Vocational Education Amendments

(Measure passed House, amended, roll call #259 (390-3))

Vocational Education and National Institute of Education Amendments - =Title I: Vocational Education= - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1977 to carry out specified provisions of the Vocational Education Act of 1963. Directs the Commissioner of Education to reserve a portion of specified appropriations for transfer to the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee and for vocational education programs for Indians.

Requires States desiring to participate in programs authorized by such Act to designate or establish a State board, which shall be the sole agency responsible for the administration or supervision of the administration of such programs. States that the responsibilities of such board shall include: (1) the development of policy with respect to vocational education programs; and (2) the development and submission to the Commissioner of the three-year State plan and the annual accountability required under such Act.

Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education within the Office of Education to be responsible for: (1) the administration of any Acts of Congress vesting authority in the Commissioner for vocational, occupational, adult and continuing education programs; (2) the administration of those portions of Acts relating to career education which are relevant to the purposes of other Acts administered by the Bureau; and (3) the functions of the Office of Education relating to manpower training and vocational, technical and occupational training in community and junior colleges.

Directs such Bureau to conduct a comprehensive review analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the programs assisted with funds under such Act. Directs the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to conduct a fiscal audit of such programs, within each State.

Provides that administrative hearings in connection with alleged violations of the Act be held within the boundaries where the alleged violation occurred.

Includes, in the membership of the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education and the State advisory councils established under the Vocational Education Act of 1963, representatives of nonprofit private schools, women knowledgeable with the problems of sex discrimination in job training, and persons knowledgeable in the field of guidance and counseling. States that such councils shall have a majority membership of persons who are not educators or administrators in the field of education.

Directs such National Council, in conjunction with the National Commission for Manpower Policy, and State advisory councils in conjunction with the State Manpower Services Councils, to identify the vocational and manpower needs of the Nation and assess the extent to which vocational programs represent an integrated and coordinated approach to meeting such needs. Includes in the membership of the National Commission for Manpower Policy a representative of the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education.

Authorizes appropriations under the Vocational Education Act of 1963 for the purpose of making grants to State advisory councils to carry out the functions of such councils. Stipulates how such sums are to be apportioned.

Requires that each State Advisory Council, in consultation with the State board, shall establish a system of local advisory councils in order that such local advisory councils may assist in the creation and evaluation of the State plan submitted under this Act.

Requires States desiring to receive funds under such Act to submit a three-year plan for vocational education to the Commissioner. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the preparation and updating of such plans; (2) the preparation of the annual accountability report required under such Act; and (3) program evaluation.

Lists the State agencies which the State board shall involve in the participation and formulation of such plan. Requires that such plans: (1) assess the present and future needs for job skills within the State; (2) set forth the objectives sought and the means employed in meeting the need for such job skills; and (3) set forth how the funds made available under such Act shall be used. Authorizes the Commissioner, whenever a plan or the administration of such plan no longer complies with such requirement, to withhold payments to such State until he or she is satisfied that there will no longer be such failure to comply.

Requires each State participating in programs under such Act to submit to the Commissioner an annual accountability report which shall: (1) include any necessary updating of the State plan; (2) show the extent to which the objectives of the plan have been achieved; (3) how State, local, and Federal funds were used and distributed to achieve such objectives; and (4) a summary of the evaluations of vocational programs.

Requires States to evaluate the effectiveness of such vocational education programs. Sets forth specified criteria to be used in making such evaluation. Directs the Commissioner to further prescribe nationally uniform criteria and procedures to be used in such evaluations.

Directs the Commissioner and Administrator of the National Center for Education Statistics to jointly develop information and uniform definitions for a national vocational education data reporting and accounting system including information on vocational students, programs, program completers, staff, facilities and expenditures. Directs the Commissioner in conjunction with the Administrator to prepare an annual report on the status of vocational education.

Establishes a National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee to: (1) improve coordination between administrators and planners of vocational education programs; (2) to develop and implement an occupational information system to meet the needs of vocational education programs, and employment and training programs; and (3) assist the State occupational information committees which are required to be established pursuant to this Act for the planning and operation of similar programs at the State level.

Revises the authorized uses of funds for State vocational education programs. Authorizes appropriations which States may use for: (1) special programs for disadvantaged persons as defined in this Act; (2) supportive services for basic vocational education programs; (3) support of State research coordinating units and for contracts made by such units pursuant to comprehensive plans of program improvement; (4) construction, equipment, and operation of residential schools to provide vocational education; (5) cooperative vocational education programs; and (6) work-study programs.

