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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6573
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E COMMISSION FOR EDU CATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 4d-80 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 2
(a) There is established a Commission for Educational Technology 3
within the Department of Administrative Services. The commission 4
shall consist of the following members or their designees: (1) The 5
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, the Commissioner of 6
Administrative Services, the Commissioner of Education, the 7
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, the 8
president of The University of Connecticut and the president of the 9
Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, the State Librarian and the 10
Consumer Counsel, (2) one member each representing the Connecticut 11
Conference of Independent Colleges, the Connecticut Association of 12
Boards of Education, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the 13
Connecticut Council of Small Towns, [and] the Connecticut Library 14
Association, the Connecticut Association of Public School 15
Superintendents and the Connecticut Educators Computer Association, 16
(3) a secondary school teacher designated by the Connecticut Education 17
Association and an elementary school teacher designated by the 18
American Federation of Teachers–Connecticut, [(3)] (4) four members 19 Substitute Bill No. 6573
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who represent business or have expertise in information technology, 20
two of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be 21
appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives and one of 22
whom shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, 23
[(4)] (5) one member who is a chief elected official of a municipality, who 24
shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, and [(5)] (6) one 25
member who is a representative of small business who shall be 26
appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives. The 27
commission shall convene a meeting at least once during each calendar 28
quarter. 29
(b) The Governor shall appoint a chairperson from among the 30
members of the commission or their designees. Subject to the provisions 31
of chapter 67, and within available appropriations, the commission may 32
appoint an executive director and such other employees as may be 33
necessary for the discharge of the duties of the commission. 34
Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the executive 35
director shall have the option to elect participation in the state 36
employees retirement system, or the alternate retirement program 37
established for eligible employees in higher education or the teachers' 38
retirement system. 39
(c) The commission shall: 40
(1) Be the principal educational technology policy advisor for state 41
government; 42
(2) Develop, oversee and direct the attainment of state-wide 43
technology goals including: 44
(A) Connecting all institutions of higher education, libraries, public 45
elementary and secondary schools, regional educational service centers 46
and other parties through a state-wide high speed, flexible network that 47
will allow for video, voice and data transmission; 48
(B) Wiring all school classrooms and connecting them to the Internet 49
and to the state-wide [high speed] high-speed network through wired, 50 Substitute Bill No. 6573
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wireless, or any other digital transmission technology providing [high 51
speed] high-speed connectivity; 52
(C) Providing access for all public schools, public libraries and 53
libraries at institutions of higher education to a core set of on-line full 54
text resources and to the ability to purchase collaboratively for other 55
collections in order to maximize buying power; 56
(D) Ensuring, in cooperation with the State Board of Education, 57
competency in computing skills by the sixth grade for all students; 58
(E) Ensuring competency in specific computing skills and the 59
integration of technology into the curriculum for all public school 60
teachers; 61
(F) Ensuring that institutions of higher education offer a wide range 62
of course and degree programs via the Internet and through other 63
synchronous and asynchronous methods; 64
(3) Coordinate the activities of all state agencies, educational 65
institutions and other parties involved in the creation and management 66
of a reliable and secure network that will offer connectivity and allow 67
for the transmission of video, voice and data transmission to every 68
library, school, regional educational service center and institution of 69
higher education; 70
(4) Be the liaison between the Governor and the General Assembly 71
and local, state and federal organizations and entities with respect to 72
educational technology matters; 73
(5) Develop and maintain a long-range plan and make related 74
recommendations for the coordination of educational technology. The 75
plan shall (A) establish clear goals and a strategy for using 76
telecommunications and information technology to improve education, 77
(B) include a professional development strategy to ensure that teachers 78
and faculty know how to use the new technologies to improve 79
education, (C) include an assessment of the telecommunications, 80 Substitute Bill No. 6573
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hardware, software and other services that will be needed to improve 81
education, and (D) include an evaluation process that monitors progress 82
towards the specified goals; 83
(6) Measure the availability and usage of Internet access sites 84
available to the public, including, but not limited to, those maintained 85
by state and local government agencies, libraries, schools, institutions of 86
higher education, nonprofit organizations, businesses and other 87
organizations and recommend strategies for reducing the disparities in 88
Internet accessibility and usage across the state and among all potential 89
users; 90
(7) Establish methods and procedures to ensure the maximum 91
involvement of members of the public, educators, libra rians, 92
representatives of higher education, the legislature and local officials in 93
educational technology matters and organize, as necessary, advisory 94
boards consisting of individuals with expertise in a particular discipline 95
significant to the work of the commission; 96
(8) On or before January [1, 2001, and] first, annually, [thereafter, the 97
commission shall] report, in accordance with section 11-4a, on its 98
activities, progress made in the attainment of the state-wide technology 99
goals as outlined in the long-range plan and any recommendations to 100
the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having 101
cognizance of matters relating to education and appropriations and the 102
budgets of state agencies, the State Board of Education, and the Board 103
of Regents for Higher Education. The report shall include 104
recommendations for adjustments to the funding formula for grants 105
pursuant to section 10-262n if there are school districts that are at a 106
disadvantage in terms of wiring their schools and the use of technology 107
in their schools; 108
(9) Enter into such contractual agreements, in accordance with 109
established procedures, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions 110
of this section; 111 Substitute Bill No. 6573
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(10) Take any other action necessary to carry out the provisions of this 112
section. 113
(d) The Commission for Educational Technology may request any 114
office, department, board, commission or other agency of the state to 115
supply such reports, information and assistance as may be necessary or 116
appropriate in order to carry out its duties and requirements. 117
(e) For purposes of this section, educational technology [shall 118
include] includes, but is not [be] limited to: (1) Computer-assisted 119
instruction; (2) information retrieval and data transfer; (3) 120
telecommunications related to voice, data and video transmission of 121
instruction related materials and courses; (4) the development and 122
acquisition of educational software; and (5) the instructional uses of the 123
Internet and other technologies. 124
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 4d-80
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsec. (c)(8), the beginning of the first sentence was rewritten for
statutory consistency.
GAE Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO