II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3573 

To establish partnerships to create or enhance educational and skills 

development pathways to 21st century careers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. SANDERS, and 

Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish partnerships to create or enhance educational 

and skills development pathways to 21st century careers, 

and for other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Promoting Innovations to 21st Century Careers Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings; purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—CAREER PATHWAYS GRANTS 

Sec. 101. State partnership planning grants. 

Sec. 102. State partnership implementation grants. 

Sec. 103. Regional partnership subgrants. 

Sec. 104. State partnership transition grants. 

TITLE II—CAREER PATHWAYS PARTNERSHIP SUPPLEMENTAL 

GRANTS 

Sec. 201. State partnership supplemental grants program authorized. 

Sec. 202. Types of supplemental grants. 

TITLE III—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Establishment of the National Academic and Career Innovation Center. 

Sec. 302. Accountability and performance measurement. 

Sec. 303. Evaluation and research. 

Sec. 304. Benefits and labor standards. 

Sec. 305. Sunshine provision. 

Sec. 306. Authorization of appropriations and distribution. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) A highly skilled and agile workforce is nec4 essary to compete in the global economy and main5 tain the standard of living of the United States. 

6 (2) According to a 2006 report by Civic Enter7 prises for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 

8 nearly one-third of all public high school students in 

9 the United States do not graduate, and in 2003, 

10 3,500,000 youth ages 16 to 25 did not have a high 

11 school diploma and were not enrolled in school. 

12 (3) According to the Congressional Research 

13 Service’s analysis of data from the National Center 

14 for Education Statistics, in 2002–2003 (the most re15 cent year for which all necessary data were reported 

16 by all States) more than 25 percent of first-year 


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1 high school students in the United States did not re2 ceive their diploma on time. By age 24, more than 

3 1 in 10 individuals do not have a high school di4 ploma or its equivalent. 

5 (4) High school dropouts have a high social 

6 cost. According to a 2006 report by Civic Enter7 prises for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 4 

8 out of 10 young adults between the ages of 16 and 

9 24 lacking a high school diploma received some type 

10 of government assistance in 2001, and the lifetime 

11 cost to the United States of a dropout who enters 

12 a life of crime or drugs ranges from $1,700,000 to 

13 $2,300,000. 

14 (5) According to the National Center for Edu15 cation Statistics, measuring economic outcomes as of 

16 2000, students completing high school in 4 years 

17 had, on average, higher wage rates and annual earn18 ings than those who took longer to complete a high 

19 school credential. High school dropouts, on average, 

20 earn about $1,000,000 less over a lifetime than col21 lege graduates. 

22 (6) By some estimates, less than half of stu23 dents who enter 9th grade graduate from high 

24 school and enter postsecondary education, and for 

25 those who do, many are not academically prepared. 


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1 Twenty-eight percent of first-time college freshman 

2 in fall 2000 took at least 1 remedial course. Forty3 two percent of first-time community college fresh4 man took at least 1 remedial course. 

5 (7) According to the Education Commission of 

6 the States, nearly 60 percent of today’s jobs require 

7 some training or education beyond high school, com8 pared to just 20 percent in the 1940’s. 

9 (8) According to a 2003 report for the Edu10 cational Testing Service, the fastest-growing and 

11 best-paying jobs are those that require some college 

12 education. As baby-boomers retire, however, the 

13 shortage of workers with some college-level skills 

14 may increase to more than 14,000,000 by 2020. 

15 (9) According to the findings of a 2006 study 

16 conducted by the American College Testing Program 

17 (ACT), the skills required for high school students 

18 to be ready to successfully enter postsecondary edu19 cation and to enter workforce training programs are 

20 comparable. The report found that high school grad21 uates need a comparable level of readiness in read22 ing and mathematics to enter college-level courses 

23 without remediation and to enter workforce training 

24 programs in jobs that are likely to offer family-supVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:00 Sep 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3573.IS S3573

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1 porting wages and the potential for career advance2 ment. 

3 (10) According to a 2003 report for the Edu4 cational Testing Service, about 40 percent of Amer5 ican adults do not have skills typical of those with 

6 some college, but the fastest job growth will occur in 

7 those jobs in which incumbent workers currently 

8 have skill levels reflecting at least some postsec9 ondary education. 

10 (11) Increases in a country’s overall level of 

11 educational attainment leads to increases in its over12 all rate of economic growth. According to a 2003 re13 port for the Educational Testing Service, increasing 

14 a country’s average level of schooling by only 1 year 

15 can increase economic growth by about 5 to 15 per16 cent. 

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

18 (1) to increase the graduation rate of students 

19 from high school; 

20 (2) to increase the number of high school stu21 dents prepared with 21st century skills for college22 level work and workforce development after gradua23 tion from secondary school; 

24 (3) to improve the long-term labor market pros25 pects for young people; 


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1 (4) to establish State and regional partnerships 

2 among education, business, labor, and workforce and 

3 economic development leaders for the purposes of— 

4 (A) creating or enhancing educational 

5 pathways for high school students to postsec6 ondary education, including registered appren7 ticeship programs, and to 21st century careers; 

8 (B) aligning the requirements for success9 fully exiting secondary education and entering 

10 postsecondary education and workforce develop11 ment; and 

12 (C) developing a coherent vision for com13 munity development that complements and co14 ordinates ongoing and new efforts in education 

15 and workforce and economic development; 

16 (5) to increase the use of industry-based skill 

17 standards, such as those certifications developed by 

18 the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council and the 

19 National Institute for Metalworking Skills; and 

20 (6) to increase the number of highly skilled and 

21 agile workers available to employers, particularly in 

22 high skill, high demand industries. 

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) AT-RISK YOUTH.—The term ‘‘at-risk youth’’ 

2 means a high school student who— 

3 (A) is economically disadvantaged, as de4 termined by the student being— 

5 (i) eligible for free or reduced price 

6 lunch under the Richard B Russell Na7 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 

8 et seq.); 

9 (ii) eligible to receive medical assist10 ance under the State Medicaid program es11 tablished under title XIX of the Social Se12 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); or 

13 (iii) a member of a family receiving 

14 assistance under the State program funded 

15 under part A of title IV of the Social Secu16 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

17 (B) is at risk for academic failure; 

18 (C) is a student with disabilities; 

19 (D) is a student who is a homeless child or 

20 youth, as defined in section 725 of the McKin21 ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 11434a); 

23 (E) is a migrant student or a student with 

24 limited English proficiency; 

25 (F) is a youth offender; or 


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1 (G) is in foster care or is aging out of the 

2 foster care system. 

3 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na4 tional Academic and Career Innovation Center 

5 Board established under section 301(d). 

6 (3) CAREER PATHWAY.—The term ‘‘career 

7 pathway’’ means a rigorous, engaging, and high8 quality set of courses and services that— 

9 (A) includes an articulated sequence of 

10 academic and career courses, including 21st 

11 century skills; 

12 (B) is aligned with the needs of high skill, 

13 high demand industries in a region or State; 

14 (C) prepares students for entry into the 

15 full range of postsecondary education options, 

16 including registered apprenticeships, and ca17 reers; 

18 (D) provides academic and career coun19 seling in student-to-counselor ratios that allow 

20 students to make informed decisions about aca21 demic and career options; 

22 (E) meets State academic standards, State 

23 requirements for secondary school graduation 

24 and is aligned with requirements for entry into 


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1 postsecondary education, and applicable indus2 try standards; and 

3 (F) leads to 2 or more credentials, includ4 ing— 

5 (i) a secondary school diploma; and 

6 (ii) a postsecondary degree, an ap7 prenticeship or other occupational certifi8 cation, a certificate, or a license. 

9 (4) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the 

10 National Academic and Career Innovation Center es11 tablished under section 301. 

12 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

13 the Director of the National Academic and Career 

14 Innovation Center. 

15 (6) DROPOUT RECOVERY.—The term ‘‘dropout 

16 recovery’’ means a wide range of effective efforts to 

17 provide former high school students who did not 

18 graduate from secondary school in a standard num19 ber of years with an opportunity to earn a secondary 

20 school diploma and continue onto postsecondary edu21 cation. 

22 (7) HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT.—The term ‘‘high 

23 school student’’ means a student who is enrolled in 

24 a public secondary school— 

25 (A) in one of grades 9 through 12; or 


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1 (B) in the case of a student enrolled in a 

2 secondary school approved by a State to issue 

3 a regular diploma concurrently with a postsec4 ondary degree or with not more than 2 years’ 

5 worth of postsecondary academic credit, in 

6 grade 13. 

7 (8) HIGH SKILL, HIGH DEMAND INDUSTRY.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘high skill, 

9 high demand industry’’ means an industry 

10 that— 

11 (i) has a significant current or poten12 tial impact on the regional economy over13 all; 

14 (ii) brings net dollars into a region or 

15 is critical to attracting and sustaining 

16 businesses within the industry; 

17 (iii) stimulates the growth of other 

18 supporting businesses, or the growth of 

19 other industries or economic sectors within 

20 the region; 

21 (iv) provides workers with competitive 

22 and family-supporting wages and benefits 

23 that increase the strength and vitality of 

24 the entire regional economy; and 


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1 (v) provides opportunities for career 

2 advancement. 

3 (B) DETERMINATION.—The determination 

4 of whether an industry is a high skill, high de5 mand industry shall be made using State or re6 gional business and labor market projections 

7 and an analysis of real time data derived from 

8 labor market transactions. 

