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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2141 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 332 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | John J. Cronin |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to expand student opportunities in career technical education. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :John J. CroninWorcester and Middlesex 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2141 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 332 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Cronin, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 332) of John J. Cronin for |
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| 19 | 19 | | legislation to expand student access to a vocational-technical education. Education. |
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| 20 | 20 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 21 | 21 | | _______________ |
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| 22 | 22 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | An Act to expand student opportunities in career technical education. |
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| 26 | 26 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 27 | 27 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 28 | 28 | | 1 SECTION 1. Subsection (c) of section 14B of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as so |
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| 29 | 29 | | 2appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 3following 2 sentences:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 4 “Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a city or town may |
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| 32 | 32 | | 5simultaneously be a member of a vocational regional school district and any other type of |
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| 33 | 33 | | 6regional school district. A city or town that belongs to a regional vocational school district may |
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| 34 | 34 | | 7offer a vocational technical education program in its municipal high school; provided, however, |
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| 35 | 35 | | 8that the program is approved under section 2 of chapter 74 of the General Laws; provided, |
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| 36 | 36 | | 9further, that a vocational regional school district and any other type of regional school district |
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| 37 | 37 | | 10serving the same town shall collaborate through the office of career technical education in |
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| 38 | 38 | | 11offering reciprocal non-competitive programs under chapter 74 of the General Laws; provided, |
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| 39 | 39 | | 12further, that said programs meet the labor market needs in a community’s region as determined |
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| 40 | 40 | | 13by Regional Workforce Boards.” 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 14 SECTION 2. Section 2 of Chapter 74 of the General Laws is amended in the second |
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| 42 | 42 | | 15paragraph by adding the following: |
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| 43 | 43 | | 16 “provided further that said regulations shall allow for the approval of proposed chapter 74 |
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| 44 | 44 | | 17programs regardless of duplication within a region where there is a demonstrated labor market |
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| 45 | 45 | | 18need and insufficient capacity within existing programs to meet that need.” |
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| 46 | 46 | | 19 SECTION 3. Section 2 of Chapter 74 is hereby further amended by adding the following |
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| 47 | 47 | | 20two paragraphs: |
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| 48 | 48 | | 21 The Commissioner shall direct the resources of the department to provide technical |
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| 49 | 49 | | 22support to municipal and comprehensive high schools seeking to offer Chapter 74 programs that |
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| 50 | 50 | | 23meet regional labor market demands and do not duplicate existing programs in the region except |
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| 51 | 51 | | 24where there is a lack of enrollment capacity in said programs for additional students. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 25 The Commissioner shall support the continuation of demonstration programs that provide |
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| 53 | 53 | | 26opportunities in vocational-technical education for students unable to secure a seat in an |
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| 54 | 54 | | 27approved Chapter 74 program due to lack of enrollment capacity. |
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