clerk of the
21 House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate a
22 report which shall include, but need not be limited to, a
23 measure of the extent to which the comments of the private
24 industry councils were taken into consideration, the amount and
25 types of equipment funded by the labor market area, the number
26 of persons trained by the major vocational program area and the
27 labor market area, the job placement rate of persons trained by
28 the major vocational program area and the labor market area and
29 the number of agreements entered into by recipients with other
30 vocational training providers.
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1 (c) Impact survey required.--Upon the termination of this
2 act or July 1, 1987, whichever shall occur sooner, the
3 department shall undertake a survey to update the report
4 "Vocational Education Tool and Equipment Inventory" in order to
5 inform the General Assembly of the impact which this act had on
6 bringing the equipment used in vocational training programs
7 closer to the technology used in industry.
8 Section 8. Duty to inform department.
9 All recipients of funds under this act shall be required to
10 provide any and all information requested by the department for
11 the purposes of this act.
12 Section 9. Appropriation.
13 The sum of $27,000,000 is hereby appropriated to the
14 Department of Education from the Pennsylvania Economic
15 Revitalization Fund for the purposes of this program. Any funds
16 from this appropriation remaining unexpended or unencumbered
17 upon the termination of this act shall automatically lapse into
18 the Pennsylvania Economic Revitalization Fund.
19 Section 10. Expiration.
20 This act shall expire on June 30, 1987.
21 Section 11. Effective date.
22 This act shall take effect immediately.
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