PRINTER'S NO. 1464
No. 1295 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY KIRKLAND, DALEY, PISTELLA, GRUITZA, ROONEY, HALUSKA, TRELLO, STABACK, CURRY, BELARDI, RAMOS, PETRARCA, CARN, STEELMAN, ROBINSON, SATHER, LYNCH, GODSHALL, KAISER, LEDERER, LAUGHLIN, M. COHEN, THOMAS, C. WILLIAMS, BOSCOLA, BELFANTI AND PETTIT, APRIL 10, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, APRIL 10, 1997
AN ACT 1 Establishing the Education Plus Program and providing for its 2 operation; and making an appropriation. 3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 4 hereby enacts as follows: 5 Section 1. Short title. 6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Education 7 Plus Program Act. 8 Section 2. Legislative intent. 9 The General Assembly finds and declares that it is the 10 purpose of this act to encourage partnerships between 11 institutions of higher education and secondary schools serving 12 low-income and disadvantaged students and encourage the support 13 and participation of programs that do the following: 14 (1) Improve the retention and graduation rates at 15 secondary schools. 16 (2) Improve the academic skills of public secondary
1 school students. 2 (3) Increase the students' opportunities to continue a 3 program of education after secondary school. 4 (4) Improve the students' prospects for employment after 5 secondary school. 6 Section 3. Definitions. 7 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 8 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 9 context clearly indicates otherwise: 10 "Department." The Department of Education of the 11 Commonwealth. 12 "First-generation college student." An individual whose 13 parents did not complete a baccalaureate degree or an individual 14 whose parent did not complete a baccalaureate degree if the 15 individual regularly resided with and received support from only 16 one parent. 17 "Low-income individual." An individual from a family which 18 is eligible for participation in the Federal Aid to Families 19 with Dependent Children Program as determined by the Department 20 of Public Welfare. 21 "Low-income school district." A school district where low- 22 income individuals comprise more than 45% of the student 23 population. 24 "Secretary." The Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth. 25 Section 4. Education Plus Program. 26 (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established the 27 Education Plus Program which shall be administered by the 28 department and which shall be designed to generate skills and 29 motivation necessary for success in education beyond secondary 30 school. 19970H1295B1464 - 2 -
1 (b) Permissible services.--Any Education Plus Program 2 project assisted under this act may provide services such as: 3 (1) Instruction in reading, writing, study skills, 4 mathematics and other subjects necessary for success beyond 5 secondary school. 6 (2) Personal and career counseling. 7 (3) Academic advice and assistance in secondary school 8 course selection. 9 (4) Tutorial services. 10 (5) Exposure to cultural events, academic programs and 11 other activities not usually available to disadvantaged 12 youth. 13 (6) Activities designed to acquaint youths participating 14 in the project with the range of career options available to 15 them. 16 (7) Instruction designed to prepare youths participating 17 in the project for careers in which persons from 18 disadvantaged backgrounds are particularly underrepresented. 19 (8) On-campus residential programs. 20 (9) Mentor programs involving elementary or secondary 21 school teachers, faculty members at institutions of higher 22 education, students or any combination of such persons. 23 (10) Assistance in completing college admission and 24 financial aid applications. 25 (11) Assistance in preparing for college entrance 26 examinations. 27 (12) Programs and activities as described in paragraphs 28 (1) through (11) which are specially designed for students of 29 limited English proficiency. 30 (c) Required services.--Any Education Plus Program project 19970H1295B1464 - 3 -
1 assisted under this act which has received funding for two or 2 more years shall include, as part of the core curriculum in the 3 next and succeeding years, instruction in mathematics through 4 precalculus, laboratory science, foreign language, composition 5 and literature. 6 (d) Eligible participants.--Only secondary school students 7 in grade levels 9 through 12 are eligible to participate. 8 Section 5. Agreement. 9 (a) General rule.--To be eligible for a grant under this 10 act, an institution of higher education shall enter into a 11 written partnership agreement with a local educational agency. 12 The partnership may include businesses, labor organizations, 13 professional associations, community-based organizations, public 14 television stations or other telecommunications entities, or 15 other public or private agencies or organizations. Each entity 16 participating in the partnership shall sign the agreement. 17 (b) Contents of agreement.--The agreement shall include the 18 following: 19 (1) A listing of all participants in the partnership, 20 including a designation of the official representatives of 21 each entity participating in the partnership. 22 (2) A description of the responsibilities of each 23 participant in the partnership. 24 (3) A listing of the resources to be contributed by each 25 participant in the partnership. 26 Section 6. Grant program. 27 (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established a grant 28 program to implement the purposes of this act which is to be 29 administered by the secretary. 30 (b) Amount and use of grants.--The secretary shall make 19970H1295B1464 - 4 -
1 grants under this act in amounts which are not less than 2 $100,000 and not more than $500,000. A grant under this act may 3 be used by the partnership for programs that are designed to do 4 the following: 5 (1) Use college students to tutor secondary school 6 students and improve their basic academic skills or to 7 involve secondary school students in community service 8 learning projects. 9 (2) Improve the basic academic skills of secondary 10 school students. 11 (3) Increase the understanding of specific subjects of 12 secondary school students. 13 (4) Improve the opportunity to continue a program of 14 education after graduation for secondary school students. 15 (5) Increase the prospects for employment after 16 graduation of secondary school students. 17 (c) Preferences.--In making grants under this act, the 18 secretary shall give a preference to any of the following: 19 (1) Programs which will serve predominantly low-income 20 school districts. 21 (2) Partnerships which will run programs during the 22 regular school year and summer. 23 (3) Programs which will serve the following types of 24 students: 25 (i) Educationally disadvantaged students. 26 (ii) Students with disabilities. 27 (iii) Potential dropouts. 28 (iv) Pregnant adolescents and teenage parents. 29 (v) Children of migratory agricultural workers. 30 (vi) Students whose native language is other than 19970H1295B1464 - 5 -
