H. R. 2884
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four
An Act
To establish a national framework for the development of School-to-Work Opportuni-
ties systems in all States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘School-to-
Work Opportunities Act of 1994’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Purposes and congressional intent.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
Sec. 5. Federal administration.
TITLE I—SCHOOL-TO-WORK OPPORTUNITIES BASIC PROGRAM
COMPONENTS
Sec. 101. General program requirements.
Sec. 102. School-based learning component.
Sec. 103. Work-based learning component.
Sec. 104. Connecting activities component.
TITLE II—SCHOOL-TO-WORK OPPORTUNITIES SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
AND IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS TO STATES
Subtitle A—State Development Grants
Sec. 201. Purpose.
Sec. 202. Authorization.
Sec. 203. Application.
Sec. 204. Approval of application.
Sec. 205. Use of amounts.
Sec. 206. Maintenance of effort.
Sec. 207. Reports.
Subtitle B—State Implementation Grants
Sec. 211. Purpose.
Sec. 212. Authorization.
Sec. 213. Application.
Sec. 214. Review of application.
Sec. 215. Use of amounts.
Sec. 216. Allocation requirement.
Sec. 217. Limitation on administrative costs.
Sec. 218. Reports.
Subtitle C—Development and Implementation Grants for School-to-Work Programs
for Indian Youths
Sec. 221. Authorization.
Sec. 222. Requirements.
TITLE III—FEDERAL IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS TO LOCAL
PARTNERSHIPS
Sec. 301. Purposes.
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Sec. 302. Authorization.
Sec. 303. Application.
Sec. 304. Use of amounts.
Sec. 305. Conformity with approved State plan.
Sec. 306. Reports.
Sec. 307. High poverty area defined.
TITLE IV—NATIONAL PROGRAMS
Sec. 401. Research, demonstration, and other projects.
Sec. 402. Performance outcomes and evaluation.
Sec. 403. Training and technical assistance.
Sec. 404. Capacity building and information and dissemination network.
Sec. 405. Reports to Congress.
Sec. 406. Funding.
TITLE V—WAIVER OF STATUTORY AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
Sec. 501. State and local partnership requests and responsibilities for waivers.
Sec. 502. Waiver authority of Secretary of Education.
Sec. 503. Waiver authority of Secretary of Labor.
Sec. 504. Combination of Federal funds for high poverty schools.
Sec. 505. Combination of Federal funds by States for school-to-work activities.
TITLE VI—GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 601. Requirements.
Sec. 602. Sanctions.
Sec. 603. State authority.
Sec. 604. Prohibition on Federal mandates, direction, and control.
Sec. 605. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE VII—OTHER PROGRAMS
Subtitle A—Reauthorization of Job Training for the Homeless Demonstration
Program Under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act
Sec. 701. Reauthorization.
Subtitle B—Tech-Prep Programs
Sec. 711. Tech-prep education.
Subtitle C—Alaska Native Art and Culture
Sec. 721. Short title.
Sec. 722. Alaska Native art and culture.
Subtitle D—Job Training
Sec. 731. Amendment to Job Training Partnership Act to provide allowances for
child care costs to certain individuals participating in the Job Corps.
TITLE VIII—TECHNICAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 801. Effective date.
Sec. 802. Sunset.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) three-fourths of high school students in the United
States enter the workforce without baccalaureate degrees, and
many do not possess the academic and entry-level occupational
skills necessary to succeed in the changing United States work-
place;
(2) a substantial number of youths in the United States,
especially disadvantaged students, students of diverse racial,
ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, and students with disabil-
ities, do not complete high school;
(3) unemployment among youths in the United States is
intolerably high, and earnings of high school graduates have
been falling relative to earnings of individuals with more edu-
cation;
(4) the workplace in the United States is changing in
response to heightened international competition and new tech-
H. R. 2884—3
nologies, and such forces, which are ultimately beneficial to
the Nation, are shrinking the demand for and undermining
the earning power of unskilled labor;
(5) the United States lacks a comprehensive and coherent
system to help its youths acquire the knowledge, skills, abilities,
and information about and access to the labor market necessary
to make an effective transition from school to career-oriented
work or to further education and training;
(6) students in the United States can achieve high academic
and occupational standards, and many learn better and retain
more when the students learn in context, rather than in the
abstract;
(7) while many students in the United States have part-
time jobs, there is infrequent linkage between—
(A) such jobs; and
(B) the career planning or exploration, or the school-
based learning, of such students;
(8) the work-based learning approach, which is modeled
after the time-honored apprenticeship concept, integrates theo-
retical instruction with structured on-the-job training, and this
approach, combined with school-based learning, can be very
effective in engaging student interest, enhancing skill acquisi-
tion, developing positive work attitudes, and preparing youths
for high-skill, high-wage careers;
(9) Federal resources currently fund a series of categorical,
work-related education and training programs, many of which
serve disadvantaged youths, that are not administered as a
coherent whole; and
(10) in 1992 approximately 3,400,000 individuals in the
United States age 16 through 24 had not completed high school
and were not currently enrolled in school, a number represent-
ing approximately 11 percent of all individuals in this age
group, which indicates that these young persons are particu-