9 (9) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

10 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

11 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

12 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

13 (10) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

14 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

15 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec16 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

17 (11) ONE-STOP CENTER.—The term ‘‘one-stop 

18 center’’ means a one-stop center described in section 

19 134(c) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

20 U.S.C. 2864(c)). 

21 (12) PATHWAYS GRANTS.—The term ‘‘pathways 

22 grants’’ means the grants authorized under title I 

23 (excluding section 103) and title II. 

24 (13) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION.—The term 

25 ‘‘postsecondary education’’ means— 


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1 (A) a 4-year program of instruction, or not 

2 less than a 1-year program of instruction that 

3 is acceptable for credit toward a baccalaureate 

4 degree, offered by an institution of higher edu5 cation; or 

6 (B) a certificate or registered apprentice7 ship program at the postsecondary level offered 

8 by an institution of higher education or a non9 profit educational institution. 

10 (14) REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘re11 gional partnership’’ means a regional pathways part12 nership receiving funds under section 103. 

13 (15) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO14 GRAM.—The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship pro15 gram’’ means an industry skills training program at 

16 the postsecondary level that combines technical and 

17 theoretical training through structured on-the-job 

18 learning with related instruction (in classrooms or 

19 through distance learning) while an individual is em20 ployed, working under the direction of qualified per21 sonnel or a mentor, and earning incremental wage 

22 increases aligned to enhanced job proficiency, result23 ing in the acquisition of a nationally recognized and 

24 portable certificate, under a plan approved by the 


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1 Office of Apprenticeship or a State agency recog2 nized by the Department of Labor. 

3 (16) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec4 ondary school’’ has the meaning given the term in 

5 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 (17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

8 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

9 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States 

10 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

11 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

12 (18) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

13 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

14 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

16 (19) STATE P–16 OR P–20 COUNCIL.—The term 

17 ‘‘State P–16 or P–20 Council’’ means a body of 

18 public officials and public and private sector leaders 

19 that— 

20 (A) is established by a State executive 

21 order, statute, or voluntary agreement and may 

22 be regularly chaired or co-chaired by the Gov23 ernor of the State; 

24 (B) sets formal, aligned expectations for a 

25 seamless system of education from the earliest 


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1 years of a child’s development through the kin2 dergarten through grade 12 system and into 

3 and through postsecondary education; 

4 (C) acts as a venue for collaboration across 

5 early learning, including preschool (the ‘‘P’’) 

6 through the first 4 years of higher education 

7 (the ‘‘16’’) or through doctoral and professional 

8 schools (the ‘‘20’’); and 

9 (D) receives State, foundation, business, or 

10 other funding to carry out the body’s agenda. 

11 (20) STATE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘State 

12 partnership’’ means a State pathways partnership as 

13 established or appointed under section 101(b)(1). 

14 (21) STATE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT

15 BOARD.—The term ‘‘State Workforce Investment 

16 Board’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

17 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

18 U.S.C. 2801). 

19 (22) WORK-BASED EXPERIENCE.—The term 

20 ‘‘work-based experience’’ means an activity for high 

21 school students, postsecondary students, or teachers 

22 that provides career knowledge, skills, and abilities, 

23 including job-shadowing and internships. 


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1 TITLE I—CAREER PATHWAYS 

2 GRANTS 

3 SEC. 101. STATE PARTNERSHIP PLANNING GRANTS. 

4 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director is authorized 

6 to award planning grants to eligible State partner7 ships for the purpose of enabling the State partner8 ships to complete comprehensive planning to carry 

9 out activities establishing career pathways. 

10 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A planning grant awarded 

11 under this section shall be for a period of not more 

12 than 1 year. 

13 (3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A planning grant 

14 awarded under this section may not be more than 

15 $250,000. 

16 (4) NONRENEWABILITY.—The Director shall 

17 not award a State partnership more than 1 planning 

18 grant under this section. 

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity shall be a State 

21 pathways partnership for purposes of this Act if the 

22 entity— 

23 (A) has been established as the State path24 ways partnership by the Governor of a State 


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1 and is composed of the members described in 

2 paragraph (3); or 

3 (B) has been appointed by the Governor of 

4 a State as the State pathways partnership 

5 under paragraph (2). 

6 (2) APPOINTMENT OF ORGANIZATION.—The 

7 Governor may appoint an existing education, work8 force, or economic development organization, such as 

9 the State Workforce Investment Board, the State P– 

10 16 or P–20 Council, a joint labor-management part11 nership organization, or a business-education part12 nership, as the State pathways partnership for pur13 poses of this Act if the organization— 

14 (A) includes, or modifies the members of 

15 the organization to include, the representatives 

16 required under paragraph (3)(A); or 

17 (B) establishes a subcommittee that in18 cludes such representatives and uses such sub19 committee to carry out the duties of the State 

20 partnership under this Act. 

21 (3) PARTNERS.— 

22 (A) REQUIRED PARTNERS.—A State path23 ways partnership shall include a representative 

24 from each of the following: 


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1 (i) Public secondary education, who 

2 shall be the chief State school officer. 

3 (ii) A public 2-year institution of 

4 higher education. 

5 (iii) A public 4-year institution of 

6 higher education. 

7 (iv) A business and trade organiza8 tion. 

9 (v) An economic development entity. 

10 (vi) The State Workforce Investment 

11 Board. 

12 (vii) The State employment security 

13 agency. 

14 (viii) The recognized State federation 

15 of labor. 

16 (ix) A joint apprenticeship and train17 ing committee. 

18 (x) A labor organization that rep19 resents teachers. 

20 (xi) The State P–16 or P–20 Council, 

21 if such a council exists in the State. 

22 (B) OTHER PARTNERS.—A State pathways 

23 partnership may include other members, such 

24 as— 


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1 (i) additional representatives de2 scribed in subparagraph (A); 

3 (ii) additional representatives of pub4 lic secondary education, such as the chief 

5 State school officer responsible for career 

6 and technical education; or 

7 (iii) nontraditional participants, in8 cluding representatives from philanthropic 

9 organizations or members of regional part10 nerships. 

11 (4) STATE AUTHORITY.—The Governor of a 

12 State receiving a planning grant under this section 

13 has the authority to appoint a fiscal and an adminis14 trative agent for the State partnership. 

15 (c) APPLICATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State partnership de17 siring a planning grant under this section shall sub18 mit an application to the Director at such time, in 

19 such manner, and accompanied by such information 

20 as the Director may reasonably require. 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

22 under this subsection shall— 

23 (A) describe the members of the State 

24 partnership; 


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1 (B) describe the activities for which assist2 ance under this section is sought; 

3 (C) describe proposed performance bench4 marks to be used to measure progress under 

5 the planning grant; 

6 (D) provide a budget for use of funds to 

7 complete required activities in section (d); and 

8 (E) provide such additional assurances and 

9 information as the Director determines to be es10 sential to ensure compliance with the require11 ments of this section. 

12 (3) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—Before a 

13 State partnership receives a planning grant under 

14 this section, the State partnership and the Director 

15 shall jointly determine the performance benchmarks 

16 that shall be established for the purposes of the 

17 planning grant. 

18 (d) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State partnership re19 ceiving funds under this subsection shall carry out all of 

20 the following: 

21 (1) Analyze State labor market information in 

22 order to create career pathways and carry out the 

23 purposes of this Act. 


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1 (2) Identify and agree on State or regional high 

2 skill, high demand industries for the purposes of 

3 planning career pathways. 

4 (3) Identify existing Federal, State, and private 

5 resources for youth development and plan to lever6 age other existing Federal, State, and private re7 sources to strengthen partnerships and implementa8 tion grant activities. 

9 (4)(A) Provide a description of existing (as of 

10 the time of the application)— 

11 (i) State academic standards for secondary 

12 school graduation and industry standards; 

13 (ii) State requirements for secondary 

14 school graduation and entry requirements for 

15 postsecondary education; 

16 (iii) State policies or models for career and 

17 guidance counseling; and 

18 (iv) career pathway-related programs and 

19 activities for secondary school students, such as 

20 programs of study under the Carl D. Perkins 

21 Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 

22 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), or early college or 

23 dual enrollment programs. 

24 (B) A State partnership may use an already 

25 completed review of the information described in 


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1 subparagraph (A) that has been completed by the 

2 State P–16 or P–20 Council, or other entity recog3 nized by the State, if the review is not more than 

4 2 years old. If the review does not contain all of the 

5 information required in clauses (i) through (iv) of 

6 subparagraph (A), the State partnership shall com7 plete the missing components. 

8 (5) Plan for the alignment of State require9 ments for secondary school graduation and entry to 

10 postsecondary education. 

11 (6) Identify possible areas in which statewide 

12 teacher and administration professional development 

13 or teacher certification related to promising practices 

14 in career pathways will be needed and plan for such 

15 professional development. 

16 (7) Plan for and create a State partnership im17 plementation plan to submit to the Center. 

18 (8) Determine the criteria for selecting regional 

19 partnerships for implementation subgrants in ac20 cordance with section 102(e)(1), which— 

21 (A) will incorporate the concepts of career 

22 pathways and high skill, high demand indus23 tries; and 

24 (B) may incorporate criteria such as low 

25 graduation rates and low academic achievement 


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1 in the schools served by the regional partner2 ship. 

3 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Each State partner4 ship receiving a planning grant under this section shall 

5 provide an amount, in cash or in-kind, that is not less 

6 than 15 percent of the amount of the grant, to carry out 

7 the activities supported by the grant. The matching re8 quirement under this subsection may be provided from 

9 funds available from other Federal, State, local, or private 

10 sources to carry out such activities. 

