Georgia-2011-HB186-Comm Sub

To amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to provide and expand career pathway options for high school students to ensure their career and college readiness; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for coordination between the State Board of Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Board of Technical and Adult Education; to provide for focused programs of study; to provide measures to minimize the need for remedial course work for students in postsecondary institutions; to require academic core standards to be embedded in career, technical, and agricultural education courses; to provide for end-of-course assessments; to provide for course credit for demonstrated proficiency; to provide for certain requirements relating to dual credit courses; to provide for enrollment counts for students in dual credit programs; to repeal a Code section relating to enrollment in postsecondary courses; to provide that certain provisions relating to individual graduation plans may not be waived; to amend Chapter 14 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Georgia Workforce Investment Board, so as to provide for the establishment of soft skills certification by the Governor's Office of Workforce Development; to provide for collaboration with the Department of Education to enable high school students to attain soft skills certification; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

The General Assembly finds:

(1) Our state's long-term prosperity depends on supporting an education system that is designed to prepare our students for a global economy;

(2) High school students and parents must understand that they have options for career pathway programs of study that join a college-ready academic core with quality career, technical, and agricultural education studies that result in a high school diploma and preparation for success in advanced training, an associate's degree, a baccalaureate degree, and a career;

(3) Local school systems must provide every student with choices that are academically rigorous and aligned to opportunities in high-demand, high-skill, high-wage career fields and to postsecondary career and technical pathways leading to advanced credentials or degrees;

(4) The State Board of Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Board of Technical and Adult Education must work together so that academic courses that are embedded within career, technical, and agricultural education courses (CTAE) are given appropriate academic credit at the high school level and recognized at the postsecondary level;

(5) Teachers should be provided with professional development opportunities that enforce the academically rigorous standards in relevant, project based coursework;

(6) High school students should clearly understand the options for dual high school and postsecondary credit, and the state should properly fund these options;

(7) Every state education agency, postsecondary institution, and local school system should provide all high school students with opportunities for accelerated learning through dual credit coursework leading to at least six postsecondary credits and have as a collective goal to graduate every student with postsecondary credit;

(8) Georgia's strategic industries must be partners in our public education system (secondary and postsecondary) so that they are assured that our high school graduates are prepared for success in the workforce;

(9) Georgia's public education system must incorporate many different types of assessments and certificates into their programs so that a student's skill level is assessed and that it also has meaning to them for postsecondary and career success; and

(10) Georgia's students must understand that a high school diploma and some form of postsecondary credential are key to success in the workforce and earning a family living wage.

Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, is amended by revising subsection (e) of Code Section 20-2-82, relating to contract terms for local school systems requesting flexibility, as follows:

"(e) The state board shall be authorized to approve a waiver or variance request of specifically identified state rules, regulations, policies, and procedures or provisions of this chapter upon the inclusion of such request in the local school system's proposed contract and in accordance with subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-84. The goal for each waiver and variance shall be improvement of student performance. The state board shall not be authorized to waive or approve variances on any federal, state, and local rules, regulations, court orders, and statutes relating to civil rights; insurance; the protection of the physical health and safety of school students, employees, and visitors; conflicting interest transactions; the prevention of unlawful conduct; any laws relating to unlawful conduct in or near a public school; any reporting requirements pursuant to Code Section 20-2-320 or Chapter 14 of this title; or the requirements of Code Section 20-2-211.1; or the requirements in subsection (c) of Code Section 20-2-327. A local school system that has received a waiver or variance shall remain subject to the provisions of Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 14 of this title, the requirement that it shall not charge tuition or fees to its students except as may be authorized for local boards by Code Section 20-2-133, and shall remain open to enrollment in the same manner as before the waiver request."

Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 20-2-140, relating to the establishment of competencies and a uniformly sequenced core curriculum, as follows:

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish competencies that each student is expected to master prior to completion of the student's public school education. The state board shall also establish competencies for which each student should be provided opportunities, at the discretion of the student and the student's parents, to master. Based upon these foregoing competencies, the state board shall adopt a uniformly sequenced core curriculum for grades kindergarten through 12. Each local unit of administration shall include this uniformly sequenced core curriculum as the basis for its own curriculum, although each local unit may sequence, expand, and enrich this curriculum to the extent it deems necessary and appropriate for its students and communities.