larly unprepared for the demands of a 21st century workforce.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES AND CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to establish a national framework within which all
States can create statewide School-to-Work Opportunities sys-
tems that—
(A) are a part of comprehensive education reform;
(B) are integrated with the systems developed under
the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the National
Skill Standards Act of 1994; and
(C) offer opportunities for all students to participate
in a performance-based education and training program
that will—
(i) enable the students to earn portable credentials;
(ii) prepare the students for first jobs in high-
skill, high-wage careers; and
(iii) increase their opportunities for further edu-
cation, including education in a 4-year college or
university;
(2) to facilitate the creation of a universal, high-quality
school-to-work transition system that enables youths in the
United States to identify and navigate paths to productive
and progressively more rewarding roles in the workplace;
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(3) to utilize workplaces as active learning environments
in the educational process by making employers joint partners
with educators in providing opportunities for all students to
participate in high-quality, work-based learning experiences;
(4) to use Federal funds under this Act as venture capital,
to underwrite the initial costs of planning and establishing
statewide School-to-Work Opportunities systems that will be
maintained with other Federal, State, and local resources;
(5) to promote the formation of local partnerships that
are dedicated to linking the worlds of school and work among
secondary schools and postsecondary educational institutions,
private and public employers, labor organizations, government,
community-based organizations, parents, students, State edu-
cational agencies, local educational agencies, and training and
human service agencies;
(6) to promote the formation of local partnerships between
elementary schools and secondary schools (including middle
schools) and local businesses as an investment in future work-
place productivity and competitiveness;
(7) to help all students attain high academic and occupa-
tional standards;
(8) to build on and advance a range of promising school-
to-work 
activities, 
such 
as 
tech-prep 
education, 
career
academies, 
school-to-apprenticeship 
programs, 
cooperative
education, youth apprenticeship, school-sponsored enterprises,
business-education compacts, and promising strategies that
assist school dropouts, that can be developed into programs
funded under this Act;
(9) to improve the knowledge and skills of youths by
integrating academic and occupational learning, integrating
school-based and work-based learning, and building effective
linkages between secondary and postsecondary education;
(10) to encourage the development and implementation
of programs that will require paid high-quality, work-based
learning experiences;
(11) to motivate all youths, including low-achieving youths,
school dropouts, and youths with disabilities, to stay in or
return to school or a classroom setting and strive to succeed,
by providing enriched learning experiences and assistance in
obtaining good jobs and continuing their education in post-
secondary educational institutions;
(12) to expose students to a broad array of career opportuni-
ties, and facilitate the selection of career majors, based on
individual interests, goals, strengths, and abilities;
(13) to increase opportunities for minorities, women, and
individuals with disabilities, by enabling individuals to prepare
for careers that are not traditional for their race, gender, or
disability; and
(14) to further the National Education Goals set forth in
title I of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act.
(b) CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.—It is the intent of Congress that
the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education jointly admin-
ister this Act in a flexible manner that—
(1) promotes State and local discretion in establishing and
implementing statewide School-to-Work Opportunities systems
and School-to-Work Opportunities programs; and
(2) contributes to reinventing government by—
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(A) building on State and local capacity;
(B) eliminating duplication in education and training
programs for youths by integrating such programs into
1 comprehensive system;
(C) maximizing the effective use of resources;
(D) supporting locally established initiatives;
(E) requiring measurable goals for performance; and
(F) offering flexibility in meeting such goals.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) ALL ASPECTS OF AN INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘all aspects
of an industry’’ means all aspects of the industry or industry
sector a student is preparing to enter, including planning,
management, finances, technical and production skills, underly-
ing principles of technology, labor and community issues, health
and safety issues, and environmental issues, related to such
industry or industry sector.
(2) ALL STUDENTS.—The term ‘‘all students’’ means both
male and female students from a broad range of backgrounds
and circumstances, including disadvantaged students, students
with diverse racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds, American
Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, students with
disabilities, students with limited-English proficiency, migrant
children, school dropouts, and academically talented students.
(3) APPROVED
STATE
PLAN.—The term ‘‘approved State
plan’’ means a statewide School-to-Work Opportunities system
plan that is submitted by a State under section 213, is deter-
mined by the Secretaries to include the program components
described in sections 102 through 104 and otherwise meet
the requirements of this Act, and is consistent with the State
improvement plan for the State, if any, under the Goals 2000:
Educate America Act.