11 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 

12 year after an eligible State partnership receives a planning 

13 grant under this section, the partnership shall submit a 

14 report to the Director on the State’s performance of the 

15 activities described in subsection (d). The report shall in16 clude— 

17 (1) a description of the use of funds, including 

18 matching funds required under subsection (e), to 

19 carry out required activities under subsection (d); 

20 and 

21 (2) a description of the progress of the State 

22 partnership in meeting the performance benchmarks 

23 under subsection (c)(3). 

24 SEC. 102. STATE PARTNERSHIP IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 

25 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director is authorized 

2 to award implementation grants, on a competitive 

3 basis, to eligible State partnerships described in sub4 section (c) to enable the State partnerships to estab5 lish or enhance career pathways. 

6 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—An implementation grant 

7 awarded under this section shall be for a period of 

8 not more than 5 years. 

9 (3) NONRENEWABILITY.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall not 

11 award a State partnership more than 1 imple12 mentation grant under this section except as 

13 provided in subparagraph (B). 

14 (B) EXCEPTION.—In cases where the Di15 rector determines that the State partnership is 

16 high performing and the activities supported by 

17 the State partnership warrant additional grant 

18 funding, the Director may continue to provide 

19 funding to a State partnership through a tran20 sition grant under section 104. 

21 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible State partnership 

22 that receives an implementation grant under this sec23 tion— 


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1 (1) may reserve not more than 20 percent of 

2 the grant funds to carry out the activities described 

3 in paragraphs (2) through (5) of subsection (e); and 

4 (2) shall use not less than 80 percent of the 

5 grant funds to make subgrants to regional partner6 ships in accordance with subsection (e)(1). 

7 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for an implementa8 tion grant under this section, a State partnership de9 scribed in section 101(b) shall have— 

10 (1) received a planning grant under section 101 

11 and completed all requirements of such grant; or 

12 (2) completed a satisfactory application, includ13 ing a plan to coordinate with required partners and 

14 complete the required activities described in section 

15 101(d) during the 5-year period of an implementa16 tion grant under this section. 

17 (3) STATE PARTNERSHIP AUTHORITY.—A State 

18 partnership receiving an implementation grant under 

19 this section shall appoint a fiscal and an administra20 tive agent for the implementation of such grant. 

21 (d) APPLICATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State partner23 ship desiring an implementation grant under this 

24 section shall submit an application to the Director at 

25 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 


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1 such information as the Director may reasonably re2 quire. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

4 under this subsection shall include— 

5 (A) a description of the members of the 

6 State partnership; 

7 (B) a description of how the State partner8 ship completed the required activities described 

9 in section 101(d), if applicable; 

10 (C) a description of the activities for which 

11 assistance under this section is sought; 

12 (D) a description of how the State partner13 ship will coordinate with required partners and 

14 complete the required partnership activities de15 scribed in subsection (e) over the 5-year dura16 tion of an implementation grant awarded under 

17 this section; 

18 (E) a budget proposal of the cost of the 

19 activities supported by the implementation 

20 grant, and a timeline for the provision of the 

21 matching funds required under subsection (f); 

22 (F) proposed performance measures in ac23 cordance with section 302 to be used to assess 

24 and evaluate the progress of the career path25 ways activities of regional partnerships; 


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1 (G) a description of how the State partner2 ship will collect long-term aggregated data on 

3 students assisted under the implementation 

4 grant, in accordance with section 444 of the 

5 General Education Provisions Act (the Family 

6 Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1232g), for purposes of reporting 

8 progress in grant activities; and 

9 (H) such additional assurances as the Di10 rector determines to be essential to ensure com11 pliance with the requirements of this section. 

12 (e) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible State part13 nership receiving an implementation grant under this sec14 tion shall— 

15 (1) award subgrants to eligible regional part16 nerships in accordance with section 103; 

17 (2) develop and implement coherent, early, and 

18 sustained statewide academic and career guidance 

19 strategies linked to high skill, high demand indus20 tries; 

21 (3) collect data from regional partnerships on 

22 the performance measures selected by the partner23 ship and Director in accordance with section 302 for 

24 career pathways activities carried out by the regional 

25 partnerships; 


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1 (4) convene the State partnership members on 

2 a regular basis, and at least on a semiannual basis; 

3 (5) assist regional partnerships to create coher4 ent career pathways, including the provision of tech5 nical assistance and capacity building activities, such 

6 as the dissemination of best practices and tools with7 in the State; 

8 (6) provide any necessary statewide teacher and 

9 school administrator professional development re10 lated to career pathways and coordinate with exist11 ing professional development efforts or activities; 

12 (7) in consultation with regional partnerships, 

13 make recommendations on State and local policies to 

14 foster the development of career pathways for high 

15 school students; and 

16 (8) in coordination with regional partnerships, 

17 conduct ongoing studies to continuously improve ca18 reer pathways, including testing innovative ap19 proaches, within the State in order to achieve high 

20 level performance and to maximize coordination of 

21 the studies with the Center’s studies under title III. 

22 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State partnership re24 ceiving an implementation grant under this section 

25 shall provide an amount, in cash or in-kind, that is 


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1 not less than 25 percent of the amount of the grant, 

2 to carry out the activities supported by the grant. 

3 The matching requirement under this subsection 

4 may be provided from funds available from other 

5 Federal, State, local, or private sources to carry out 

6 such activities. 

7 (2) TIMING OF MATCHING CONTRIBUTION.—An 

8 eligible State partnership may satisfy the matching 

9 requirement of an implementation grant awarded 

10 under this section at any time during the 5-year du11 ration of the grant, as specified in the budget pro12 posal that is submitted in the application process 

13 and approved by the Director. 

14 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—For each year of 

15 the grant period, each eligible State partnership receiving 

16 an implementation grant under this section shall submit 

17 a report to the Director on the State’s performance of the 

18 activities described in subsection (e). Each report shall in19 clude— 

20 (1) a description of the use of funds, including 

21 matched funds, to complete required activities under 

22 subsection (d); and 

23 (2) a description of the performance of the 

24 State partnership in meeting the performance meas25 ures under section 302. 


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1 SEC. 103. REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP SUBGRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The administrative agent ap3 pointed under section 102(c)(3) by a State partnership re4 ceiving an implementation grant under such section shall, 

5 on behalf of the State partnership, award subgrants, on 

6 a competitive basis, to eligible regional partnerships to en7 able the eligible regional partnerships to establish or en8 hance career pathways. 

9 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR SUBGRANTS.— 

10 (1) REQUIRED PARTNERS.—In order for a re11 gional area of a State served by a State partnership 

12 receiving an implementation grant under section 102 

13 to participate in the subgrant program under this 

14 section, the regional area shall form a regional path15 ways partnership that includes a representative from 

16 each of the following: 

17 (A) Public secondary education, who may 

18 be a representative of a local educational agen19 cy. 

20 (B) Postsecondary education, including 

21 public 2-year and 4-year postsecondary edu22 cation institutions. 

23 (C) A business or trade organization. 

24 (D) The local workforce board, as defined 

25 in section 101 of the Workforce Investment Act 

26 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801). 


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1 (E) An economic development entity. 

2 (F) Local elected officials. 

3 (G) A central labor council. 

4 (H) A labor organization that represents 

5 teachers. 

6 (I) High school students and postsec7 ondary education students. 

8 (J) Parents or legal guardians of high 

9 school students and postsecondary education 

10 students. 

11 (K) A community-based organization that 

12 is relevant to career pathways. 

13 (2) OTHER PARTNERS.—A regional partnership 

14 may include other members, such as additional rep15 resentatives described in paragraph (1), representa16 tives of educational service agencies, or nontradi17 tional participants, including representatives from 

18 philanthropic organizations. 

19 (3) DESIGNATION.—A regional area may agree 

20 to designate an existing education, workforce, or eco21 nomic development organization such as a local 

22 workforce investment board, regional economic devel23 opment authority, joint labor management partner24 ship organization, or business-education partnership, 


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1 as the regional pathways partnership for purposes of 

2 this Act if the organization— 

3 (A) includes, or modifies the members of 

4 the organization to include, the representatives 

5 required under paragraph (1); or 

6 (B) establishes a subcommittee that in7 cludes such representatives and uses such sub8 committee to carry out the duties of the re9 gional partnership under this Act. 

10 (c) REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP AUTHORITY.—A re11 gional partnership shall choose an entity to be the fiscal 

12 agent and an entity to be the administrative agent for the 

13 subgrant funds received under this section. 

14 (d) APPLICATION FOR SUBGRANT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each regional partnership 

16 desiring a subgrant under this section shall submit 

17 an application to the State partnership at such time, 

18 in such manner, and accompanied by such informa19 tion as the State partnership may reasonably re20 quire. 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

22 pursuant to this subsection shall include— 

23 (A) a description of the activities for which 

24 assistance under this section is sought, includVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:00 Sep 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3573.IS S3573

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1 ing activities to address the needs of at-risk 

2 youth; 

3 (B) proposed performance measures in ac4 cordance with section 302 to be used to assess 

5 and evaluate the progress of the career path6 ways activities under this section; 

7 (C) a budget for use of funds to complete 

8 the required activities in subsection (e); 

9 (D) a definition of the geographic bound10 aries of the region to be served by the career 

11 pathways initiatives, including whether the re12 gion is— 

13 (i) a local workforce investment area 

14 established under section 116 of the Work15 force Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

16 2831); 

17 (ii) an economic development area as 

18 defined by the State; or 

19 (iii) justified on other criteria, includ20 ing— 

21 (I) the alignment of labor market 

22 areas; 

23 (II) school districts and edu24 cation service agencies; 


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1 (III) postsecondary educational 

2 institutions and area career and tech3 nical schools; 

4 (IV) geographic distances; or 

5 (V) regional resources that are 

6 available to effectively administer the 

7 activities carried out under this sec8 tion; and 

9 (E) a description of how meetings of the 

10 regional partnership will be convened on a reg11 ular basis; 

12 (F) an assurance that employers providing 

13 student work-based experiences will provide or 

14 arrange for the necessary liability coverage as 

15 determined by the participating secondary 

16 schools; and 

17 (G) such additional assurances as the 

18 State partnership determines to be essential to 

19 ensure compliance with the requirements of this 

20 section. 

