Full Text of HJR0079 97th General Assembly
HJ0079 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The National Research Center for Career and | 3 | | Technical Education has identified a very strong correlation | 4 | | between students taking 3 or more Career and Technical | 5 | | Education (CTE) courses and being far more likely to enroll in | 6 | | college; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Students taking 3 or more CTE courses are 28% more | 8 | | likely to graduate from high school; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, A commitment to career and technical education | 10 | | helps to ensure that Illinois has a strong, well-trained | 11 | | workforce that enhances productivity in business and industry, | 12 | | and solidifies the State's leadership in the national and | 13 | | international marketplaces; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Providing citizens with career and technical | 15 | | education can stimulate the growth and vitality of businesses | 16 | | and industries by preparing workers for the occupations | 17 | | forecasted to experience the largest and fastest growth in the | 18 | | next decade; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Career and technical education institutions | 20 | | strive to provide rigorous and relevant curricula that | 21 | | integrate academics, utilize technology, partner with |
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| 1 | | community colleges through dual credit programs, and prepare | 2 | | students for 21st century skills; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The first area career/vocational centers in | 4 | | Illinois began operations in 1967 with 837 students; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, There are presently 24 area career/vocational | 6 | | centers, which offer skilled training to over 10,000 11th and | 7 | | 12th grade students; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Section 17-2.4 of the School Code established a | 9 | | maximum tax rate by referendum of 0.5% for not more than 5 | 10 | | years for the purpose of establishing or constructing an area | 11 | | career/vocational center, with the levy sun-setting after a | 12 | | 5-year period; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Area career/vocational centers have been | 14 | | subsequently funded through tuition, the State Career and | 15 | | Technical Education Improvement Grant, and, in some cases, the | 16 | | Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Many buildings housing area career/vocational | 18 | | centers are over 40 years old and in desperate need of repairs, | 19 | | renovations, and even expansion; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, In the face of the present recession and |
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| 1 | | reductions in member districts' equalized assessed valuations, | 2 | | districts who are members of career/vocational centers are | 3 | | unable to increase the present tuition charges to cover said | 4 | | costs further; unless a funding mechanism is established, | 5 | | career/vocational centers may have to either reduce the number | 6 | | of students they can accept or reduce entire programs; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Unlike a school district, area career/vocational | 8 | | centers have no direct taxing authority; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Transportation is an essential component for | 10 | | students to access career and technical education programs; | 11 | | therefore, be it
| 12 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 14 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Area Career | 15 | | and Technical Education and Vocational Centers Task Force, | 16 | | consisting of the following members: | 17 | | (1) one member, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor; | 18 | | (2) one member, appointed by the President of the | 19 | | Senate; | 20 | | (3) one member, appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 21 | | Senate; | 22 | | (4) one member, appointed by the Speaker of the House | 23 | | of Representatives; |
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| 1 | | (5) one member, appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 2 | | House of Representatives; | 3 | | (6) one member, of the Governor's staff, appointed by | 4 | | the Governor; | 5 | | (7) 2 members, appointed by the Illinois Career and | 6 | | Technical Administrators; | 7 | | (8) one career center director, appointed by the | 8 | | Governor; | 9 | | (9) one education for employment system director, | 10 | | appointed by the Governor; | 11 | | (10) one member, appointed by the Illinois State Board | 12 | | of Education; and | 13 | | (11) one superintendent of a school district whose | 14 | | district is a member of an area career/vocational | 15 | | cooperative, appointed by the Governor; and be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That all appointments shall be made no later than | 17 | | 45 days following the adoption of this resolution; and be it | 18 | | further | 19 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall meet no later than 90 | 20 | | days following the adoption of this resolution at the call of | 21 | | the members appointed by the Speaker and the President; the | 22 | | members of the Task Force shall select a chair person at the | 23 | | initial meeting; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall meet at the call of the | 2 | | chair; and be it further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That the members of the Task Force shall serve | 4 | | without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for their | 5 | | reasonable and necessary expenses from funds appropriated for | 6 | | that purpose; and be it further | 7 | | RESOLVED, That the Office of the Governor shall provide | 8 | | administrative support to the Task Force to the fullest extent | 9 | | of its abilities; and be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall study the issue of | 11 | | funding of area career/vocational centers and career and | 12 | | technical education programs, including transportation for | 13 | | said programs, and shall consider the possibility of enacting | 14 | | legislation to make changes to said funding; and be it further | 15 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold a minimum of 7 | 16 | | public hearings in the State, one-half of which shall be held | 17 | | at an area career/vocational center; the Task Force shall | 18 | | report its findings
and recommendations to the Governor and the | 19 | | General Assembly before February 1, 2013, at which time the | 20 | | Task Force shall disband; and be it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be |
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| 1 | | delivered to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the Illinois | 2 | | House of Representatives, the President and Minority Leader of | 3 | | the Illinois Senate, the Governor, the State Superintendent of | 4 | | Education, and the Illinois Career and Technical | 5 | | Administrators.
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