I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 90

To establish a National Board on workforce skills and to develop a comprehensive school-to-work transition program for students in the United

States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. KILDEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To establish a National Board on workforce skills and to

develop a comprehensive school-to-work transition program for students in the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce Readiness

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act:

8 (1) The term ‘‘career guidance counselor’’

9 means an individual who is certified in career guid-
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1 ance and who assists students with evaluating career

2 options, opportunities, planning, and decisionmaking

3 and in seeking and obtaining employment.

4 (2) The term ‘‘generic skills’’ means cross-in5 dustry, cross-occupation skills which are necessary

6 for all individuals to have to be effective participants

7 in the workforce.

8 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

9 of Education.

10 (4) The term ‘‘school-to-work transition’’ means

11 the process by which students acquire academic and

12 occupational skills and work experience to assist in

13 the transition from school to employment.

14 TITLE I—NATIONAL BOARD ON

15 WORKFORCE SKILLS

16 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT.

17 There is established a National Board on Workforce

18 Skills for the 21st Century (in this title referred to as the

19 ‘‘National Board’’).

20 SEC. 102. PURPOSE.

21 It is the purpose of this title to oversee the develop22 ment of voluntary national standards that will identify the

23 generic workplace readiness skills which employers agree

24 all students should have upon completion of high school

25 in order to be effective participants in the workforce.
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1 SEC. 103. DUTIES.

2 The National Board shall—

3 (1) work with employers and educators to es4 tablish, through a broad public process, voluntary

5 national standards that will identify the generic

6 workplace readiness skills which employers agree

7 that students should have upon completion of high

8 school;

9 (2) in developing such standards, take into con10 sideration current work in this area undertaken

11 under other auspices, including activities carried out

12 under title II;

13 (3) consult with industry-specific occupational

14 boards formulate work-ready skills standards;

15 (4) conduct research and evaluation activities

16 necessary to determine the relationship between pos17 session of skills and increased work performance;

18 (5) update such skills as the skill requirements

19 of the economy change;

20 (6) conduct research and demonstration activi21 ties which include the development and testing of

22 models for integrating skills into the school-based

23 learning in the K–12 grades, giving priority to mod24 els which integrate academic and workplace instruc25 tion beginning in elementary school grades;
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1 (7) release draft standards for broad review and

2 comment, and ensure the input of a broad range of

3 employers including small businesses;

4 (8) once the final standards have been approved

5 by the National Board, work with consortia of em6 ployers, labor, and education representatives to in7 corporate the standards into State and local sys8 temic education reform efforts; and

9 (9) recommend procedures for the dissemina10 tion of information and the provision of technical as11 sistance to consortia of business, labor, and edu12 cation.

13 SEC. 104. COMPOSITION.

14 The National Board shall be composed of 23 mem15 bers appointed in accordance with section 105, represent16 ing business and industry, labor, education, and local gov17 ernment. The National Board shall reflect a broad range

18 of businesses, including representatives from the manufac19 turing, financial, and service sectors.

20 SEC. 105. MEMBERSHIP.

21 Members of the National Board shall be appointed

22 as follows:

23 (1) 7 members, of which at least 3 shall be

24 Baldrige Award winners, shall be appointed by the

25 Speaker of the House of Representatives, upon rec-
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1 ommendations of the majority and minority leaders

2 of the House, respectively.

3 (2) 7 members, of which at least 3 shall be

4 Baldrige Award winners, shall be appointed by the

5 President pro tempore of the Senate, upon rec6 ommendations of the majority and minority leaders

7 of the Senate, respectively.

8 (3) 7 members, of which at least 3 shall be

9 Baldrige Award winners, shall be appointed by the

10 President of the United States.

11 SEC. 106. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.

12 The Secretary of education and the Secretary of

13 Labor shall serve as ex officio members of the National

14 Board.

15 SEC. 107. TERMS OF APPOINTEES.

16 (a) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The members of the

17 National Board appointed under paragraph 1 of section

18 105 shall be appointed for a term of 3 years, the members

19 appointed under paragraph 2 of section 105 shall be ap20 pointed for a term of 4 years, and the members appointed

21 under paragraph 3 of section 105 shall be appointed for

22 a term of 5 years.

23 (b) SUBSEQUENT TERMS.—After the terms under

24 subsection (a) are served, each member appointed subse25 quently shall be appointed for a 3-year term.
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1 SEC. 108. CHAIRPERSON.

