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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 856
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4092
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT REQUIRING THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO
CONSIDER MANUFACTURE RS' WORKFORCE NEEDS WHEN
EVALUATING PUBLIC SC HOOL EDUCATIONAL PRO GRAMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-4 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) Said board shall have general supervision and control of the 3
educational interests of the state, which interests shall include 4
preschool, elementary and secondary education, special education, 5
vocational education and adult education; shall provide leadership 6
and otherwise promote the improvement of education in the state, 7
including research, planning and evaluation and services relating to 8
the provision and use of educational technology, including 9
telecommunications, by school districts; shall adopt state-wide subject 10
matter content standards, provided such standards are reviewed and 11
revised at least once every ten years; shall prepare such courses of 12
study and publish such curriculum guides including recommendations 13
for textbooks, materials, instructional technological resources and 14 Raised Bill No. 856
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other teaching aids as it determines are necessary to assist school 15
districts to carry out the duties prescribed by law; shall conduct 16
workshops and related activities, including programs of intergroup 17
relations training, to assist teachers in making effective use of such 18
curriculum materials and in improving their proficiency in meeting the 19
diverse needs and interests of pupils; shall keep informed as to the 20
condition, progress and needs of the schools and employers in the 21
state; shall develop or cause to be developed evaluation and 22
assessment programs designed to measure objectively the adequacy 23
and efficacy of the educational programs offered by public schools to 24
meet such needs and shall selectively conduct such assessment 25
programs annually and report, pursuant to subsection (b) of this 26
section, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 27
having cognizance of matters relating to education, on an annual basis; 28
and shall establish and keep an inventory account, in accordance with 29
the provisions of section 4-36, of all property owned and in the custody 30
of the Department of Education, secure such inventory to prevent theft 31
or loss and establish controls over the disposal of such inventory. 32
(b) Said board shall submit to the Governor and to the joint standing 33
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 34
relating to education an account of the condition of the public schools 35
and of the amount and quality of instruction therein and such other 36
information as will assess the true condition, progress and needs of 37
public education. 38
(c) Said board shall prepare every five years a five -year 39
comprehensive plan for elementary, secondary, vocational, career and 40
adult education. Such comprehensive plan shall include, but need not 41
be limited to, (1) a policy statement of the State Board of Education's 42
long-term goals and short-term objectives, including, for any 43
comprehensive plan prepared on or after July 1, 2018, a policy 44
statement that the demographics of educators in the public schools 45
should reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the total population of 46
the state, (2) an analysis of cost implications and measurement criteria 47
and how said board's programs and operations relate to such goals 48 Raised Bill No. 856
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and objectives, and (3) specific action plans, target dates and strategies 49
and methods of implementation for achieving such goals and 50
objectives. The State Board of Education shall establish, every five 51
years, an advisory committee to assist the board in the preparation of 52
the comprehensive plan. Members of the advisory committee shall be 53
appointed by the State Board of Education with representation on the 54
committee to include, but not be limited to, representatives of the 55
Connecticut Advisory Council on Vocational and Career Education, 56
education organizations, parent organizations, student organizations, 57
business and industry, including at least one representative of a 58
manufacturer having less than two hundred fifty employees, 59
organized labor and appropriate state agencies. Notwithstanding any 60
requirement for submission of a plan for the fiscal year ending June 30, 61
1984, pursuant to section 10-96a of the general statutes, revision of 62
1958, revised to January 1, 1983, the State Board of Education shall not 63
be required to submit the master plan for vocational and career 64
education but shall submit, pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, 65
the comprehensive plan for elementary and secondary, vocational, 66
career and adult education to the Governor and the joint standing 67
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 68
relating to education on or before September 1, 1996, and every five 69
years thereafter provided, the master plan currently in effect shall 70
remain in effect until the comprehensive plan is submitted. The State 71
Board of Education shall be responsible for annually updating the 72
progress in implementing the goals and objectives of the 73
comprehensive plan and shall report on such progress to the Governor 74
and to said standing committee annually. The State Board of Education 75
shall provide opportunity for public comment prior to its adoption of a 76
plan. 77
Sec. 2. Section 10-21j of the general statutes are repealed and the 78
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 79
(a) The Commissioner of Education, in collaboration with the Board 80
of Regents for Higher Education, shall establish a committee to 81
coordinate the education of elementary, middle school and high school 82 Raised Bill No. 856
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students about careers in manufacturing. Such committee shall 83
include, but not be limited to, (1) representatives from the Department 84
of Economic and Community Development, the Labor Department, 85
the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, the Technical 86
Education and Career System, the advanced manufacturing centers at 87
the regional community-technical colleges, independent institutions of 88
higher education in the state that offer training in the field of 89
manufacturing, the Connecticut Employment and Training 90
Commission, manufacturing companies and employee organizations 91
that represent manufacturing workers, and (2) middle and high school 92
teachers, guidance counselors and school counselors. Manufacturers 93
on the committee shall comprise at least thirty-three per cent of the 94
total committee membership. 95
(b) On or before January 1, 2017, and on or before August first 96
annually thereafter, the committee established pursuant to subsection 97
(a) of this section shall compile a catalog of programs at public and 98
independent institutions of higher education in the state that offer 99
training in the field of manufacturing. Such catalog shall include for 100
each program: (1) The degree, certification, license or credential 101
awarded upon completion; (2) the period of time and requirements for 102
completion; (3) the enrollment process; and (4) the cost of attendance. 103
The commissioner shall make such catalog available on the Internet 104
web site of the Department of Education and distribute such catalog to 105
each local and regional board of education. 106
(c) On or before February 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, the 107
committee established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall 108
report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint 109
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 110
matters relating to commerce and higher education and workforce 111
development an analysis of whether current programs available to 112
Connecticut students are meeting workforce needs. The committee 113
shall consult with [members of the manufacturing industry] a state-114
wide collaborative of manufacturers when producing such report. 115 Raised Bill No. 856
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(d) The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the 116
committee established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, shall 117
develop and administer a program to introduce middle school and 118
high school students, their parents or guardians, guidance counselors 119
and school counselors to careers in manufacturing. Such program may 120
include, but is not limited to, hands-on learning opportunities, posters, 121
videos, pamphlets and social media and other technology to describe 122
and promote modern manufacturing and the programs included in the 123
catalog described in subsection (b) of this section. The commissioner 124
may enter into partnerships with one or more private sector entities to 125
further the goals of such program. Such partnerships may include, but 126
are not limited to, student visits to manufacturers and manufacturer 127
visits to schools in order to give students first hand exposure to 128
modern manufacturing and the products and materials created by 129
manufacturers in the state. The commissioner shall develop 130
measurable objectives for evaluating the effectiveness of such program 131
and shall annually report the results of such measurement to the 132
committee established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section for 133
inclusion in the report required under subsection (c) of this section 134
with recommendations from such committee for modifying the 135
program. 136
(e) The Department of Education, in consultation with 137
representatives from the manufacturing industry and the Connecticut 138
Center for Advanced Technology, shall develop a best practices guide 139
to help local and regional boards of education to incorporate 140
relationships with manufacturing in their middle school and high 141
school curricula. 142
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 10-4
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 10-21j
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Statement of Purpose:
To require the State Board of Education to (1) consider manufacturers'
workforce needs when evaluating public schools' educational
programs; (2) educate elementary school students about careers in
manufacturing; (3) increase representation of manufacturers on the
board's advisory committees; and (4) evaluate the effectiveness of the
board's program to introduce middle school and high school students
to careers in manufacturing.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]