(b) The State Board of Education, working with the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Board of Technical and Adult Education, shall establish college and career readiness competency standards in reading, writing, and mathematics aligned with the core curriculum adopted by the state board pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section with the level of performance necessary to meet college-readiness standards in the state's technical colleges, community colleges, state colleges, and universities and in other advanced training programs.

(c) The Board of Technical and Adult Education shall require its institutions to accept core curriculum coursework completed by high school students for purposes of admission into its institutions. This Code section shall apply beginning with students entering such postsecondary institutions in the fall of 2012."

Said chapter is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 20-2-157, relating to the uniform reporting system for certain purposes, as follows:

"(a) It is the intent of the General Assembly to establish a uniform reporting system to be used as one of the criteria to determine eligibility of students seeking enrollment in postsecondary courses pursuant to Code Section 20-2-161.1 or seeking educational scholarships, grants, or loan assistance administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission pursuant to Article 7 of Chapter 3 of this title."

Said chapter is further amended by adding new Code sections to read as follows:

No later than July 1, 2012, the Department of Education shall develop, and the State Board of Education shall approve, state models and curriculum framework for the following focused programs of study, as defined in Code Section 20-2-326, including, but not limited to:

(1) Agriculture, food, and natural resources;

(2) Architecture and construction;

(3) Arts, audio-video technology, and communications;

(4) Business, management, and administration;

(5) Education and training;

(8) Hospitality and tourism;

(10) Information technology;

(11) Law, public safety, and security;

(13) Government and public administration;

(14) Marketing, sales, and service;

(15) Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and

(16) Transportation, distribution, and logistics.

Such focused programs of study may be combined around these and other related clusters.

Stronger coordination between high schools and institutions of higher education is necessary to prepare students for more challenging postsecondary endeavors and to lessen the need for academic remediation in college, thereby reducing the costs of higher education for students, families, and the state. To this end, the State Board of Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Board of Technical and Adult Education shall:

(1) Develop policies to ensure that students who complete the core curriculum established pursuant to Code Section 20-2-140 will meet the requirements for purposes of admission into a postsecondary institution, such as grade point average and readiness levels in reading, writing, and mathematics, without having to take remedial coursework. Such policies shall:

(A) Establish the benchmarks for college readiness and the method in which students can demonstrate readiness in reading, writing, and mathematics for postsecondary coursework upon completing the core curriculum; and

(B) Set the conditions for ensuring college readiness;

(2) Define college-readiness standards in reading, writing, and mathematics needed for success in advanced training, certificate programs, and programs leading to an associate's or bachelor's degree;

(3) Identify one or more state-wide common assessments to determine postsecondary readiness in reading, writing, and mathematics and inform students of their performance on such assessments no later than the end of tenth grade;

(4) Develop transitional courses in reading, writing, and mathematics with common standards, syllabus, and instruction materials for eleventh and twelfth grade students who fail to meet readiness standards and allow these courses to count as the required fourth credit in the respective content area for purposes of meeting high school graduation requirements; and

(5) Ensure dual credit courses reflect postsecondary coursework.

(a) The competencies and curricula established for career, technical, and agricultural education courses pursuant to Code Section 20-2-140 shall include embedded standards in academic core subject areas, as appropriate. In establishing such competencies and curricula, the state board shall work to ensure that the coursework meets postsecondary requirements for acceptance of credit for such coursework at the postsecondary level. Such courses shall be taught by a highly qualified teacher in the academic content and trained or experienced in contextualized learning using project based methods; by a highly qualified career, technical, and agricultural education teacher who has completed a state-approved training program to strengthen academic content and has passed a state-approved exam for demonstrating mastery of academic content; or by a team made up of a highly qualified teacher in the academic content and a highly qualified career, technical, and agricultural education teacher working together to teach the course.

(b) Local school systems and individual charter schools may develop and implement career, technical, and agricultural courses with embedded standards in academic core subjects areas, including, but not limited to, English, language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics.

(c) For an academic core subject area for which an end-of-course assessment has been adopted pursuant to Code Section 20-2-281, students shall be given the opportunity to take such end-of-course assessment upon completion of the career, technical, and agricultural education course that includes embedded standards in such academic core subject area, unless such student has already passed such end-of-course assessment.

(d) Students who successfully complete a course in career, technical, and agricultural education that includes embedded standards in academic core subject areas, as adopted or approved by the state board, shall receive course credit for both the career, technical, and agricultural education course as well as for the academic core coursework embedded in such course.

