State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SB0845eng

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning technology.

 2        Be it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the High
 5    Technology School-to-Work Act.

 6        Section 5. Statement of findings.  The  General  Assembly
 7    finds that:
 8             (1)  Illinois must compete in an increasingly global
 9        economy characterized by the use of advanced technologies
10        to  create  new  products  and  services and increase the
11        efficiency of production;
12             (2)  those new technologies  include,  but  are  not
13        limited  to,  advanced  telecommunications  and  computer
14        technologies;   advanced  developments  in  biotechnology
15        relating to health,  medical  science,  and  agriculture;
16        advanced  manufacturing  methods;  and advanced materials
17        development;
18             (3)  to successfully compete  in  the  new  economy,
19        Illinois   needs   workers  who  are  highly  skilled  in
20        scientific,  technical,  and   engineering   occupations,
21        including   engineers;   life  and  physical  scientists;
22        mathematical   specialists;   engineering   and   science
23        technicians;  computer  specialists;   and   engineering,
24        scientific, and computer managers;
25             (4)  workers  in  these  occupations  need  in-depth
26        knowledge  of  the  theories  and  principles of science,
27        engineering, and mathematics; and
28             (5)  there is a  need  to  increase  the  number  of
29        secondary  and  postsecondary  students preparing for and
30        entering high technology occupations.
 
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 1        Section 10.  Definitions. In this Act:
 2        "Department"  means  the  Department  of   Commerce   and
 3    Community Affairs.
 4        "Director"  means  the Director of Commerce and Community
 5    Affairs.
 6        "High technology occupations" mean scientific, technical,
 7    and engineering occupations including, but  not  limited  to,
 8    the  following  occupational groups and detailed occupations:
 9    engineers;  life  and   physical   scientists;   mathematical
10    specialists;  engineering  and  science technicians; computer
11    specialists;  and  engineering,  scientific,   and   computer
12    managers.
13        "Local partnership" means a cooperative agreement between
14    one  or  more employers, including employer associations, and
15    one or more secondary or postsecondary schools established to
16    operate  a  high  technology  school-to-work   project.   The
17    partnerships  must be employer-led and designed to respond to
18    the  high  technology  skill  requirements  of  participating
19    employers.

20        Section 15.  Purpose. The primary purpose of this Act  is
21    to  increase  the  number  of  students exiting secondary and
22    postsecondary schools who opt to enter occupations  requiring
23    advanced  skills  in  the  areas of science, mathematics, and
24    advanced  technology.  A  secondary  goal  is  to   encourage
25    students   exiting   secondary   schools  to  pursue  advance
26    educational programs in technical fields and the sciences.

27        Section  20.  Coordination  with   economic   development
28    activities. The Department must coordinate the administration
29    of  the High Technology School-to-Work Program, including the
30    targeting  of  projects,  with  the  Department's  technology
31    related planning and economic development initiatives.
 
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 1        Section  25.  Program  design.  Local  partnerships  must
 2    provide students with  work  experience  in  high  technology
 3    occupations  combined  with  related  classroom  instruction.
 4    Employers  and educators must cooperatively adopt or develop,
 5    or both, skills standards, curricula, and  assessment  tools.
 6    Skills  standards  must  be  current  with  high  performance
 7    workplaces  and  technology  requirements. Project activities
 8    include, but are not limited to:
 9             (1)  designing  in-school  and  related   work-based
10        curricula;
11             (2)  training teachers;
12             (3)  training work site supervisors and mentors;
13             (4)  developing instructional materials;
14             (5)  coordinating activities among the partners;
15             (6)  outreach and recruitment of students;
16             (7)  developing assessment tools;
17             (8)  providing   vocational  counseling  to  student
18        participants;
19             (9)  completing   project   related   administrative
20        activities; and
21             (10)  evaluating the project.

22        Section 30.  Allowable costs. Subject to the  limitations
23    in  Section  35  of this Act, grant funds may be used for any
24    reasonable and necessary expense related  to  the  successful
25    conduct  of  a  high  technology  school-to-work  project  as
26    approved by the Department and specified in a grant agreement
27    with the Department.

28        Section  35.  Limitations. To be an allowable grant cost,
29    expenses must:
30             (1)  be for an extraordinary cost  incurred  due  to
31        the high technology school-to-work project;
32             (2)  not  be  used  for  stipends  or  wages paid to

 
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 1        students during the work-based project activities; and
 2             (3)  not be  used  to  pay  the  wages  of  teachers
 3        working  in short-term, part-time, internship, or similar
 4        work  experience  arrangements  with  private   employers
 5        designed  to  provide  teachers  with  experience  in  an
 6        industry.

 7        Section  40.  Duties.  The  Department  has the following
 8    duties:
 9             (1)  To establish and coordinate the High Technology
10        School-to-Work Program.
11             (2)  Subject to appropriations, to  make  grants  to
12        local   partnerships   to   administer   high  technology
13        school-to-work projects.
14             (3)  To  periodically   identify   high   technology
15        industries  and  occupations  for which training programs
16        may be developed pursuant to  the  requirements  of  this
17        Act.
18             (4)  To   issue   guidelines  for  submitting  grant
19        applications.
20             (5)  To adopt, amend, or repeal any rules  that  may
21        be necessary to administer this Act.

22        Section  45.  Grant  selection.  Applications for funding
23    must be reviewed using the  criteria  in  this  Section.  The
24    Director  must  make final funding decisions. Review criteria
25    include:
26             (1)  the appropriateness of the targeted  industries
27        and occupations;
28             (2)  the  appropriateness  of  the  targeted student
29        population;
30             (3)  the efforts  to  recruit  female  and  minority
31        students into the project;
32             (4)  the  strength  of  the  local  partnership  and
 
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 1        private sector involvement;
 2             (5)  the  related  experience  and qualifications of
 3        the project staff;
 4             (6)  the quality of the project work plan;
 5             (7)  the proposed project costs in  relationship  to
 6        planned outcomes;
 7             (8)  the   relationship   of   the  project  to  the
 8        Department's economic development plans and initiatives;
 9             (9)  the geographic  distribution  of  grant  awards
10        throughout the State; and
11             (10)  the  quality  of  presentations  made  to  the
12        Department, if the Department requests presentations.

13        Section  99.  Effective  date. This Act takes effect upon
14    becoming law.

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