HF 301

as introduced - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 02/04/2013 02:34pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; clarifying the objectives of local education and employment
transition systems; amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 124D.49,
subdivision 3.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 124D.49, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Local education and employment transitions systems.

A local education
and employment transitions partnership must assess the needs of employers, employees,
and learners, and develop a plan for implementing and achieving the objectives of a local
or regional education and employment transitions system. The plan must provide for a
comprehensive local system for assisting learners and workers in making the transition
from school to work or for retraining in a new vocational area. The objectives of a local
education and employment transitions system include:

(1) increasing the effectiveness of the educational programs and curriculum of
elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools and the work site in preparing students
in the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in the workplace;

(2) implementing learner outcomes for students in grades kindergarten through 12
designed to introduce the world of work and to explore career opportunities, including
nontraditional career opportunities;

(3) eliminating barriers to providing effective integrated applied learning,
service-learning, or work-based curriculum;

(4) increasing opportunities to apply academic knowledge and skills, including
skills needed in the workplace, in local settings which include the school, school-based
enterprises, postsecondary institutions, the workplace, and the community;

(5) increasing applied instruction in the attitudes and skills essential for success in
the workplace, including cooperative working, leadership, problem-solving, and respect
for diversity;

(6) providing staff training for vocational guidance counselors, teachers, and other
appropriate staff in the importance of preparing learners for the transition to work, and in
methods of providing instruction that incorporate applied learning, work-based learning,
and service-learning experiences;

(7) identifying and enlisting local and regional employers who can effectively
provide work-based or service-learning opportunities, including, but not limited to,
apprenticeships, internships, and mentorships;

(8) recruiting community and workplace mentors including peers, parents, employers
and employed individuals from the community, and employers of high school students;

(9) identifying current and emerging educational, training, and employment needs of
the area or region, especially within industries with potential for job growth;

(10) improving the coordination and effectiveness of local vocational and job training
programs, including vocational education, adult basic education, tech prep, apprenticeship,
service-learning, youth entrepreneur, youth training and employment programs
administered by the commissioner of employment and economic development, and local
job training programs under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Public Law 105-220;

(11) identifying and applying for federal, state, local, and private sources of funding
for vocational or applied learning programs;

(12) providing students with current information and counseling about career
opportunities, potential employment, educational opportunities in postsecondary
institutions, workplaces, and the community, and the skills and knowledge necessary to
succeed new text begin , with emphasis on postsecondary educational programs that produce graduates
with technical and vocational skills for which there is a high employer need within the
state or region of the state new text end ;

(13) providing educational technology, including interactive television networks
and other distance learning methods, to ensure access to a broad variety of work-based
learning opportunities;

(14) including students with disabilities in a district's vocational or applied learning
program and ways to serve at-risk learners through collaboration with area learning
centers under sections 123A.05 to 123A.09, or other alternative programs; and

(15) providing a warranty to employers, postsecondary education programs, and
other postsecondary training programs, that learners successfully completing a high school
work-based or applied learning program will be able to apply the knowledge and work
skills included in the program outcomes or graduation requirements. The warranty shall
require education and training programs to continue to work with those learners that need
additional skill development until they can demonstrate achievement of the program
outcomes or graduation requirements.