(e) The guidelines shall limit the number of academic credits earned through career, technical, and agricultural education courses for any student to three credits and shall ensure acceptance of such credits for purposes of admission into a postsecondary institution. Further, such a credit shall count only once toward high school diploma requirements unless the course requires expanded time to cover the academic and career, technical, and agricultural education content found in both the academic and the career, technical, and agricultural education course.

(a) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Board of Technical and Adult Education, shall adopt policies and establish guidelines for awarding units of high school credit to students based on a demonstration of subject area competency, instead of or in combination with completion of courses of classroom instruction. Such policies and guidelines shall clearly delineate the manner in which students can earn credit, how mastery of standards will be assessed, how locally developed assessments will be reviewed and approved, how such credit will be recorded on high school transcripts, and when outcomes as a result of these policies and guidelines will be reviewed. The state board shall adopt such policies and establish guidelines, and such policies and guidelines shall be applicable beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.

(b) Students may earn credits through:

(1) The completion of courses; or

(2) The testing out or otherwise demonstrating mastery of the course content.

(c) The state board shall identify assessments, including various commercial assessments, for immediate use for students to demonstrate subject area competency, which may include, but not be limited to:

(1) Advanced placement exams;

(2) ACT course assessment;

(3) Industry-specific certificates and credentials for career, technical, and agricultural education courses;

(4) College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams; and

(5) Nationally recognized foreign language performance assessments.

The state board shall establish a process for reviewing and approving performance based assessments developed commercially, by the state, or by a local school system. Initially, the state board shall limit the number of credits earned though such educational options to three credits per student until the practice is proven to yield student outcomes at least equivalent to those found in standard seat-time courses. The policy shall ensure that credit for demonstrated proficiency is reported on student transcripts in the same way that seat-time credit is recorded. The state board shall review such policy after three years to determine if student outcomes from these educational options are equivalent to, if not better than, student outcomes in traditional courses.

(d) Each local school system shall comply with the state board's plan adopted pursuant to this Code section and shall award units of high school credit in accordance with such plan. Local boards of education and charter schools shall establish implementation policies and shall be prohibited from setting policies that negate or otherwise prohibit access to such plan.

(a) For purposes of this Code section, the term:

(1) 'Dual credit course' means any arrangement whereby an eligible student takes one or more courses, including virtual courses, at or through an eligible institution while still enrolled as a public high school student and receives credit both at the high school and at the eligible institution.

(2) 'Eligible institution' means any eligible postsecondary institution as defined in paragraph (7) of Code Section 20-3-519.

(3) 'Eligible student' means a student entering ninth through twelfth grades who attends a public high school in this state and takes at least two courses per day on campus.

(4) 'Secondary credit' means high school credit for dual credit courses taken at an eligible institution.

(b) The department, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Board of Technical and Adult Education shall jointly:

(1) Establish the conditions under which high school students may earn dual credit for coursework completed while in high school. Such conditions shall include demonstration by students as to college readiness in reading, writing, and mathematics required for advanced training leading to a certificate, an associate's degree, or a bachelor's degree in order to receive dual credit as set forth in this Code section. A student who meets reading and writing readiness standards shall qualify to enroll in any dual credit course except in courses that require a strong mathematics foundation. To qualify for such mathematics courses, students shall be required to meet mathematics readiness standards as set forth in this Code section. Students who fail to meet these conditions may enroll in such courses if they enroll concurrently in specially designed courses to address their deficits in reading and writing or mathematics or both and shall be awarded dual credit if they meet readiness standards before or at the point they successfully complete the dual credit course;

(2) Develop appropriate forms and counseling guidelines for dual credit courses and shall make such forms and guidelines available to local school systems and eligible institutions. No later than the first day of April each year, each local school system shall provide general information about dual credit courses, including such forms, to all its eighth through eleventh grade students. A local school system shall also provide counseling services in accordance with the counseling guidelines provided by the department to such students and their parents or guardians before the students enroll in a dual credit course. Prior to participating in a dual credit course, the student and the student's parent or guardian shall sign the form provided by the school system or by an eligible institution stating that they have received the counseling specified in this Code section and that they understand the responsibilities that shall be assumed in participating in the dual credit program; and

(3) Establish policies to ensure that dual credit courses reflect college-level work in order for such courses to yield dual credit, which shall include:

(A) Establishing college-readiness standards in reading, writing, and mathematics that students must meet to enroll in dual credit courses;

(B) Setting minimum eligibility requirements for earning college credit while in high school and for all state postsecondary institutions to apply to both academic and career, technical, and agricultural education dual credit courses;

(C) Establishing the same content standards, requirements for faculty, course syllabi, and end-of-course exams for dual credit academic and career, technical, and agricultural education courses, whether taught to high school or college students;

(D) Developing a state-wide system for the transfer of college credits earned through dual credit courses; and

(E) Determining how dual enrollment will be monitored to assure programs meet state standards for college-level work.