(4) CAREER GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING.—The term ‘‘career
guidance and counseling’’ means programs—
(A) that pertain to the body of subject matter and
related techniques and methods organized for the develop-
ment in individuals of career awareness, career planning,
career decisionmaking, placement skills, and knowledge
and understanding of local, State, and national occupa-
tional, educational, and labor market needs, trends, and
opportunities;
(B) that assist individuals in making and implementing
informed educational and occupational choices; and
(C) that aid students to develop career options with
attention to surmounting gender, race, ethnic, disability,
language, or socioeconomic impediments to career options
and encouraging careers in nontraditional employment.
(5) CAREER
MAJOR.—The term ‘‘career major’’ means a
coherent sequence of courses or field of study that prepares
a student for a first job and that—
(A) integrates academic and occupational learning,
integrates school-based and work-based learning, estab-
lishes linkages between secondary schools and postsecond-
ary educational institutions;
(B) prepares the student for employment in a broad
occupational cluster or industry sector;
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(C) typically includes at least 2 years of secondary
education and at least 1 or 2 years of postsecondary edu-
cation;
(D) provides the students, to the extent practicable,
with strong experience in and understanding of all aspects
of the industry the students are planning to enter;
(E) results in the award of—
(i) a high school diploma or its equivalent, such
as—
(I) a general equivalency diploma; or
(II) an alternative diploma or certificate for
students with disabilities for whom such alter-
native diploma or certificate is appropriate;
(ii) a certificate or diploma recognizing successful
completion of 1 or 2 years of postsecondary education
(if appropriate); and
(iii) a skill certificate; and
(F) may lead to further education and training, such
as entry into a registered apprenticeship program, or may
lead to admission to a 2- or 4-year college or university.
(6) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘commu-
nity-based organizations’’ has the meaning given such term
in section 4(5) of the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C.
1503(5)).
(7) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elementary school’’
means a day or residential school that provides elementary
education, as determined under State law.
(8) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ includes both public
and private employers.
(9) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means the chief
executive of a State.
(10) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘local edu-
cational agency’’ means a public board of education or other
public authority legally constituted within a State for either
administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service
function for, public elementary or secondary schools in a city,
county, township, school district, or other political subdivision
of a State, or such combination of school districts or counties
as are recognized in a State as an administrative agency for
its public elementary or secondary schools. Such term includes
any other public institution or agency having administrative
control and direction of a public elementary or secondary school.
(11) LOCAL
PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘local partnership’’
means a local entity that is responsible for local School-to-
Work Opportunities programs and that—
(A) consists of employers, representatives of local edu-
cational agencies and local postsecondary educational
institutions (including representatives of area vocational
education schools, where applicable), local educators (such
as teachers, counselors, or administrators), representatives
of labor organizations or nonmanagerial employee rep-
resentatives, and students; and
(B) may include other entities, such as—
(i) employer organizations;
(ii) community-based organizations;
(iii) national trade associations working at the local
levels;
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(iv) industrial extension centers;
(v) rehabilitation agencies and organizations;
(vi) registered apprenticeship agencies;
(vii) local vocational education entities;
(viii) proprietary institutions of higher education
(as defined in section 481(b) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088(b)) that continue to meet
the eligibility and certification requirements under title
IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.);
(ix) local government agencies;
(x) parent organizations;
(xi) teacher organizations;
(xii) vocational student organizations;
(xiii) private industry councils established under
section 102 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29
U.S.C. 1512);
(xiv) federally recognized Indian tribes, Indian
organizations, and Alaska Native villages within the
meaning of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and
(xv) Native Hawaiian entities.
(12) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term
‘‘postsecondary educational institution’’ means an institution
of higher education (as such term is defined in section 481
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088)) which
continues to meet the eligibility and certification requirements
under title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).
(13) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP AGENCY.—The term ‘‘reg-
istered apprenticeship agency’’ means the Bureau of Apprentice-
ship and Training in the Department of Labor or a State
apprenticeship agency recognized and approved by the Bureau
of Apprenticeship and Training as the appropriate body for
State registration or approval of local apprenticeship programs
and agreements for Federal purposes.
(14) REGISTERED
APPRENTICESHIP
PROGRAM.—The term
‘‘registered apprenticeship program’’ means a program reg-
istered by a registered apprenticeship agency.
(15) RELATED
SERVICES.—The term ‘‘related services’’
includes the types of services described in section 602(17) of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
1401(17)).
(16) RURAL COMMUNITY WITH LOW POPULATION DENSITY.—
The term ‘‘rural community with low population density’’ means
a county, block number area in a nonmetropolitan county,
or consortium of counties or of such block number areas, that
has a population density of 20 or fewer individuals per square
mile.
(17) SCHOOL DROPOUT.—The term ‘‘school dropout’’ means
a youth who is no longer attending any school and who has
not received a secondary school diploma or a certificate from
a program of equivalency for such a diploma.
(18) SCHOOL SITE MENTOR.—The term ‘‘school site mentor’’
means a professional employed at a school who is designated
as the advocate for a particular student, and who works in
consultation with classroom teachers, counselors, related serv-
ices personnel, and the employer of the student to design and