1 English. 2 (4) Programs designed to encourage women and minorities 3 who are underrepresented in the fields of science and 4 mathematics to pursue these fields. 5 (d) Duration.--Each grant awarded under this act may be 6 awarded for a period not to exceed five years. 7 Section 7. Grant application. 8 (a) Application required.--A partnership desiring to receive 9 a grant under this act shall submit an application to the 10 secretary, in the form and providing any information the 11 secretary, by regulation or rule, shall require. 12 (b) Contents of application.--The application shall include 13 the following: 14 (1) The partnership agreement described in section 5. 15 (2) A listing of the public and private nonprofit 16 secondary school or schools to be involved in the program. 17 (3) A description of the activities and services for 18 which assistance is sought. 19 (4) A description of the programs to be developed and 20 operated by the partnership. 21 (5) Assurances to the secretary that the following 22 guidelines will be met: 23 (i) The partnership will establish a governing body 24 including one representative of each participant in the 25 partnership. 26 (ii) A local educational agency or institution of 27 higher education receiving funds under this act shall not 28 reduce its combined fiscal effort per student or its 29 aggregate expenditure on education. 30 (iii) State funds will provide no more than 90% of 19970H1295B1464 - 6 -
1 the cost of the project in the first year, 80% of the 2 cost in the second year and 70% of the cost in the third 3 year and any subsequent year. 4 (iv) In no case shall funds under a grant be used to 5 supplant non-State funds already available. 6 (c) Special rule.--The non-State share of grants awarded 7 under this act may be in cash or in kind fairly evaluated, 8 including services, supplies or equipment. 9 (d) Waiver.--The secretary may waive the matching 10 requirement described in subsection (b)(5)(iii) for any eligible 11 partnership that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the 12 secretary a unique hardship that prevents compliance with the 13 matching requirement. 14 (e) Number of applications for grants and contracts.--The 15 secretary shall not limit the number of applications submitted 16 by an entity under any program authorized under this act if the 17 additional applications describe programs serving different 18 populations or campuses. 19 Section 8. Application status. 20 The secretary shall inform each entity operating programs 21 under this act regarding the status of their application for 22 continued funding at least eight months prior to the expiration 23 of the grant or contract. The secretary, in the case of an 24 entity that is continuing to operate a successful program under 25 this act, shall ensure that the start-up date for a new grant or 26 contract for the program immediately follows the termination of 27 a preceding grant or contract so that no interruption of funding 28 occurs for successful re-applicants. The secretary shall inform 29 each entity requesting assistance under this section for a new 30 program regarding the status of its application at least eight 19970H1295B1464 - 7 -
1 months prior to the proposed start-up date of the program. 2 Section 9. Outreach. 3 (a) Generally.--The secretary shall conduct outreach 4 activities to ensure that entities eligible for assistance under 5 this act submit applications proposing programs that serve low- 6 income school districts and eligible populations which have been 7 underserved by the programs assisted under this act. 8 (b) Notice.--In carrying out the provisions of subsection 9 (a), the secretary shall notify the qualified entities of the 10 availability of assistance under this subsection not less than 11 120 days prior to the deadline for submission of applications 12 under this act. 13 (c) Technical assistance.--The secretary shall provide 14 technical training to applicants for projects and programs 15 authorized under this act. The secretary shall give priority to 16 serving programs and projects that serve low-income school 17 districts and eligible populations which have been underserved 18 by the programs assisted under this act. Technical training 19 activities shall include the provision of information on 20 authorizing legislation, goals and objectives of the program, 21 required activities, eligibility requirements, application 22 process and deadlines, and assistance in the development of 23 program proposals and the completion of program applications. 24 All training shall be furnished at convenient geographic 25 locations to ensure that all areas of this Commonwealth with 26 large concentrations of eligible participants are served. 27 (d) Special rule.--The secretary may contract with eligible 28 entities to conduct the outreach activities described in this 29 section. 30 Section 10. Program review. 19970H1295B1464 - 8 -
1 (a) General.--For the purpose of improving the operation of 2 the programs and projects assisted under this act, the secretary 3 is authorized to make grants to and enter into contracts with 4 institutions of higher education and other public and private 5 institutions and organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of 6 the various programs assisted under this act in meeting the 7 purposes of this act. 8 (b) Content.--The evaluations described in subsection (a) 9 shall identify institutional, community and program practices 10 particularly effective in increasing the access of low-income 11 individuals and first-generation college students to 12 postsecondary education, and ensuring success in postsecondary 13 education. 14 (c) Results.--In order to improve program effectiveness, the 15 results of the ongoing evaluations described in subsection (a) 16 shall be disseminated by the secretary to the programs assisted 17 under this act, to individuals concerned with the postsecondary 18 access and retention of low-income individuals and first- 19 generation college students and to the General Assembly. 20 Section 11. Appropriation. 21 The sum of $1,500,000, or as much thereof as may be 22 necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Department of Education 23 for the fiscal year July 1, 1997, to June 30, 1998, to carry out 24 the provisions of this act. 25 Section 12. Effective date. 26 This act shall take effect in 60 days. A29L24JRW/19970H1295B1464 - 9 -