1Establishing the Schools of Excellence Program.

2The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
3hereby enacts as follows:

4Section 1. Short title.

5This act shall be known and may be cited as the Schools of
6Excellence Act.

7Section 2. Legislative intent.

8It is the intent of the General Assembly to establish the
9permanent operation of the Schools of Excellence that will do
10all of the following:

11(1) Foster leadership skills through intensive and
12acutely relevant curricula, and by tackling current, pressing
13issues within students' respective fields, further enabling
14them to deal with current problems in their field and
15determine how to solve future problems as they arise.

16(2) Enable students to live together, learn together and
17work toward a common goal. Committed youth will be able to

1share their talents and knowledge for the betterment of
2others.

3(3) Give students the freedom to take creative and
4intellectual risks that advance their skills and vision
5without the inhibitions found in a normal classroom.

6(4) Educate students about the positive impact of
7community service and encourage their participation.

8(5) Encourage students and alumni to remain in
9Pennsylvania.

10(6) Provide encouragement to students from every race,
11ethnicity, socioeconomic status, ideology and geographic
12location in Pennsylvania, providing opportunity for all
13students.

14Section 3. Definitions.

15The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
16have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
17context clearly indicates otherwise:

18"Department." The Department of Education of the
19Commonwealth.

20"Host site." The college or university where a School of
21Excellence is located.

22"Program." The Schools of Excellence Program.

23"Schools of Excellence." The following:

24(1) School for the Agriculture Sciences at The
25Pennsylvania State University.

26(2) School for the Arts at Mercyhurst College.

27(3) School for Global Entrepreneurship at Lehigh
28University.

29(4) School for Information, Society and Technology at
30Drexel University.

1(5) School for International Studies at University of
2Pittsburgh.

3(6) School for Health Care at University of Pittsburgh.

4(7) School for Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

5(8) School for Teaching at Millersville University.

6"Tuition free." No charge for tuition is assessed to a
7student enrolled in a program at a participating institution of
8higher education. For purposes of this definition, tuition does
9not include any additional fees or surcharges that are required
10for enrollment in a particular program.

11Section 4. Schools of Excellence Program.

12The Schools of Excellence Program is hereby established
13within the department.

14Section 5. Duties of department.

15(a) Disciplines.--The department shall establish Schools of
16Excellence in the following disciplines at host sites throughout
17this Commonwealth. The disciplines shall include all of the
18following:

19(1) Arts.

20(2) Agricultural sciences.

21(3) Information, society and technology.

22(4) International studies.

23(5) Sciences.

24(6) Teaching, which shall include a course of study in 
25urban teaching.

26(7) Global entrepreneurship.

27(8) Health care.

28(b) Locations.--Schools of Excellence may be sponsored by
29and located at Pennsylvania institutions of higher education
30that previously sponsored Governor's Schools. The department

1shall work with the Pennsylvania institutions of higher
2education to ensure that Schools of Excellence are
3geographically dispersed throughout this Commonwealth and cover
4the disciplines referenced in subsection (a). Where an
5institution that previously sponsored a Governor's School is no
6longer willing or able to sponsor a School of Excellence, the
7department shall work with other institutions of higher
8education or nonprofit organizations to find a sponsor for this
9program.

10(c) Administration.--In administering the program, the
11department shall do all of the following:

12(1) Make applications available to every public and
13nonpublic school in this Commonwealth and include the
14application on the department's Internet website.

15(2) Ensure that each School of Excellence is utilizing a
16process whereby students are selected on the basis of their
17performance and achievement through a competitive selection
18process and seek to ensure an economically, socially and
19geographically diverse student population.

20(3) Ensure the program is tuition free enabling all
21qualified students the opportunity to enroll in the program
22regardless of their economic circumstances.

23(d) Scheduling.--Schools of Excellence shall be held, to the
24extent possible, during the summer months between the end and
25beginning of the school year. The department may grant
26permission for a school to be held at other times during the
27school year when circumstances and programming options warrant
28such a change.

29(e) Costs.--Students attending a School of Excellence shall
30not be required to pay any tuition or fees to attend and

1participate in a School of Excellence. Students are responsible
2for their own costs relating to transportation to and from the
3program.

4Section 6. Reports.

5(a) Requirement.--The department, on the first of October of
6each year, shall file a report with the Governor, the chairman
7and minority chairman of the Education Committee of the Senate
8and the chairman and minority chairman of the Education
9Committee of the House of Representatives.

10(b) Contents.--The report required under subsection (a)
11shall include the following information:

12(1) The number of host sites participating in the
13program.

14(2) The number of students participating at each School
15of Excellence.

16(3) The number of faculty at each host site.

17(4) The subject, focus and activities of each class.

18Section 7. Funding.

19The department shall provide funding for the Schools of
20Excellence out of its general appropriation. Funding to
21institutions sponsoring a School of Excellence shall not be a
22reimbursement for prior year's costs. Institutions shall receive
23funding from the department to assist with costs relating to
24implementing a program. An institution shall not receive funding
25in any given year for sponsoring a School of Excellence in an
26amount that exceeds the amount expended by the Commonwealth for
27a previous Governor's School program. This amount may be
28adjusted every five years based on the increase to the Consumer
29Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the
30Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area for the

1preceding 12 months in the year in which the increase in funding
2is to occur.

3Section 20. Effective date.

4This act shall take effect immediately.