21 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

22 (1) RESERVATION OF AMOUNTS.—Of the 

23 subgrant amount received by an eligible regional 

24 partnership under this section— 


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1 (A) not less than 85 percent of the 

2 subgrant funds shall be used to carry out the 

3 activities described in subparagraphs (A) 

4 through (D) of paragraph (2); and 

5 (B) a total of not more than 15 percent of 

6 the subgrant funds shall be spent to— 

7 (i) carry out the activities described in 

8 subparagraphs (E) through (G) of para9 graph (2); 

10 (ii) pay for the costs associated with 

11 the fiscal or administrative agent; or 

12 (iii) sustain the regional partnership. 

13 (2) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A regional part14 nership receiving a subgrant under this section shall 

15 use subgrant funds to— 

16 (A) establish or enhance career pathways 

17 for high school students in high skill, high de18 mand industries; 

19 (B) establish or designate an intermediary 

20 with demonstrated experience in working with 

21 schools serving high school students, postsec22 ondary education, and the workforce delivery 

23 system, and within the partnership area that 

24 shall under financial agreement with the re25 gional partnership— 


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1 (i) coordinate career pathways activi2 ties; 

3 (ii) conduct community outreach and 

4 informational activities related to career 

5 pathways; 

6 (iii) consider the needs of individual 

7 school districts in the regional partnership 

8 area; and 

9 (iv) identify academic and career 

10 counseling options and resources (such as 

11 the one-stop career center career services, 

12 including resources and services funded 

13 under the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 

14 49 et seq.) to counsel students and the stu15 dents’ families in the development of ca16 reer pathways plans to ensure that stu17 dents’ course crediting and content re18 quirements for secondary school gradua19 tion and entrance into postsecondary edu20 cation are aligned and that shall have a 

21 ratio of students to counselors of not more 

22 than 1:150; and 

23 (v) develop work-based experiences for 

24 high school students and teachers; 


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1 (C) train and provide professional develop2 ment to individuals providing academic and ca3 reer counseling options in the area served by 

4 the regional partnership, or designate the inter5 mediary described in subparagraph (B) to pro6 vide such training and professional develop7 ment; 

8 (D) develop and implement a dropout re9 covery strategy for entry into career pathways 

10 for former high school students who have 

11 dropped out of school; 

12 (E) complete a community asset map or 

13 build upon an existing analysis of resources by 

14 workforce boards or other entities to identify 

15 those existing resources that can be leveraged 

16 in a region and the gaps that need to be ad17 dressed to strengthen connections between ef18 fective education and career success; 

19 (F) coordinate with existing support serv20 ices for students; and 

21 (G) track and report on the progress of the 

22 regional partnership in meeting performance 

23 goals negotiated with the State partnership. 

24 (f) OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES.—A regional partnership 

25 receiving a subgrant under this section may— 


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1 (1) provide funds for student fees and books 

2 and equipment fees associated with completing in3 dustry certification assessments or exams for Ad4 vanced Placement and International Baccalaureate 

5 courses for high school students who are at or below 

6 200 percent of the Federal poverty level line, in 

7 order to support a career pathway in a high skill, 

8 high demand industry for such students; 

9 (2) provide funds for costs associated with stu10 dent work-based experiences in high skill, high de11 mand industries, except that no such funds shall be 

12 used to pay wages; 

13 (3) create 1-to-1 mentorships between the most 

14 at-risk youth in a career pathway and responsible, 

15 supportive adults within the region as identified by 

16 the regional partnership; 

17 (4) assist students in identifying and com18 pleting financial aid applications for postsecondary 

19 education; and 

20 (5) provide funds to expand the scope of career 

21 services for career pathway students offered by one22 stop centers within the region. 

23 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—For each year of 

24 the grant period, each eligible regional partnership receiv25 ing a subgrant under this section shall submit a report 


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1 to the State partnership on the partnership’s performance 

2 on the activities described in subsection (e). Each report 

3 shall include— 

4 (1) a description of the use of funds, including 

5 any matched funds, to complete the required activi6 ties under subsection (e); and 

7 (2) a description of the performance of the 

8 partnership in meeting the performance measures, 

9 as described in section 302 consistent with section 

10 444 of the General Education Provisions Act. 

11 SEC. 104. STATE PARTNERSHIP TRANSITION GRANTS. 

12 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director is authorized 

14 to award transition grants, on a competitive basis, 

15 to eligible State partnerships described in subsection 

16 (b) to enable the State partnerships to continue suc17 cessful career pathways programs, while increasing 

18 State and regional investment and gradually de19 creasing Federal funds. 

20 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A transition grant award21 ed under this section shall be for a period of not 

22 more than 3 years. 

23 (3) NONRENEWABILITY.—The Director shall 

24 not award a State partnership more than 1 transi25 tion grant under this section. 


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1 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a transition 

2 grant under this section, a State partnership shall have 

3 received an implementation grant under section 102 and 

4 satisfactorily completed all requirements of such grant. 

5 (c) APPLICATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State partner7 ship desiring a transition grant under this section 

8 shall submit an application to the Director at such 

9 time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in10 formation as the Director may reasonably require. 

11 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

12 under this subsection shall provide— 

13 (A) a description of the activities for which 

14 assistance under this section is sought; 

15 (B) a description of how the State partner16 ship has made progress on the activities de17 scribed in section 102(e); 

18 (C) description of how the State partner19 ship will coordinate with required partners and 

20 complete the required partnership activities de21 scribed in subsection (d) over the duration of a 

22 grant awarded under this section; 

23 (D) a budget proposal of the cost of the 

24 activities supported by the transition grant, and 


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1 a timeline for the provision of the matching 

2 funds required under subsection (e); 

3 (E) proposed performance measures in ac4 cordance with section 302 to be used to assess 

5 and evaluate the progress of the activities of 

6 State partnerships under this section; and 

7 (F) such additional assurances as the Di8 rector determines to be essential to ensure com9 pliance with the requirements of this section. 

10 (d) ACTIVITIES.—A State partnership receiving a 

11 transition grant under this section— 

12 (1) shall use grant funds to continue the activi13 ties required under section 102(e); and 

14 (2) may use grant funds to expand career ex15 ploration and guidance activities to students in 

16 grades lower than grade 9, with priority given to 

17 serving such students who are at risk of failure to 

18 graduate, based on indicators for middle school stu19 dents predictive of whether or not a student is on 

20 track to graduate from secondary school with a reg21 ular diploma. 

22 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State partnership re24 ceiving a transition grant under this section shall 

25 provide, from funds available from other Federal, 


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1 State, local, or private sources to carry out the ac2 tivities supported by the transition grant— 

3 (A) for the first year of the grant, an 

4 amount that is not less than 25 percent of the 

5 amount of the grant for such year; 

6 (B) for the second year of the grant, an 

7 amount that is not less than 50 percent of the 

8 amount of the grant for such year; and 

9 (C) for the third year of the grant, an 

10 amount that is not less than 75 percent of the 

11 amount of the grant for such year. 

12 (2) USE AND TYPE OF MATCHING FUNDS.—The 

13 matching funds required under paragraph (1) may 

14 be provided in cash or in-kind and shall be used to 

15 carry out the activities supported by the transition 

16 grant under this section. 

17 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—For each year of 

18 the grant period, each eligible State partnership receiving 

19 a transition grant under this section shall submit a report 

20 to the Director on the State’s performance of the activities 

21 described in subsection (d). Each report shall include— 

22 (1) a description of the use of funds, including 

23 matched funds, to complete the required activities 

24 described in subsection (d); and 


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1 (2) a description of the performance of the 

2 State partnership in meeting the performance meas3 ures, as described in section 302. 

4 TITLE II—CAREER PATHWAYS 

5 PARTNERSHIP SUPPLE6 MENTAL GRANTS 

7 SEC. 201. STATE PARTNERSHIP SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS 

8 PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

9 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are— 

10 (1) to enhance the capacity of States and re11 gions to offer career pathways to high school stu12 dents; 

13 (2) to enhance one-stop career services for 

14 youth to more effectively provide career exploration 

15 and guidance services to high school students and 

16 postsecondary students; and 

17 (3) to increase the number of registered ap18 prenticeship programs in high skill, high demand in19 dustries. 

20 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Director is author21 ized to award, on a competitive basis, supplemental grants 

22 described in section 202 to States to enable the States 

23 to carry out the activities described in such section. 


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1 (c) DURATION OF GRANT.—Each eligible State re2 ceiving a grant under this title shall use the grant funds 

3 within a 5-year period, as designated by the Director. 

4 (d) NON-RENEWABILITY.—An eligible State may not 

5 receive more than 1 grant under each subsection of section 

6 202. 