2 The National Board shall annually elect a Chair3 person from among its members who shall serve for a term

4 of 1 year.

5 SEC. 109. COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.

6 (a) COMPENSATION.—Members of the National

7 Board shall serve without compensation.

8 (b) EXPENSES.—While away from their homes or

9 regular places of business on the business of the National

10 Board, members of the Board may be allowed travel ex11 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as is au12 thorized under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

13 (c) STAFF.—The National Board shall appoint an

14 Executive Director who shall be compensated at a rate de15 termined by the National Board not to exceed level 15 of

16 the General Schedule under title 5, United States Code,

17 and who may appoint such staff as is necessary.

18 TITLE II—SCHOOL-TO-WORK

19 TRANSITION PROGRAMS

20 SEC. 201. PURPOSE.

21 It is the purpose of this title to develop school-to-work

22 transition programs which provide students with the edu23 cation and skills necessary to enter the workplace ready

24 to perform and able to attain a satisfactory standard of

25 living.
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1 SEC. 202. GRANT AUTHORIZATION.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

3 make grants to local educational agencies to develop, im4 plement, or expand programs which integrate workplace

5 skills into the regular school curriculum in order to facili6 tate the transition from school to work.

7 (b) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF ASSISTANCE.—In

8 approving grants under this title, the Secretary shall as9 sure an equitable distribution of assistance among the

10 States and among urban and rural areas of the States.

11 SEC. 203. APPLICATIONS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency that

13 desires to receive a grant under this title shall submit an

14 application to the Secretary at such time, in such form,

15 and containing such information that the Secretary may

16 reasonably require.

17 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Such application

18 shall include—

19 (1) the composition of the business/industry/

20 labor partnership with which the local education

21 agency will work to develop and implement an effec22 tive school-to-work transition program;

23 (2) a description of how funds will be used;

24 (3) a description of how the program will be co25 ordinated with K–12 vocational educational pro26 grams; and
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1 (4) an assurance that the applicant shall main2 tain data and information regarding the program,

3 including the number of students served.

4 SEC. 204. USES OF FUNDS.

5 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Grants made available under

6 this title shall be used by local educational agencies work7 ing to develop and implement comprehensive school-to8 work transition which shall include processes and proce9 dures for—

10 (1) enabling students to gain a better under11 standing of skill necessary for the workplace through

12 work site visits, demonstrating and using of business

13 technologies in the classroom, and bringing rep14 resentatives of business and organized labor into the

15 classroom;

16 (2) developing or adopting curricula and in17 structional materials which incorporate generic

18 workplace skills;

19 (3) expanding opportunities for students to

20 enter career preparation programs that integrate

21 academic instruction with workplace instruction;

22 (4) providing career guidance counselors to as23 sist students seeking job placement or further occu24 pational specific education; and
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1 (5) professional development strategies for

2 teachers, principals, counselors, and other school

3 personnel to further the purposes of this title.

4 (b) OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES.—A local educational

5 agency may—

6 (1) initiate a flexible school schedule to enable

7 students to spend adequate time in the classroom

8 and at the workplace; and

9 (2) design programs which enhance opportuni10 ties for students to enter into programs leading to

11 an associate degree in an occupational field or pro12 gram authorized under part E, title III of the Carl

13 Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Edu14 cation Act.

15 SEC. 205. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.

16 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a grant

17 under this title may not exceed—

18 (1) 90 percent of the total cost of a project for

19 the first year for which the project receives assist20 ance under this title, and

21 (2) 75 percent of such cost for the second such

22 year and each subsequent year.

23 (b) OTHER SOURCES.—The share of payments from

24 sources other than funds appropriated under this title may

25 be in cash or in-kind fairly evaluated.
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1 SEC. 206. REPORTING.

2 (a) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—A local educational

3 agency that receives a grant under this title shall submit

4 a report to the Secretary each year.

5 (b) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—The Secretary

6 shall submit to the Congress a biannual report.

7 SEC. 207. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro9 priated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1993 and such sums

10 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1994,

11 1995, 1996, and 1997 for grants to local educational

12 agencies for the development and implementation of pro13 grams under this title to assist students to make the tran14 sition from school to work.

15 (b) FUNDS FOR NATIONAL BOARD.—Of the funds

16 authorized under subsection (a), 5 percent shall be re17 served for activities authorized under title I of this Act.

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