(c) Any eligible student may apply to an eligible institution to take one or more dual credit courses at or through that institution which are approved for secondary credit in accordance with the conditions established pursuant to subsection (d) of this Code section. If accepted at an eligible institution, such eligible student may take any such course at that institution, whether or not the course is taught during the regular public school day, and receive secondary credit therefor under the conditions provided in this Code section.

(d)(1) A local school system shall grant academic credit to an eligible student enrolled in a dual credit course in an eligible institution if that course has been approved by the State Board of Education or in a virtual course approved by the State Board of Education if such student successfully completes such course. The State Board of Education shall approve any such course which is substantially comparable to a state approved course. The secondary credit granted shall be for the comparable course approved by the State Board of Education. Upon completion of an eligible institution's approved course, the eligible student shall be responsible for requesting that the institution notify the student's local school system regarding his or her grade in that course.

(2) Secondary school credits granted for dual credit courses under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be counted toward State Board of Education graduation requirements and subject area requirements of the local school system. Evidence of successful completion of each course and secondary credits granted shall be included in the eligible student's secondary school records.

(3) Following the grant of postsecondary credit for successful completion of any dual enrollment course, when a student enrolls in an eligible institution after leaving secondary school, that eligible institution shall award postsecondary credit for any dual credit course successfully completed on the same basis on which such credits are customarily awarded. An eligible institution shall not charge a student for the award of such postsecondary credit.

(4) The department shall consult the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the State Board of Technical and Adult Education in developing rules and regulations to be recommended to the State Board of Education for approval regarding the eligibility criteria for dual credit courses.

(e) The State Board of Education shall establish rules and regulations relating to applicable state and federal testing requirements for eligible students participating in dual credit courses.

(f) Any person who knowingly makes or furnishes any false statement or misrepresentation, or who accepts such statement or misrepresentation knowing it to be false, for the purpose of enabling an eligible institution to obtain wrongfully any payment under this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(g) Students enrolled in the Georgia Youth Apprenticeship Program under Code Section 20-2-161.2 shall be eligible to earn dual credit upon completing a planned training experience under guidelines developed by the State Board of Education and the Board of Technical and Adult Education provided students meet postsecondary readiness established in reading and writing and mathematics for the particular advanced training program or associate's degree."

Said article is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 20-2-160, relating to determination of enrollment by instructional program, as follows:

"(a) The State Board of Education shall designate the specific dates upon which two counts of students enrolled in each instructional program authorized under this article shall be made each school year and by which the counts shall be reported to the Department of Education. The initial enrollment count shall be made after October 1 but prior to November 17 and the final enrollment count after March 1 but prior to May 1. The report shall indicate the student's specific assigned program for each one-sixth segment of the school day on the designated reporting date. No program shall be indicated for a student for any one-sixth segment of the school day that the student is assigned to a study hall; a noncredit course; a course recognized under this article or by state board policy as an enrichment course, except a driver education course; a course which requires participation in an extracurricular activity for which enrollment is on a competitive basis; a course in which the student serves as a student assistant to a teacher, in a school office, or in the media center, except when such placement is an approved work site of a recognized career or vocational program; an individual study course for which no outline of course objectives is prepared in writing prior to the beginning of the course; a course taken through the Georgia Virtual School pursuant to Code Section 20-2-319.1; or any other course or activity so designated by the state board. For the purpose of this Code section, the term 'enrichment course' means a course which does not dedicate a major portion of the class time toward the development and enhancement of one or more student competencies as adopted by the state board under Code Section 20-2-140. A program shall not be indicated for a student for any one-sixth segment of the school day for which the student is not enrolled in an instructional program or has not attended a class or classes within the preceding ten days; nor shall a program be indicated for a student for any one-sixth segment of the school day for which the student is charged tuition or fees or is required to provide materials or equipment beyond those authorized pursuant to Code Section 20-2-133. A student who is enrolled in an eligible institution under the program established in Code Section 20-2-161.1 may be counted for the high school program for only that portion of the day that the student is attending the high school for those segments that are eligible to be counted under this subsection. A student who is enrolled in a dual credit course pursuant to Code Section 20-2-159.5 shall be counted for the high school program or other appropriate program for each segment in which the student is attending such dual credit course. The state board shall adopt such regulations and criteria as necessary to ensure objective and true counts of students in state approved instructional programs. The state board shall also establish criteria by which students shall be counted as resident or nonresident students, including specific circumstances which may include, but not be limited to, students attending another local school system under court order or under the terms of a contract between two local school systems. If a local school system has a justifiable reason, it may seek authority from the state board to shift full-time equivalent program counts from the designated date to a requested alternate date."