7 SEC. 202. TYPES OF SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS. 

8 (a) CAREER PATHWAYS CURRICULUM DEVELOP9 MENT GRANTS.— 

10 (1) PURPOSES.—The purposes of a grant under 

11 this subsection are— 

12 (A) to increase the number of innovative, 

13 high quality, rigorous, engaging, and relevant 

14 career pathways curricula available for the pur15 pose of instructing high school students through 

16 the development of new, or enhancement of ex17 isting, model courses of study focused on high 

18 skill, high demand industries; 

19 (B) to support the development of career 

20 pathways curricula that develop and reinforce 

21 reading and mathematics skills for high school 

22 students, including through the real world ap23 plication of academics; and 

24 (C) to establish teacher training processes 

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1 ment in the application of each career pathways 

2 course sequence assisted under this subsection. 

3 (2) APPLICATIONS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a 

5 State, in partnership with the State partnership 

6 serving the State, may submit an application 

7 for a curriculum grant under this subsection to 

8 the Director at such time, in such manner, and 

9 containing such information as the Director 

10 may require. 

11 (B) PEER REVIEW.—Applications for a 

12 curriculum grant under this subsection shall be 

13 peer reviewed by a panel of experts in cur14 riculum development, career pathways or career 

15 and technical education, and workforce develop16 ment and industry. 

17 (C) CONTENTS.—Each application sub18 mitted under this paragraph shall— 

19 (i) be submitted during the period 

20 that the State partnership serving the 

21 State is receiving an implementation grant 

22 under section 102; 

23 (ii) demonstrate a need for the cur24 riculum grant; 


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1 (iii) describe the activities for which 

2 assistance under this subsection is sought, 

3 including— 

4 (I) how the applicant will carry 

5 out the activities described in para6 graph (4); 

7 (II) how the applicant will in8 clude the industry standards of the 

9 relevant industries in the development 

10 of the curriculum; 

11 (III) how the applicant will col12 laborate with and incorporate input 

13 from representatives from the State 

14 partnership members in the develop15 ment of the curriculum; and 

16 (IV) the research or evidence 

17 that supports the key curriculum 

18 theories and activities of the proposed 

19 career pathways curriculum; 

20 (iv) include a budget of the cost of the 

21 project and a time-line for the provision of 

22 the matching funds required under para23 graph (6); 

24 (v) include a description of the per25 formance benchmarks to be used to measVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:00 Sep 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3573.IS S3573

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1 ure the development, implementation, dis2 tribution, and professional development 

3 concerning career pathways curriculum; 

4 (vi) provide an assurance that cur5 ricula and other products or materials de6 veloped under this Act will be made avail7 able to the Center for distribution; and 

8 (vii) provide such additional assur9 ances as the Director determines to be es10 sential to ensure compliance with the re11 quirements of this title. 

12 (3) FISCAL AND ADMINISTRATION AGENT.—The 

13 Governor of a State receiving a curriculum grant 

14 under this subsection shall appoint the State edu15 cational agency to serve as the fiscal agent and ad16 minister the grant funds. 

17 (4) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State receiving 

18 a curriculum grant under this subsection shall use 

19 the grant funds— 

20 (A) to develop a curriculum with industry 

21 engagement that— 

22 (i) provides a logical sequence of inte23 grated academic and career-related 

24 coursework focused on a specific high skill, 


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1 high demand industry and meets regional 

2 or national workforce needs; 

3 (ii) incorporates rigorous academic 

4 content from core academic subjects, as 

5 defined in section 9101 of the Elementary 

6 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 7801), in a majority of the courses 

8 within each curricular sequence of study, 

9 so that a majority of courses are eligible 

10 for academic credit, and links the material 

11 in each course to State academic content 

12 standards; 

13 (iii) provides academic rigor to career 

14 pathways courses; 

15 (iv) emphasizes the development of 

16 communication skills, such as reading, 

17 writing, speaking, mathematic, and science 

18 skills across all courses and provides for 

19 the development of work readiness skills 

20 and 21st century work skills, including 

21 problem solving skills, communication 

22 skills, analytic skills, time management, 

23 teamwork, and technological prowess; 

24 (v) provides knowledge of all aspects 

25 of an industry; 


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1 (vi) uses best practices within cur2 riculum development theory, including rig3 orous standards, higher order thinking 

4 skills, real world applications, project-based 

5 learning, contextual learning, and other 

6 practices; 

7 (vii) incorporates opportunities for 

8 work-based experience within each career 

9 pathways course sequence; and 

10 (viii) prepares high school students 

11 for postsecondary education and skills de12 velopment programs; 

13 (B) to create curriculum materials and in14 structional resources that will support the 

15 teaching and learning of the career pathways 

16 curriculum developed under this subsection; and 

17 (C) to develop a statewide teacher profes18 sional development implementation plan that 

19 will describe the model of professional develop20 ment used for teacher training, including 

21 courses that will increase the capacity of teach22 ers to effectively implement the career pathways 

23 curriculum developed under this subsection, and 

24 a description of the costs of such a program. 


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1 (5) OPTIONAL USE OF FUNDS.—In addition to 

2 the required activities under subsection (g), a State 

3 receiving a grant under this subsection may use the 

4 grant funds— 

5 (A) to create career and technical edu6 cation course sequences that lead to an industry 

7 certificate; 

8 (B) to develop and include transitional 

9 mathematics and reading courses for students 

10 who struggle to meet the academic require11 ments necessary to enter and successfully com12 plete postsecondary education or workforce de13 velopment; or 

14 (C) to provide options for high school stu15 dents to concurrently earn college credit 

16 through establishing college course articulation 

17 agreements. 

18 (6) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Each State 

19 partnership receiving a curriculum grant under this 

20 subsection shall provide an amount, in cash or in21 kind, that is not less than 25 percent of the amount 

22 of the grant, to carry out the activities supported by 

23 the grant. The matching requirement under this 

24 subsection may be provided from funds available 


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1 from other Federal, State, local, or private sources 

2 to carry out such activities. 

3 (7) EVALUATION AND REPORTING REQUIRE4 MENT.—Each State partnership in a State receiving 

5 a curriculum grant under this subsection shall annu6 ally report to the Director regarding— 

7 (A) the progress made on the activities de8 scribed in paragraph (4), including the progress 

9 made in the development and distribution of the 

10 career pathways curriculum assisted through 

11 the grant; 

12 (B) the data and information gathered to 

13 benchmark appropriate outcomes of the cur14 riculum development, implementation, distribu15 tion, and professional development, which may 

16 include student outcomes; 

17 (C) the use of grant funds, including 

18 matched funds, by the State; and 

19 (D) the State’s progress on the perform20 ance benchmarks described in paragraph (2)(C) 

21 that are established with the agreement of the 

22 Director. 

23 (8) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

24 section shall be construed to authorize an officer or 

25 employee of the Federal Government to mandate, diVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:00 Sep 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3573.IS S3573

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1 rect, or control a State’s, local educational agency’s, 

2 or school’s specific instructional content, academic 

3 achievement standards or assessments, curriculum, 

4 or program of instruction. 

5 (b) CAREER PATHWAYS CAPACITY EXPANSION AND

6 MODERNIZATION GRANTS.— 

7 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

8 is to enable States to better prepare students for 

9 postsecondary education and careers in State and re10 gional high skill, high demand industries by pro11 viding eligible States with grants in order to expand, 

12 enhance, and modernize school facilities and equip13 ment to reflect the requirements of State and re14 gional high skill, high demand industries. 

15 (2) DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING REGION.—In 

16 this subsection, the term ‘‘qualifying region’’ means 

17 a region of a State that has a regional partnership 

18 that has— 

19 (A) previously received a partnership im20 plementation subgrant under section 103; and 

21 (B) a low graduation rate, compared to the 

22 State average, or a high percentage of at-risk 

23 youth, compared to the State average. 

24 (3) APPLICATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—A Governor of a State, 

2 in partnership with the State partnership serv3 ing the State, desiring an expansion and mod4 ernization grant under this section shall submit 

5 an application to the Director at such time, in 

6 such manner, and accompanied by such infor7 mation as the Director may reasonably require. 

8 (B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub9 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall— 

10 (i) be submitted during the period 

11 that the State partnership serving the 

12 State is receiving an implementation grant 

13 under section 102; 

14 (ii) demonstrate a need for the expan15 sion, enhancement, or modernization of ex16 isting facilities or equipment as of the date 

17 of the application, in qualifying regions; 

18 (iii) describe the activities for which 

19 assistance under this subsection is sought; 

20 (iv) describe creative arrangements to 

21 maximize the use of the facilities and 

22 equipment that are expanded, enhanced, or 

23 modernized with grant funds under this 

24 subsection, by sharing the facilities and 


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•S 3573 IS

1 equipment with other schools or postsec2 ondary programs; 

3 (v) include a budget of the cost of the 

4 project and a timeline for the provision of 

5 the matching funds required under para6 graph (6); 

7 (vi) describe the performance bench8 marks to be used to measure the State’s 

9 progress in implementing a grant under 

10 this subsection; and 

11 (vii) provide such additional assur12 ances as the Director determines to be es13 sential to ensure compliance with the re14 quirements of this title. 

15 (4) FISCAL AND ADMINISTRATION AGENT.—The 

16 Governor of a State receiving an expansion and 

17 modernization grant under this subsection shall ap18 point the State facilities authority or State agency 

19 responsible for school construction and renovation to 

20 serve as the fiscal agent and administer the grant 

21 funds. 

