1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; establishing a three-year pilot project to transform high 
1.3 	school education through academic and career-related curriculum developed 
1.4 	jointly by college faculty, high school instructors, and business and industry 
1.5 	advisors and offered through career academies at multiple high school locations 
1.6 	throughout a designated region; appropriating money.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. CAREER ACADEMIES AND A WORKPLACE CONNECTION; 
1.9 	THREE-YEAR PILOT PROJECT.
 1.10 		Subdivision 1.Establishment. A three-year pilot project is established to determine 
1.11 	the academic and career-related opportunities available to rural high school students able 
1.12 	to participate in a regional program that connects educational institutions and regional 
1.13 	employers and is offered jointly by school districts, a postsecondary institution, and a 
1.14 	regional chamber of commerce. To make this determination, Independent School Districts 
1.15 	No. 181, Brainerd; No. 182, Crosby Ironton; No. 2170, Staples Motley; No. 116, Pillager; 
1.16 	and No. 186, Pequot Lakes; and the Central Lakes College, in collaboration with the 
1.17 	Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce and participating business partners, shall jointly 
1.18 	establish multiple career academies that offer high school students a sequence of courses 
1.19 	and structured-outcome and work-based learning experiences that provide the students 
1.20 	with the academic and career-related knowledge and skills they need for employment in 
1.21 	high-demand, well-paid careers within the region.
1.22 		Subd. 2.Program structure. Notwithstanding other law to the contrary, 
1.23 	participants under subdivision 1 must collaborate in developing and offering the program 
1.24 	through a sequence of dual-credit, project-based courses that:
2.1 	(1) share a curriculum incorporating essential academic knowledge and skills 
2.2 	related to applied engineering, health sciences, manufacturing technology, business and 
2.3 	administration, or nursing;
2.4 	(2) are coordinated among the participating school districts and the Central Lakes 
2.5 	College and are taught at a high school located within a participating school district or, 
2.6 	alternatively, at the Central Lakes College or at approved business locations for the 
2.7 	required work-based credits;
2.8 	(3) permit students enrolled in any participating school district to enroll in a course 
2.9 	offered at any participating high school or the Central Lakes College without the school 
2.10 	district or Central Lakes College suffering a net loss of funding;
2.11 	(4) include online learning opportunities where appropriate;
2.12 	(5) use both classroom work and work-based learning experiences to measure 
2.13 	studentsa?? competencies and course outcomes;
2.14 	(6) share an academic calendar;
2.15 	(7) are taught either by licensed teachers or the Central Lakes College faculty; and
2.16 	(8) include curriculum incorporating workplace opportunities such as job shadowing, 
2.17 	internships, business tours, and classroom career and business speakers.
2.18 		Subd. 3.Technical assistance. The commissioner of education, upon request, must 
2.19 	provide project participants with assistance in developing and implementing the project.
2.20 		Subd. 4.Evaluation; report.  All project participants jointly must evaluate 
2.21 	the impact of offering academic and career-related opportunities to rural high school 
2.22 	students who participate in a regional program that connects educational institutions 
2.23 	and regional employers and provides students with the academic and career-related 
2.24 	knowledge and skills they need for employment in high-demand, well-paid careers 
2.25 	within the region, consistent with this section. Project participants must submit written 
2.26 	results of the evaluation to the commissioner by November 15, 2010.  The commissioner 
2.27 	must present the evaluation results and recommendations for transforming high school 
2.28 	education through academic and career-related curriculum to the education policy and 
2.29 	finance committees of the legislature by February 1, 2011.

2.30 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
2.31 	and applies to the 2007-2008 through 2009-2010 school years.

2.32 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION.
 2.33 	$....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal year 2008 to the commissioner 
2.34 	of education for the purpose of establishing a three-year pilot project to transform high 
2.35 	school education through academic and career-related curriculum developed jointly by 
3.1 	college faculty, high school instructors, and business and industry advisors, consistent 
3.2 	with section 1. This appropriation is available through June 30, 2009.