Directs the Commissioner to pay to each State participating in vocational education programs, an amount equal to 50 percent of the State and local expenditures in carrying out its State plan. Sets forth formulas to determine the amount of Federal payments to States for various programs under this Act.

Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1981 for consumer and homemaking education programs under the Vocational Education Act of 1963. Sets forth the requirements for State plans to be eligible for funds for such programs, including that such funds will be expended solely for educational programs in Consumer and Homemaking Education consisting of instructional programs, services and activities at all educational levels for the occupations of homemaking including but not limited to, consumer education, food and nutrition, family living and parenthood education, child development and guidance, housing and home management which encourages participation of both males and females for combining the roles of homemakers and wage earners; and encourages elimination of sex stereotyping in Consumer and Homemaking Education.

Directs the Commissioner, from funds reserved under this Act, to use such funds for contracts for program improvement projects and for the support of a national center for research in vocational education. States that such Center shall, either directly or through contracts: (1) conduct applied research and development on problems of national significance in vocational education and disseminate the results of such projects; (2) provide leadership development through an advanced study center and inservice education activities for State and local leaders in vocational education; (3) develop and provide information to facilitate national planning and policy development in vocational education; (4) act as a clearinghouse for information on contracts made for program inprovement projects; and (5) develop methods of evaluating programs.

Establishes within the Education Division of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare a Coordinating Committee on Research in Vocational Education to: (1) develop a plan establishing national priorities for the use of funds for vocational education programs, projects, and research and to coordinate the efforts of various agencies in seeking to achieve such priorities; and (2) develop a management information system on the projects funded pursuant to such plan.

Directs the Commissioner to make payments to vocational educators and qualified educational institutions for the purpose of providing training programs for persons desiring to enter the vocational education field, and full-time research opportunities for experienced vocational educators. Sets forth the requirements an institution must meet to have its vocational education leadership development program approved by the Commissioner.

Directs the Commissioner of Education, with the Secretary of Labor, to develop and disseminate information on the status of bilingual education in the United States and to evaluate the impact of such education on the shortages of well-trained personnel and the unemployment of persons with limited English-speaking ability.

Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants and to enter into contracts with appropriate State agencies, local educational agencies, postsecondary educational institutions, private nonprofit vocational training institutions, and to other nonprofit organizations to assist them in conducting bilingual vocational training programs, which shall include instruction in the English language designed to ensure that participants in the training will be assisted to pursue such occupations in environments where English is the language normally used.

Directs the National Institute of Education to undertake an evaluation and study of vocational education programs. States that such Institution shall make an interim report on the results of such study to the President and Congress by September 30, 1979, and a final report by September 30, 1980.

=Title II: National Institute of Education= - Directs the Institute to seek to improve education in the United States through concentrating the resources of the Institute on priority research and development enumerated in this Act.

Establishes within the Institute a Federal Council on Educational Research and Development to consult with the Director of the Institute with respect to major problems, coordinate the operations of the Institute, and make an annual report to Congress and the President on the status of educational research and development in the United States.

=Title III: Technical and Miscellaneous Education Amendments; Repealers, Extensions, and Effective Dates= - Makes technical and miscellaneous amendments to various education laws.

Removes provisions of the Education Amendments of 1974 which state that such Amendments are not intended to modify or diminish the authority of the courts to enforce fully the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution.

States that the extension of Federal funds to a State or local educational agency or institution of higher education, community college, school, agency offering a preschool program or other educational institution through grant, loan, contract, student assistance or any other programs may not be limited, deferred or terminated by the Secretary before according the right of due process of law, which shall include a final judgment of non-compliance with a specific provision of Federal law after a hearing before a duly appointed administrative law judge.

Provides, under the General Education Provisions Act, that no grants, contracts, or support are authorized under this or any other Act for any purpose in connection with the =Man: A Course of Study= (MACOS) curriculum program or materials, or in connection with the high school sequel to MACOS, =Exploring Human Nature=.

Directs the National Center for Education Statistics to coordinate data collection and the formation and issuance of applications for vocational education programs and to disseminate summaries of such data collected to States, local educational agencies, and colleges and universities.

Permits measurement of the maintenance of effort of States, under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, by per pupil as well as by aggregate expenditures.

Repeals provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 relating to occupational education programs. Extends the authorization for appropriations until 1978 for grants to States under the National Defense Education Act. Sets forth the effective dates for the provisions of this Act.