22 (5) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State receiving 

23 an expansion and modernization grant under this 

24 subsection shall use the grant funds to— 


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1 (A) make necessary expansions or enhance2 ments to existing facilities in qualifying regions; 

3 and 

4 (B) modernize equipment essential to in5 struction within the career pathways cur6 riculum. 

7 (6) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS MATCHING REQUIRE8 MENT.—Each State partnership receiving an expan9 sion and modernization grant under this subsection 

10 shall provide, from non-Federal sources, an amount 

11 that is not less than 50 percent of the amount of the 

12 grant, to carry out the activities supported by the 

13 grant. The matching requirement under this para14 graph may be provided in cash or in-kind. 

15 (7) EVALUATION AND REPORTING REQUIRE16 MENTS.—Each State partnership in a State receiv17 ing an expansion and modernization grant under 

18 this subsection shall annually submit a report to the 

19 Director regarding— 

20 (A) the State’s progress made on the ac21 tivities described in paragraph (5); 

22 (B) the use of grant funds by the State; 

23 and 

24 (C) the State’s progress on the perform25 ance benchmarks described in paragraph (3)(B) 


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1 that are established with the agreement of the 

2 Director. 

3 (c) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP GRANTS IN HIGH

4 SKILL, HIGH DEMAND INDUSTRIES.— 

5 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

6 is to enable States to expand or create registered ap7 prenticeship programs in high skill, high demand in8 dustries. 

9 (2) APPLICATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Governor, in part11 nership with the State partnership serving the 

12 State, may submit an application for an ap13 prenticeship grant under this subsection to the 

14 Director at such time, in such manner, and 

15 containing such information as the Director 

16 may require. 

17 (B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub18 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall— 

19 (i) be submitted during the period 

20 that the State partnership serving the 

21 State is receiving an implementation grant 

22 under section 102; 

23 (ii) demonstrate a need for creation or 

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1 grams in high skill, high demand indus2 tries; 

3 (iii) describe the activities for which 

4 assistance under this subsection is sought; 

5 (iv) describe the performance bench6 marks to be used to measure the develop7 ment, implementation, and distribution 

8 concerning registered apprenticeship pro9 grams; 

10 (v) include a budget of the cost of the 

11 project and a time line for the provision of 

12 the matching funds required under para13 graph (5); and 

14 (vi) provide such additional assur15 ances as the Director determines to be es16 sential to ensure compliance with the re17 quirements of this title. 

18 (3) FISCAL AND ADMINISTRATION AGENT.—In 

19 the case of a State receiving an apprenticeship grant 

20 under this subsection— 

21 (A) that has a State apprenticeship council 

22 recognized by the Department of Labor, the 

23 State apprenticeship council administrative 

24 agency shall serve as the fiscal agent and ad25 minister the grant funds; or 


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1 (B) where the Office of Apprenticeship of 

2 the Department of Labor administers the reg3 istered apprenticeship program, the Governor of 

4 the State shall appoint the appropriate State 

5 agency to serve as the fiscal agent and admin6 ister the grant funds. 

7 (4) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible State 

8 receiving an apprenticeship grant under this sub9 section shall use the grant funds for activities nec10 essary to create or expand registered apprenticeship 

11 programs in high skill, high demand industries, in12 cluding— 

13 (A) developing and administering a new or 

14 enhancing an existing registered apprenticeship 

15 program in a high skill, high demand industry 

16 as identified by the State; 

17 (B) registering the apprenticeship program 

18 with the Department of Labor; 

19 (C) providing or arranging for equipment 

20 necessary for training in the registered appren21 ticeship program; 

22 (D) developing skills-based theoretical and 

23 technical classroom and on-the-job curricula; 


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1 (E) identifying and training, as appro2 priate, instructors for the registered apprentice3 ship program; and 

4 (F) conducting outreach and marketing 

5 about the registered apprenticeship program to 

6 interested stakeholders, including secondary 

7 schools serving high school students. 

8 (5) PROHIBITED USE.—A State partnership re9 ceiving an apprenticeship grant under this sub10 section shall not use any Federal funds provided 

11 under the grant to pay wages or provide benefits to 

12 workers. 

13 (6) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS MATCHING REQUIRE14 MENT.—Each State partnership receiving an ap15 prenticeship grant under this subsection shall pro16 vide, from non-Federal sources, an amount that is 

17 not less than 25 percent of the amount of the grant, 

18 to carry out the activities supported by the grant. 

19 The matching requirement under this paragraph 

20 may be provided in cash or in-kind. 

21 (7) EVALUATION AND REPORTING REQUIRE22 MENT.—Each State partnership in a State receiving 

23 an apprenticeship grant under this subsection shall 

24 annually submit a report to the Director regard25 ing— 


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1 (A) the progress made on the activities de2 scribed in paragraph (4); 

3 (B) the use of grant funds, including 

4 matched funds, by the State; and 

5 (C) the State’s progress on the perform6 ance benchmarks described in paragraph (2)(B) 

7 that are established with the agreement of the 

8 Director. 

9 (d) YOUTH ONE-STOP CAREER SERVICES ENHANCE10 MENT GRANT.— 

11 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

12 is to enable States to make career services available 

13 through one-stop centers— 

14 (A) more welcoming and user-friendly for 

15 secondary school students; and 

16 (B) more accessible to such students while 

17 in school. 

18 (2) APPLICATION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a 

20 State, in partnership with the State partnership 

21 serving the State, may submit an application 

22 for a career services enhancement grant under 

23 this subsection to the Director at such time, in 

24 such manner, and containing such information 

25 as the Director may require. 


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1 (B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub2 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall— 

3 (i) be submitted during the period 

4 that the State partnership serving the 

5 State is receiving an implementation grant 

6 under section 102; 

7 (ii) demonstrate a need for the en8 hancement or expansion of one-stop career 

9 guidance and exploration services for high 

10 school students; 

11 (iii) describe the activities for which 

12 assistance under this subsection is sought; 

13 (iv) describe the performance bench14 marks to be used to measure the State’s 

15 progress in implementing a grant under 

16 this subsection; 

17 (v) include a budget of the cost of the 

18 project and a time-line for the provision of 

19 the matching funds required under para20 graph (5); and 

21 (vi) provide such additional assur22 ances as the Director determines to be es23 sential to ensure compliance with the re24 quirements of this subsection. 


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1 (3) FISCAL AND ADMINISTRATION AGENT.—The 

2 Governor of a State receiving a career services en3 hancement grant under this subsection shall appoint 

4 the State Workforce Investment Board or the State 

5 workforce administrative entity as the fiscal agent 

6 and the entity responsible for administering the 

7 grant. The State Workforce Investment Board shall 

8 give preference for resources available under this 

9 grant to one-stop centers in regions with regional 

10 partnerships receiving a subgrant under section 103. 

11 (4) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State receiving 

12 a career services enhancement grant under this sub13 section shall use the grant funds to expand or en14 hance career guidance and exploration services for 

15 students provided through one-stop centers, includ16 ing resources funded under the Wagner-Peyser Act 

17 (29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.), by— 

18 (A) enhancing services for students partici19 pating in career pathways, such as enhancing— 

20 (i) job search and placement assist21 ance and, as appropriate, career coun22 seling; 

23 (ii) the provision of employment sta24 tistics information, including the provision 

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1 gional, and national labor market areas, 

2 which may include— 

3 (I) job vacancy listings in the 

4 labor market area; 

5 (II) information on the job skills 

6 necessary to obtain those jobs; and 

7 (III) information related to local 

8 occupations in demand and the earn9 ings and skill requirements of such oc10 cupations; 

11 (iii) the provision of performance in12 formation and program cost information 

13 on eligible providers of training described 

14 in section 122 of the Workforce Invest15 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2842); 

16 (iv) comprehensive and specialized as17 sessments of skill levels and development 

18 of plans to identify and attain career goals; 

19 (v) individual counseling and career 

20 planning; and 

21 (vi) short-term prevocational services, 

22 such as the development of learning skills, 

23 presentation skills, resume writing skills, 

24 interviewing skills, punctuality, and profes25 sional conduct, among others, to prepare 


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1 individuals for unsubsidized employment; 

2 or 

3 (B) providing one-stop center career serv4 ices in proximity to high school students, sub5 ject to the requirements of section 134(c) of the 

6 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

7 2864(c)). 

8 (5) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Each State 

9 partnership receiving a career services enhancement 

10 grant under this subsection shall provide an amount, 

11 in cash or in-kind, that is not less than 50 percent 

12 of the amount of the grant, to carry out the activi13 ties supported by the grant. The matching require14 ment under this subsection may be provided from 

15 funds available from other Federal, State, local, or 

16 private sources to carry out such activities. 

17 (6) EVALUATION AND REPORTING REQUIRE18 MENT.—Each eligible State partnership in a State 

19 receiving a career services enhancement grant under 

20 this subsection shall submit a report to the Director 

21 regarding— 

22 (A) the progress made on the activities de23 scribed in paragraph (4); 

24 (B) the use of grant funds, including 

25 matched funds, by the State partnership; and 


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1 (C) the State’s progress on the perform2 ance benchmarks described in paragraph (2)(B) 

3 that are established with the agreement of the 

4 Director. 

5 TITLE III—GENERAL 

6 PROVISIONS 

7 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIC 

8 AND CAREER INNOVATION CENTER. 

9 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es10 tablish a National Academic and Career Innovation Center 

11 that— 

12 (1) encourages innovations to address the con13 stant changes in the highly competitive global econ14 omy; 

15 (2) serves as a national resource for State part16 nerships and regional partnerships in the United 

17 States by— 

18 (A) disseminating information on research 

19 and best practices regarding the development of 

20 career pathways; 

21 (B) disseminating demonstrated curricula 

22 developed by States; and 

23 (C) supporting the efforts of State partner24 ships and regional partnerships to offer career 

25 pathways of proven effectiveness; 


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1 (3) designs and conducts performance evalua2 tions of career pathways activities, to determine 

3 whether the short- and long-term goals of the activi4 ties are being met; and 

5 (4) administers, oversees, and evaluates all ca6 reer pathways grants. 