Said chapter is further amended by repealing and reserving Code Section 20-2-161.1, relating to enrollment in postsecondary courses.

Said chapter is further amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-244, relating to waivers to improve student performance, as follows:

"(b) The State Board of Education is not authorized to waive any federal, state, and local rules, regulations, court orders, and statutes relating to civil rights; insurance; the protection of the physical health and safety of school students, employees, and visitors; conflicting interest transactions; the prevention of unlawful conduct; any laws relating to unlawful conduct in or near a public school; any reporting requirements pursuant to Code Section 20-2-320 or Chapter 14 of this title; or the requirements of Code Section 20-2-211.1; or the requirements in subsection (c) of Code Section 20-2-327. A school or school system that has received a waiver shall remain subject to the provisions of Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 14 of this title, the requirement that it shall not charge tuition or fees to its students except as may be authorized for local boards by Code Section 20-2-133, and shall remain open to enrollment in the same manner as before the waiver request."

Said chapter is further amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-2065, relating to waiver of provisions of Title 20 for charter schools, as follows:

"(b) In determining whether to approve a charter petition or renew an existing charter, the local board and state board shall ensure that a charter school, or for charter systems, each school within the system, shall be:

(1) A public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, nonprofit school that is not home based, provided that a charter school's nonprofit status shall not prevent the school from contracting for the services of a for profit entity and that nothing in this Code section shall preclude the use of computer and Internet based instruction for students in a virtual or remote setting;

(2) Subject to the control and management of the local board of the local school system in which the charter school is located, as provided in the charter and in a manner consistent with the Constitution, if a local charter school;

(3) Subject to the supervision of the state board, as provided in the charter and in a manner consistent with the Constitution, if a state chartered special school;

(4) Organized and operated as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of this state; provided, however, that this paragraph shall not apply to any charter petitioner that is a local school, local school system, or state or local public entity;

(5) Subject to all federal, state, and local rules, regulations, court orders, and statutes relating to civil rights; insurance; the protection of the physical health and safety of school students, employees, and visitors; conflicting interest transactions; and the prevention of unlawful conduct;

(6) Subject to all laws relating to unlawful conduct in or near a public school;

(7) Subject to an annual financial audit conducted by the state auditor or, if specified in the charter, by an independent certified public accountant licensed in this state;

(8) Subject to the provisions of Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 14 of this title, and such provisions shall apply with respect to charter schools whose charters are granted or renewed on or after July 1, 2000;

(9) Subject to all reporting requirements of Code Section 20-2-160, subsection (e) of Code Section 20-2-161, Code Section 20-2-320, and Code Section 20-2-740;

(10) Subject to the requirement that it shall not charge tuition or fees to its students except as may be authorized for local boards by Code Section 20-2-133;

(11) Subject to the provisions of Code Section 20-2-1050 requiring a brief period of quiet reflection; and

(12) Subject to the provisions of Code Section 20-2-211.1 relating to fingerprint and criminal background checks; and

(13) Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of Code Section 20-2-327 relating to individual graduation plans."

Chapter 14 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Georgia Workforce Investment Board, is amended in Code Section 34-14-3, relating to the establishment of the Governor's Office of Workforce Development, as follows:

(a)(1) The Governor's Office of Workforce Development is hereby established to implement state workforce development policy as directed by the Governor and to serve as staff to the board.

(2) In addition, the office is authorized to establish certification in soft skills, which may include, but not be limited to, skills relating to punctuality, ability to learn, and ability to work in a team, as a discrete and complementary component to the current assessment system utilized in Georgia to measure an individual worker's skill and knowledge in the areas of applied mathematics, reading for information, and locating information to determine and indicate to potential employers such worker's level of work readiness. Such certification is intended to assist both the existing workforce as well as the state's emerging workforce. The office is authorized to explore local, national, and international soft skills programs for the purpose of developing a soft skills certification system.