Vocational Education bill

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 1998 - Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act to: (1) rename it the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 (the Act); (2) revise it; and (3) extend the authorization of appropriations through FY 2003.

(Sec. 1) Prohibits any funds made available under the Act from being used to provide funding under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, or to carry out, through programs funded under the Act, activities that were funded under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, unless the programs funded under the Act serve only those participants eligible under the Act.

Revises title I of the Act (Vocational and Technical Education Assistance to the States).

Revises the formula for within-State allocation State allotment funds. Requires allocation to the local level of at least 85 percent of a State's allotment grant for secondary, postsecondary, and adult vocational and technical education programs. Allows ten percent of such amount to be made available to award grants to rural areas, areas with high percentages of vocational and technical education students, areas with high numbers of vocational and technical education students, and communities negatively impacted by changes in the within-State formula. Authorizes the State agency to reserve an amount equal to ten percent of the total allotment for State leadership activities, including specified amounts for services for individuals in State institutions and for services that prepare individuals for nontraditional training and employment.

Sets forth accountability requirements, including State performance measures and reports.

Revises requirements for national activities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) collect information and report on program performance; (2) develop a single plan for, and carry out directly or indirectly, research, development, dissemination of information, and evaluation and assessment; (3) appoint an independent advisory panel on assessment implementation; (4) report on assessment to specified congressional committees; and (5) carry out a demonstration partnership project involving a four-year, accredited postsecondary institution. Authorizes appropriations for national activities.

Provides for assistance to specified outlying agencies. Terminates such assistance to the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau after September 30, 2001.

Revises requirements for grants for Native American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.

Revises requirements for grants for vocational and technical education programs at tribally controlled postsecondary vocational institutions. Authorizes appropriations.

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to designate an entity at the national level to carry out certain functions related to occupational and employment information for vocational and technical education programs. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to designated State entities (such as State Occupational Information Coordinating Committees) to carry out State activities related to such information. Prohibits any duplication of activities authorized under the Wagner-Peyser Act. Authorizes appropriations.

Sets forth requirements for State administration and State plans.

Requires State and local program improvement plans if programs fail to meet State adjusted levels of performance.

Sets forth mandatory and permissible State leadership activities.

Revises the formula for distribution of funds to secondary school programs, basing it in part on the total population aged 15 to 19 and in part on the portion of such population living in poverty. Provides for a waiver to develop an alternative formula under certain conditions for a more equitable distribution. Maintains the minimum grant amount.

Maintains the formula for distribution of funds to postsecondary and adult vocational-technical education programs. Provides for a waiver to develop an alternative formula under certain conditions for a more equitable distribution. Maintains the minimum grant amount.

Sets forth: (1) special rules for minimal allocation and redistribution; and (2) requirements for local plans for vocational and technical educational programs.

Sets forth mandatory and permissible local activities.

Tech-Prep Education Act - Revises requirements for tech-prep programs of title II of the Act (Tech-Prep Education).

Prescribes the formula for allotments to States for State competitive and formula grants to such programs.

Revises requirements for the content of tech-prep education programs and for additional authorized activities.

Requires the eligible State agency (currently a State board) to approve applications for grants by eligible consortia.

Directs the Secretary to award demonstration grants to consortia to carry out tech-prep education programs that: (1) involve the location of a secondary school on the site of a community college; (2) involve a business as a member of the consortium; and (3) require the voluntary participation of secondary school students in the program. Allows such programs to provide summer internships at a business for students or teachers. Authorizes appropriations for demonstration grants.

Authorizes appropriations for tech-prep programs.

Revises the Act's title III General Provisions.

Revises certain fiscal requirements relating to maintenance of effort, excluding from the computation of fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures for such purposes any capital expenditures, special one-time project costs, and the cost of pilot programs. Requires funds under the Act to supplement but not supplant funds from non-Federal sources.

Provides for program participation by private, religious, and home schools.

Prohibits the use of funds to require any: (1) secondary student to choose a specific career path or major; or (2) individual to meet or obtain federally-funded or endorsed industry recognized skills, certificates, or standards or to obtain a federally-funded or endorsed certificate of mastery.

Prohibits the use of funds to provide vocational and technical education programs to students before the seventh grade, but not their use of equipment and facilities bought with such funds.

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to receive and use funds from Federal collection of cell tower fees to expand the use of technology in vocational and technical education.

Allows a State or local educational agency to permit private school personnel to participate in preservice vocational and technical education professional development programs.

Revises provisions relating to State administrative costs.

Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations under the Act only to the extent necessary to administer and ensure compliance with specific requirements under the Act. Eliminates certain provisions relating to: (1) regional meetings and negotiated rulemaking; (2) Federal monitoring; (3) consultation on and review of regulations; and (4) General Accounting Office investigations relating to reports, plans, and regulations under the Act.

Revises provisions for student assistance and other Federal programs. Allows the use of funds under the Act to pay for the costs of vocational and technical education services required in an individualized education plan developed pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and services necessary to meet specified requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 with respect to ensuring equal access to vocational and technical education.

(Sec. 2) Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to make permanent the program of discretionary grants to promote scholar-athlete games.

(Sec. 4) Amends the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, which is title II of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-220), to provide that specified transition provisions shall apply until July 1, 2000.

(Sec. 5) Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to make certain technical amendments.

(Sec. 6) Repeals provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1986 for education administration, including certain Department of Education studies and evaluations.

Repeals provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 for: (1) the Tribal Development Student Assistance Revolving Loan Program, American Indian Postsecondary Economic Development Scholarship, and American Indian Teacher Training; (2) certain Department of Education studies and the National Commissions on Independent Higher Education and on the Cost of Higher Education; and (3) the National Center for the Workplace, National Clearinghouse for Postsecondary Education Materials, School-Based Decisionmakers training and technical assistance demonstration program, and Grants for Campus Sexual Offenses Education.