7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Na9 tional Academic and Career Innovation Center, 

10 which shall be administered under the terms of an 

11 interagency agreement entered into by the Secretary 

12 of Education, the Secretary of Labor, and the Sec13 retary of Commerce (in this section referred to as 

14 the ‘‘Interagency Group’’). 

15 (2) OFFICES.—The Center shall have offices 

16 separate from the offices of the Department of Edu17 cation, the Department of Labor, and the Depart18 ment of Commerce. 

19 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Interagency 

20 Group shall consider the recommendations of the 

21 Board, established under subsection (d), in planning 

22 the goals of the Center and in implementing any 

23 programs to achieve such goals. 

24 (c) DUTIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to serve as a na2 tional resource for States and regions creating and 

3 implementing career pathways in the United States, 

4 the Center is authorized— 

5 (A) to administer and oversee grants and 

6 contracts under this Act; 

7 (B) to conduct evaluations and research in 

8 accordance with section 303 to determine the 

9 effectiveness of the career pathways initiative 

10 under this Act; 

11 (C) to make findings as to whether the 

12 goals of the career pathways initiatives under 

13 this Act have been met by the grant programs 

14 created under this Act; 

15 (D) to work with State partnerships and 

16 regional partnerships to develop performance 

17 measures, in accordance with section 302, to 

18 determine whether the short- and long-term 

19 goals of the activities being funded by the ca20 reer pathways grants described in this Act are 

21 being met; 

22 (E) to advise Congress and the Depart23 ments of Labor, Education, and Commerce on 

24 the development and continuous improvement 

25 of career pathways; 


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1 (F) to communicate and coordinate with 

2 the Departments of Labor, Education, and 

3 Commerce on related activities administered by 

4 one or more of the Departments; and 

5 (G) to disseminate information, through 

6 online and other resources that are easily acces7 sible, that shall— 

8 (i) consist of— 

9 (I) model career pathways cur10 ricula developed under section 202(a); 

11 and 

12 (II) proven best practices and ca13 reer resources, including multi-media 

14 information and products identified by 

15 the Center, other entities, and reposi16 tories of information; and 

17 (ii) facilitate the ability of secondary 

18 schools serving high school students or 

19 other educational entities to access and im20 plement model career pathways curricula if 

21 the schools or entities so choose. 

22 (2) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—The Center 

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1 vate institutions, agencies, or organizations, to carry 

2 out the activities of the Center. 

3 (3) DISCLOSURES.—The Center shall publicly 

4 disclose, through an easily accessible website, the 

5 Center’s justification for the Center’s decision to ap6 prove or reject each application for a grant under 

7 this Act and, in the case of an application that is 

8 approved, the amount of the grant awarded. 

9 (4) PROHIBITION ON REQUIRED USE OF A CUR10 RICULUM.—The Director shall not— 

11 (A) use online resources supported under 

12 this section to develop a national curriculum; or 

13 (B) require States to use any model career 

14 pathways curriculum included in the online re15 sources. 

16 (d) NATIONAL ACADEMIC AND CAREER INNOVATION

17 CENTER BOARD.— 

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be a Na20 tional Academic and Career Innovation Center 

21 Board, which shall consist of 15 individuals ap22 pointed by the President with the advice and 

23 consent of the Senate. 

24 (B) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be 

25 comprised of individuals who are not otherwise 


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1 officers or employees of the Federal Govern2 ment and who are representative of— 

3 (i) public secondary education; 

4 (ii) public postsecondary education, 

5 including 2-year and 4-year institutions of 

6 higher education; 

7 (iii) businesses and trade organiza8 tions that demonstrate an interest in ca9 reer pathways; 

10 (iv) high school students or postsec11 ondary students, including at-risk youth; 

12 (v) workforce development; 

13 (vi) economic development; 

14 (vii) State and local governments; 

15 (viii) parents or legal guardians of 

16 students; and 

17 (ix) labor organizations. 

18 (2) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

19 (A) make recommendations concerning the 

20 appointment of the Director and staff of the 

21 Center; 

22 (B) advise the Center and the Interagency 

23 Group on a vision of career pathways that— 

24 (i) create opportunities for high school 

25 students to make successful transitions to 


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1 postsecondary education and employment 

2 and improve the long-term economic pros3 perity for themselves and their families; 

4 and 

5 (ii) play an integral part in the larger 

6 workforce and economic development sys7 tems; 

8 (C) provide independent advice on the op9 eration of the Center; and 

10 (D) receive reports from the Interagency 

11 Group and the Director. 

12 (3) APPOINTMENTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

14 Board shall be appointed for a term of 5 years, 

15 except that the initial terms for members may 

16 be 1, 2, or 3 years in order to establish a rotation in which 1 17 ⁄3 of the members are selected in 

18 each of the first 3 years of a 5-year cycle. 

19 (B) TERM LIMIT.—Any such member may 

20 be appointed for not more than 1 full term. 

21 (C) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the 

22 Board shall not affect the powers of the Board, 

23 but shall be filled in the same manner as the 

24 original appointment. 


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1 (D) ELECTION OF OFFICERS.—The Board 

2 shall elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 

3 of the Board from among the members of the 

4 Board. 

5 (E) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at 

6 the call of the Chairperson or a majority of the 

7 members of the Board. 

8 (e) DIRECTOR.—The Board, after considering rec9 ommendations made by the Interagency Group, shall ap10 point and fix the pay of a Director. 

11 (f) GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND DEVISES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center may accept, ad13 minister, and use for the purposes of the Center 

14 gifts or donations of services, money, or property, 

15 whether real or personal, tangible or intangible. 

16 (2) RULES.—The Board shall establish written 

17 rules setting forth the criteria to be used by the 

18 Center in determining whether the acceptance of 

19 contributions of services, money, or property whether 

20 real or personal, tangible or intangible, would reflect 

21 unfavorably upon the ability of the Center or any 

22 employee to carry out the responsibilities of the Cen23 ter or employee, or official duties, in a fair and ob24 jective manner, or would compromise the integrity or 


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1 the appearance of the integrity of the Center’s pro2 grams or any official involved in those programs. 

3 (g) FUNDING.—Any amounts appropriated to the 

4 Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Labor, the Sec5 retary of Commerce, or the head of any other department 

6 that participates in the Center, for the purposes that the 

7 Center is authorized to perform under this Act, may be 

8 provided to the Center for such purposes. 

9 SEC. 302. ACCOUNTABILITY AND PERFORMANCE MEASURE10 MENT. 

11 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es12 tablish an accountability system, comprised of the activi13 ties described in this section, in order to— 

14 (1) assess the effectiveness of State and re15 gional activities assisted under this Act to help high 

16 school students successfully transition from sec17 ondary school to postsecondary education and em18 ployment primarily in high skill, high demand indus19 tries by acquiring the skills and knowledge that lead 

20 to long-term career success; 

21 (2) improve the State and regional career path22 ways activities assisted under this Act; 

23 (3) assess the effectiveness of State and re24 gional career pathways activities in creating a highly 


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1 skilled and agile workforce that meets 21st century 

2 skill demands; 

3 (4) maximize the return on investment of Fed4 eral funds in State and regional career pathways ac5 tivities assisted under this Act; and 

6 (5) assess the effectiveness of State and re7 gional career pathways in connecting efforts in edu8 cation, economic, and workforce development. 

9 (b) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each State partnership 

11 and regional partnership, performance measures 

12 shall consist of the indicators of performance de13 scribed in paragraph (2) and the level of perform14 ance described in paragraph (3). 

15 (2) INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE.—The indi16 cators of performance shall consist of the following: 

17 (A) INTERIM INDICATORS.— 

18 (i) Student participation in a career 

19 pathway. 

20 (ii) Student attainment of a secondary 

21 school diploma, disaggregated by the sub22 groups described in section 

23 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary 

24 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)). 


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1 (iii) Student participation in a career 

2 pathway and attainment of a secondary 

3 school diploma, disaggregated by the sub4 groups described in such section 

5 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II). 

6 (B) TRANSITIONAL INDICATORS.— 

7 (i) Student acquisition of a secondary 

8 school diploma and entrance into postsec9 ondary education or employment. 

10 (ii) Student acquisition of a secondary 

11 school diploma and entrance into postsec12 ondary education or employment related to 

13 a high skill, high demand industry. 

14 (iii) Attainment of 1 or more recog15 nized credentials, which may include a cer16 tificate, license, journey-status card, or as17 sociate degree or baccalaureate degree. 

18 (iv) Attainment of 1 or more recog19 nized credentials, which may include a cer20 tificate, license, journey-status card, or as21 sociate degree or baccalaureate degree re22 lated to a high skill, high demand industry. 

23 (C) LONG-TERM INDICATORS.— 

24 (i) Employment of individuals who 

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1 tained a secondary school diploma or a cre2 dential. 

3 (ii) Employment of individuals who 

4 participated in a career pathway and at5 tained a secondary school diploma or a cre6 dential related to a high skill, high demand 

7 industry. 

