A bill to amend the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act to establish a program of grants for vocational-technical training and to encourage tribal economic development, to provide for the designation of the National Indian Center for Research in Vocational-Technical Training, and for other purposes.

Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act (the Act) to revise provisions for vocational education programs for Indians.

Prohibits the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) from placing upon vocation education grants to or contracts with Indian tribal organizations any restrictions relating to rates of placement of students or adults served other than those applicable to specified State vocation education grants. Directs the Secretary to give special consideration to grants which involve, coordinate with, or encourage tribal economic development plans.

Directs the Secretary, from funds reserved for such Indian vocational education programs, to reserve specified minimum amounts for grants: (1) first, to the Crownpoint Institute of Technology, Crown Point, New Mexico; and (2) next to the United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, North Dakota. Requires such grants to be for vocational-technical training and related activities, subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary may reasonably require relative to satisfactory performance. Directs the Secretary, for FY 1991 and thereafter, to adjust for inflation such reserved amounts. Directs the Secretary, from any remaining specified reserve funds, to first make grants to institutions of higher education eligible for assistance under the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 and to encourage development of tribal economic development programs. Authorizes the Secretary, if no such institution applies, to approve a single application from the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

Directs the Secretary of Education to transfer to the Secretary of the Interior specified reserved funds for activities consistent with the Act (other than construction or alteration of facilities) for the benefit of students in schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) provide a matching amount for such activities; and (2) administer all amounts so transferred or provided as a single fund. Directs the Secretary of Education if the Secretary of the Interior is unable to provide a matching amount, to use such reserved funds for the Indian vocational educational program. Reserves specified amounts of vocational education program funds for transfer to BIA-funded schools.

Establishes the National Indian Center for Research in Vocational-Technical Training (the Center).

Directs the Secretary of Education to provide support for the Center through an annual operating grant in a specified minimum amount per fiscal year. Provides that the Center shall be a nonprofit entity associated with a tribe or tribal organization. Directs the Secretary, on the basis of applications received, to designate the entity to be the Center for a period of five years, acting upon the advice of an appointed panel of non-Federal employees who are nationally recognized as experts in vocational-technical education training, administration, or research. Allows a grant recipient to apply for later grants. Directs the Secretary, in reviewing such grant applications, to consider (but prohibits requiring) past experience, demonstrated commitment of programs and fiscal resources to past vocational-technical activities, and potential future commitment to the support of the Center.

Requires the Center to have a Director, appointed by the entity receiving the grant. Requires such entity to ensure that Center activities equitably consider and involve the national and regional needs of all federally-recognized tribes. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures to ensure that such grant activities will support, investigate, and fulfill national needs or goals.

Requires the Center to have as its primary purposes the design and conduct of long-term research and developmental projects and programs, and appropriate supplementary and short-term studies. Requires the Center to conduct such activities directly and through subcontracts (subject to availability of appropriations) with tribes or tribal organizations, public agencies, and public or private secondary schools or institutions of higher education. Directs the Center to: (1) conduct applied research and development relating to vocational-technical training for American Indians and Alaska Natives; (2) conduct research into the relationship between training and tribal or reservation economic development; (3) provide leadership development through an advanced study center and inservice education activities for tribal and local leaders in vocational-technical education; (4) disseminate results of Center-funded research and development projects; (5) develop and provide information to help national planning and policy for Indian tribes and their economic development through vocational-technical training; (6) give technical assistance to programs serving American Indians and Alaska Natives; (7) act as a clearinghouse for information on Federal and State contracts and grants; (8) work with various entities to develop methods of planning and evaluating programs so they can offer vocational-technical education programs more closely related to the types of jobs available; and (9) report annually to the Congress, and to the Secretaries of Education, of Labor, and of the Interior, on planning and coordination under the Act, the Job Training Partnership Act, and all other Federal programs providing vocational-technical education and economic development services to American Indians and Alaska Natives.