8 (iii) The initial wage or salary level of 

9 individuals who participated in a career 

10 pathway and attained a secondary school 

11 diploma. 

12 (iv) The initial wage or salary level of 

13 individuals who participated in a career 

14 pathway and attained a secondary school 

15 diploma and a credential. 

16 (D) ADDITIONAL INDICATORS.—A State 

17 partnership may identify in the State imple18 mentation application additional indicators that 

19 regional partnerships receiving a subgrant from 

20 the State partnership shall use to evaluate ca21 reer pathways activities supported by the 

22 subgrant. 

23 (3) LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE.—For each indi24 cator of performance, there shall be a level of per25 formance expressed in objective, quantifiable, and 


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1 measurable form and in a way to show the progress 

2 of the State toward continuously improving perform3 ance. 

4 (4) STATE PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State partnership 

6 that receives an implementation grant under 

7 section 102 or a transition grant under section 

8 104 shall reach agreement with the Director on 

9 the performance measures for the years covered 

10 by the implementation grant or the transition 

11 grant as a condition of receiving the grant. The 

12 performance measures shall take into account 

13 the State’s economic conditions, student charac14 teristics, graduation rates, and the activities or 

15 services provided supported by the grants. 

16 (B) ADJUSTMENTS.—If unanticipated cir17 cumstances arise in a State resulting in a sig18 nificant change in the State’s economic condi19 tions, student characteristics, secondary school 

20 graduation rates, or activities or services pro21 vided, the State partnership Governor may re22 quest that the Director adjust the level of per23 formance for the State. 

24 (5) REGIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each regional partner2 ship that receives a career pathways subgrant 

3 under section 103 shall reach agreement with 

4 the State partnership on the regional levels of 

5 performance for each core indicator and any ad6 ditional indicators that the State partnership 

7 may establish in accordance with this sub8 section for the years covered by the grant as a 

9 condition of receiving the subgrant. The per10 formance measures shall take into account the 

11 economic conditions, student characteristics, 

12 graduation rates, and activities or services pro13 vided within the region. 

14 (B) ADJUSTMENTS.—If unanticipated cir15 cumstances arise in a region, resulting in a sig16 nificant change in the economic conditions, stu17 dent characteristics, graduation rates, or activi18 ties or services provided, the regional partner19 ship may request that the State partnership ad20 just the level of performance. 

21 (6) CALCULATION RULES.— 

22 (A) WAGE RECORDS.—In measuring 

23 progress in labor market-related core indicators, 

24 a State partnership or regional partnership 

25 shall use wage records, consistent with State 


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1 law and by making arrangements through the 

2 Secretary of Labor, to ensure that the wage 

3 records of any State or region are available to 

4 any other State or region to the extent required 

5 by the other State or region to complete the an6 nual report required under this section. 

7 (B) REENTERING STUDENTS.—If a stu8 dent exits the education system at any point 

9 during secondary school or postsecondary edu10 cation, a State partnership or regional partner11 ship shall include the student in the required 

12 performance data if the student reenrolls in 

13 public education before the student attains the 

14 age of 24. 

15 (c) REPORTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State partnership that 

17 receives a grant under this Act shall annually, for 

18 each year of the grant, provide a report to the Cen19 ter that includes the progress of the State in accom20 plishing the performance measures or benchmarks 

21 for the State, which annual report shall include— 

22 (A) information on the progress each re23 gion receiving a career pathways subgrant made 

24 in accomplishing its performance measures; 


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1 (B) the costs of the career pathways activi2 ties supported under the implementation grant 

3 under section 102 and any supplemental grants 

4 received by the State under title II, including— 

5 (i) the type of cost, such as cash, per6 sonnel, equipment, supplies, or materials, 

7 or other cost; and 

8 (ii) the sources used to pay such 

9 costs, such as funding from other Federal, 

10 State, or local public programs or private 

11 sector or philanthropic contributions, and 

12 the dollar value of the resources leveraged 

13 to cover such costs and support the activi14 ties; and 

15 (C) any fiscal and management account16 ability information required by the Center, 

17 using sound financial and management prac18 tices. 

19 (2) VALID AND RELIABLE INFORMATION.—In 

20 preparing the State reports under this subsection, 

21 each State partnership shall establish procedures, 

22 consistent with guidelines issued by the Center, to 

23 ensure that the information contained in the reports 

24 is valid and reliable. 


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1 (d) FERPA.—In carrying out the requirements of 

2 this section, each State, State partnership, and regional 

3 partnership shall comply with section 444 of the General 

4 Education Provisions Act (the Family Educational Rights 

5 and Privacy Act of 1974) (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 

6 (e) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Director 

7 shall make the information in the State partnership re8 ports required under this section available, through publi9 cation and other appropriate methods, to— 

10 (1) the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of 

11 Education, and the Secretary of Labor; 

12 (2) the Committee on Health, Education, 

13 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com14 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 

15 Representatives; and 

16 (3) the public. 

17 SEC. 303. EVALUATION AND RESEARCH. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director is authorized to con19 duct evaluation and research, either directly or through 

20 grants or contracts, to determine the effectiveness of the 

21 career pathway initiatives under this Act in meeting the 

22 purposes of this Act. Research topics may include— 

23 (1) effective activities and interventions to en24 gage high school students and help the students 


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1 transition to postsecondary education and careers, 

2 including improving outcomes for at-risk youth; 

3 (2) effective improvements to data systems to 

4 better enable States and regions to measure student 

5 academic and career longitudinal outcomes; and 

6 (3) the taxpayer return on investment in the ca7 reer pathways initiative under this Act and the par8 ticipant return on investment in the career pathways 

9 initiatives under this Act. 

10 (b) AWARD BASIS.—Each grant or contract awarded 

11 under subsection (a) that is in an amount that exceeds 

12 $200,000 shall be awarded only on a competitive basis, 

13 except that a noncompetitive award of more than 

14 $200,000 may be made in the case of a project that is 

15 funded jointly with other public or private entities that 

16 provide a substantial portion of assistance under the grant 

17 or contract for the project. 

18 (c) PEER REVIEW.—The Center shall utilize a peer 

19 review process— 

20 (1) to review all applications for research and 

21 evaluation grants and contracts in excess of 

22 $500,000; and 

23 (2) to review and designate the exemplary and 

24 promising career pathways curricula, practices, and 

25 model approaches. 


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1 (d) METHODOLOGY.—Evaluations conducted under 

2 this section shall utilize appropriate methodology and re3 search designs. 

4 (e) DISTRIBUTION.—Not later than 60 days after the 

5 completion of a final research or evaluation report under 

6 this subsection, the Director shall— 

7 (1) make the final report available to the public 

8 and to the States; and 

9 (2) submit the final report, accompanied by the 

10 recommendations of the Center, as appropriate to 

11 the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Edu12 cation, and the Secretary of Labor, and the appro13 priate committees of Congress. 

14 (f) AFFECT ON OTHER PROGRAMS.—The Secretary 

15 of Commerce, the Secretary of Education, and the Sec16 retary of Labor shall take the findings of the evaluation 

17 and research described in this section and the reports 

18 under section 302(f) into account. 

19 SEC. 304. BENEFITS AND LABOR STANDARDS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of subsection 

21 (a)(1), paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (b), and 

22 subsection (c), of section 181 of the Workforce Investment 

23 Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2931) that apply to individuals 

24 participating in activities under title I of that Act (29 


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1 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), shall apply in the same manner to 

2 individuals participating in programs under this Act. 

3 (b) REFERENCES.—For purposes of the application 

4 described in subsection (a), a reference to— 

5 (1) funds or a recipient of funds under that 

6 title shall be considered to be a reference to funds 

7 or a recipient of funds under this Act; 

8 (2) a requirement or violation of that title shall 

9 be considered to be a reference to a requirement or 

10 violation of this Act; and 

11 (3) the Secretary of Labor shall be considered 

12 to be a reference to the Center. 

13 SEC. 305. SUNSHINE PROVISION. 

14 Each State partnership and regional partnership re15 ceiving a grant or subgrant under this Act shall make 

16 available to the public— 

17 (1) on a regular basis through open meetings— 

18 (A) information about the activities of the 

19 State partnership or regional partnership, re20 spectively, including information on the State 

21 plan under section 101 and how to provide com22 ments prior to the State partnership’s submis23 sion of the plan; and 


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1 (B) information about the membership of 

2 the State partnership or regional partnership, 

3 respectively; and 

4 (2) upon request, the minutes of the formal 

5 meetings of the State partnership or regional part6 nership, respectively. 

7 SEC. 306. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND DIS8 TRIBUTION. 

9 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to the Center to carry out 

11 the activities described in this Act $930,000,000 for fiscal 

12 year 2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each 

13 of the fiscal years 2011 through 2018. 

14 (b) DISTRIBUTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount appropriated 

16 under subsection (a) for fiscal year 2010, the Center 

17 shall use— 

18 (A) $12,000,000 to carry out section 101; 

19 (B) a total of $600,000,000 to carry out 

20 sections 102, 103, and 104; 

21 (C) $300,000,000 to carry out section 201; 

22 and 

23 (D) $18,000,000 to carry out title III. 

24 (2) RATABLE REDUCTION.—In the event that 

25 the amounts appropriated under this section for fisVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:00 Sep 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3573.IS S3573

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1 cal year 2010 is less than the amounts required to 

2 carry out paragraph (1), the Center shall ratably re3 duce each such amount for such fiscal year. 

Æ 


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