---

From the ECS State Policy Database 2011 State Policies / Activities

---

Education Commission of the States • 700 Broadway, Suite 810 • Denver, CO 80203-3442 • 303.299.3600 • fax 303.296.8332 • www.ecs.org

The following summary includes policies enacted in 2011. This database is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Most entries are legislative, although rules/regulations and executive orders that make substantive changes are included. Every effort is made to collect the latest available version of policies; in some instances, recent changes might not be reflected. For expediency purposes minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) and format. To view the documents, click on the blue triangle next to the topic of interest. To view all, press the button located at the top labeled "Expand All." Please cite use of the database as: Education Commission of the States (ECS) State Policy Database, retrieved [date]. State Status/Date Level Summary 21st Century Skills Accountability Accountability--Accreditation Accountability--Measures/Indicators Accountability--Reporting Results Accountability--Rewards Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions--No Pass No Play Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions--Takeovers Accountability--School Improvement Adult Basic Education Assessment Assessment--Accommodations Assessment--College Entrance Exams Assessment--Computer Based Assessment--End-of-Course Assessment--Formative/Interim At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Alternative Education At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Drugs/Alcohol Attendance Attendance--Compulsory Attendance--Truancy Background Checks Bilingual/ESL Business Involvement Career/Technical Education Career/Technical Education--Career Academies/Apprenticeship Choice of Schools--Charter Schools Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Charter Districts Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Closings Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Cyber Charters Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Finance Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Research Choice of Schools--Choice/Open Enrollment Choice of Schools--Innovation Schools Choice of Schools--Magnet or Specialized Schools Choice of Schools--Tax Credits Choice of Schools--Vouchers Choice of Schools--Vouchers--Privately Funded Civic Education Civic Education--Character Education Civic Education--Civic Knowledge and Literacy Civic Education--Pledge of Allegiance Class Size Counseling/Guidance Curriculum Curriculum--Arts Education Curriculum--Drivers Education Curriculum--Financial Literacy/Economics Ed. Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language Curriculum--Health/Nutrition Education Curriculum--Language Arts Curriculum--Mathematics Curriculum--Physical Education Curriculum--Science Curriculum--Sex Education Curriculum--Social Studies/History Data-Driven Improvement Demographics--Enrollments Desegregation Economic/Workforce Development CA Vetoed 10/2011 P-12 Postsec. Strategic Plan for Connecting Education and Workforce Development A.B. 1310 Partially from bill summary: Requires the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, in conjunction with the California Workforce Investment Board, the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the state department of education, and the... More... NY Vetoed 09/2011 P-12 Green Jobs Workforce Subcommittee A.B. 241 Creates the Green Jobs Workforce Subcommittee ("subcommittee") under the State Workforce Investment Board. Directs the subcommittee to work with specified public and private stakeholders in developing and carrying out its tasks, including, among others, the de... More... IL Signed into law 08/2011 Postsec. Higher Education Green Jobs and Technology Act H.B. 166 Creates the Higher Education Green Jobs and Technology Act. Permits representatives from each state university and community college, in conjunction with research centers on these campuses focused on clean or sustainable energy, to meet annually to develop col... More... IL Signed into law 08/2011 P-12 Postsec. Comprehensive Healthcare Workforce Planning Act S.B. 1945 Creates the Comprehensive Healthcare Workforce Planning Act. Establishes the State Healthcare Workforce Council to provide an ongoing assessment of health care workforce trends, training issues, and financing policies and to recommend appropriate state governm... More... CT Signed into law 07/2011 Postsec. Postsecondary Alignment H.B. 6485 Requires the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, every two years, to identify and report on the sectors or subsectors in which workforce shortages exist, the workforce skills needed in those sectors or subsectors, and which career pathways should be establish... More... IA Signed into law 07/2011 P-12 Community College Pathways for Academic Career and Employment Act H.F. 645 - Multiple Provisions "Pathways for Academic Career and Employment Act" . Establishes a pathways for academic career and employment program to provide funding to community colleges for the development of projects in coordination with the department of economic development, the depa... More... IL Signed into law 07/2011 Postsec. Higher Education Technology Entrepreneur Center Act H.B. 1876 Creates the Higher Education Technology Entrepreneur Center Act. Authorizes the board of trustees of each public university and community college district to to create a technology entrepreneur center for each campus of the university or each community college... More... CT Signed into law 06/2011 Postsec. Identification of Teacher and Workforce Shortages H.B. 6485 Requires the state Department of Education to annually, by March first, electronically distribute to the president of every institution of higher education in this state offering a teacher preparatory program information concerning teacher shortage areas, for ... More... FL Signed into law 06/2011 P-12 Creation and Transfer of Various State Agencies S.B. 2156 Creates the Department of Economic Opportunity. Transfers the functions and trust funds of the Agency for Workforce Innovation to other agencies. Transfers the Ready to Work program from the Department of Education (DOE) to the Department of Economic Opportuni... More... FL Signed into law 06/2011 Postsec. Higher Education Coordinating Council/Articulation Coordinating Committee/Various Postsecondary Provisions H.B. 7151 Establishes the Higher Education Coordinating Council and directs the council to make recommendations on: (1) The primary core mission of public and nonpublic postsecondary education institutions in the context of state access demands and economic development ... More... LA Adopted 06/2011 Postsec. Community Colleges and Economic Development S.C.R. 61 Urges and requests the Board of Regents to work with the Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges to study the two-year college services offered to the greater northeast Louisiana area, and to determine how the state can best meet the education... More... LA Adopted 06/2011 Postsec. Postsecondary and Workforce Development Study H.C.R. 66 Urges and requests the Board of Regents, the Department of Revenue, and the Louisiana Workforce Commission to report and share information and data, including the success of Louisiana's postsecondary graduates in the workforce, and to submit a report of furth... More... LA Adopted 06/2011 Postsec. Shared Vision for Higher Education in Louisiana H.C.R. 121 Urges the Louisiana Board of Regents to aggressively and fully implement its previously established admission standards, those standards the board set for implementation in 2012 and 2014, and additional admission standards as warranted; that the board continue... More... NC Signed into law 06/2011 Postsec. Establishes the ''No Adult Left Behind" Initiative S.B. 166 Requires the Commission on Workforce Development, acting as the lead agency, with the cooperation of other participating agencies, including but not limited to, the North Carolina Community College System, The University of North Carolina, and the North Caroli... More... NV Signed into law 06/2011 Postsec. Community College Advisory Council on Economic Development A.B. 449 Creates an Advisory Council on Economic Development and prescribes its duties. Creates the Board of Economic Development, consisting of the governor or his or her designee, the lieutenant governor or his or her designee, the secretary of state or his or her de... More... OR Signed into law 06/2011 P-12 Community College Workforce Training Program S.B. 175 Creates Oregon Employer Workforce Training Program and Oregon Youth Employment Program in Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD) subject to availability of funds. Charges local workforce investment boards with local management of pro... More... SC Signed into law 06/2011 P-12 Postsec. Extends the Implementation Date of Personal Pathways to Success H.B. 3748 Extends the date by which the Education and Economic Development Act, now called Personal Pathways to Success, must be implemented fully (the primary goals of Personal Pathways to Success are to increase high school completion rates, better prepare students fo... More... TX Signed into law 06/2011 Postsec. Advanced Research Program H.B. 2631 Renames the advanced research program the Norman Hackerman advanced research program. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/pdf/HB02631F.pdf#navpanes=0... More... TX Signed into law 06/2011 Postsec. Cybersecurity, Education and Economic Development council S.B. 988 Creates a 9-member cybersecurity, education and economic development council, including two representatives from institutions of higher education with cybersecurity-related programs and one representative from a public junior college with a cybersecurity-relat... More... WA Partial Veto http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2011-12/Pdf/Bills/Vetoes/5764.VTO.pdf 06/2011 Postsec. Creating Innovate Washington S.B. 5764 Creates innovate Washington as a state agency. Abolishes the Spokane intercollegiate research and technology institute and the Washington technology center and transfers the powers, duties, and functions to innovate Washington. Creates the investing in innovat... More... CO Signed into law 05/2011 Postsec. Higher Education Master Plan S.B. 52 Directs the commission on higher education to design a master plan that achieves the following goals: increasing the overall number of degrees and certificates awarded in a year by 30% in a decade to provide support for economic development; renegotiating perf... More... MD Signed into law 05/2011 Postsec. Community College Amends Requirements For Exemption From Community College Tuition Payment for Disabled Individuals H.B. 104 Clarifies and amends the requirements for obtaining an exemption from the payment of tuition at community colleges for specified disabled individuals. Allows an individual who is out of work due to a disability to obtain a tuition waiver at a community college... More... NC Signed into law 05/2011 P-12 High School To Work Partnerships H.B. 769 Directs local boards of education to adopt and implement policies that encourage high school to work partnerships. http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/HTML/H769v4.html... More... ND Signed into law 05/2011 Postsec. Community College Workforce Training S.B. 2056 (H.B. 1016) Clarify that one of the four institutions of higher education that is assigned primary responsibility for workforce training qualifies as a "community" under the program and to provide that the institutions of higher education assigned primary responsibility f... More... WV Signed into law 05/2011 P-12 Postsec. Community College Establishes the Learn and Earn Cooperative Education Program S.B. 538 Establishes the Learn and Earn Cooperative Education Program to provide opportunities for students in technical and community colleges to work with West Virginia companies while in college, thus increasing the likelihood that they will complete the program, fi... More... AZ Signed into law 04/2011 Community College Postsec. Community College District S.B. 1213 Outlines an alternative process to convert a provisional community college district to an independent community college district. Allows a county to organize an independent community college district if the following requirements are met: (1) The county has op... More... VA Signed into law 04/2011 Postsec. Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund S.B. 1485/H.B. 2324 Expands the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund to allow for awards from the fund to be used to encourage commercialization and to attract research talent at state institutions of higher education. http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?111+ful+S... More... ME Signed into law 03/2011 P-12 Establishes the Governor's Business Advisory Council 12 FY 11/12 Establishes the Governor's Business Advisory Council tasked with advising on ways to improve the state's business climate. http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/attach.php?id=205612&an=1... More... MS Signed into law 03/2011 P-12 Development of State Longitudinal Data System S.B. 2371 Provides for the development of a state longitudinal data system (SLDS) to establish a multi-agency database to track educational and student outcomes in the workforce. Provides for interagency cooperation with the SLDS. Provides for an SLDS governing board. h... More... UT Vetoed 03/2011 P-12 Postsec. Utah Futures Web Site and Steering Committee S.B. 305 Statutorily creates "Utah Futures" https://utahfutures.org/, a web-based education and career counseling program. Provides that Utah Futures should include proven technologies in enterprise portal, social media and collaboration, video streaming, education and... More... VA Signed into law 03/2011 Postsec. Community College Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011 H.B. 2510/S.B. 1459 Establishes the Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011 for the purpose of fueling strong economic growth in the Commonwealth and preparing Virginians for the top job opportunities in the knowledge-driven economy of the 21st century. The bill provide... More... Equity Federal Finance Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost Finance--Aid to Private Schools Finance--Bonds Finance--District Finance--Facilities Finance--Federal Finance--Funding Formulas Finance--Local Foundations/Funds Finance--Lotteries Finance--Performance Funding Finance--Private Giving Finance--Resource Efficiency Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures Finance--Student Fees Finance--Taxes/Revenues Finance--Taxes/Revenues--Alternative Revenues Governance Governance--Deregulation/Waivers/Home Rule Governance--Ethics/Conflict of Interest Governance--Mandates Governance--School Boards Governance--School Boards--Training Governance--Site-Based Management Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies Health Health--Child Abuse Health--Mental Health Health--Nutrition Health--School Based Clinics or School Nurses Health--Suicide Prevention High School High School--Advanced Placement High School--College Readiness High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment High School--Early Colleges/Middle Colleges High School--Exit Exams High School--GED (General Education Development) High School--Graduation Requirements Instructional Approaches--Grading Practices Instructional Approaches--Homeschooling Integrated Services/Full-Service Schools International Baccalaureate Leadership Leadership--District Superintendent Leadership--District Superintendent--Compensation and Diversified Pay Leadership--Principal/School Leadership Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Certification and Licensure Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Compensation and Diversified Pay Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Evaluation and Effectiveness Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Induction Programs and Mentoring Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Preparation Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Preparation--Alternative Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Professional Development Leadership--Principal/School Leadership--Tenure Mentoring/Tutoring Middle School Minority/Diversity Issues Minority/Diversity Issues--African American Minority/Diversity Issues--American Indian / Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian No Child Left Behind--Adequate Yearly Progress No Child Left Behind--Assessment No Child Left Behind--Consequences for Schools No Child Left Behind--Report Cards No Child Left Behind--School Support No Child Left Behind--Supplemental Services Online Learning--Digital/Blended Learning Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses P-16 or P-20 P-3 P-3 Child Care P-3 Content Standards and Assessment P-3 Ensuring Quality P-3 Finance P-3 Governance P-3 Grades 1-3 P-3 Health and Mental Health P-3 Kindergarten P-3 Kindergarten--Full-Day Kindergarten P-3 Preschool P-3 Special Ed./Inclusion P-3 Teaching Quality/Professional Development Parent/Family Postsecondary Postsecondary Accountability Postsecondary Accountability--Accreditation Postsecondary Accountability--Student Learning Postsecondary Affordability Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid Postsecondary Affordability--Textbooks Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees--Prepd/College Savings Plans Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees--Undocumented Immigrants Postsecondary Faculty Postsecondary Faculty--Compensation Postsecondary Faculty--Intellectual Property Postsecondary Faculty--Tenure Postsecondary Finance Postsecondary Finance--Efficiency/Performance-Based Funding Postsecondary Finance--Facilities Postsecondary Finance--Revenue and Expenditures Postsecondary Governance and Structures Postsecondary Governance and Structures--Administrative/Leadership Issues Postsecondary Governance and Structures--State Executives/State Agencies Postsecondary Institutions Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges Postsecondary Institutions--For-Profit/Proprietary Postsecondary Institutions--Four-Year Baccalaureate Postsecondary Institutions--HBCUs/Minority-Serving Institutions Postsecondary Institutions--Private/Independent Postsecondary Online Instruction Postsecondary Participation--Access Postsecondary Participation--Admissions Requirements Postsecondary Participation--Affirmative Action Postsecondary Participation--Enrollments (Statistics) Postsecondary Students Postsecondary Students--Adults Postsecondary Students--Disabled Postsecondary Students--Foster Youth Postsecondary Students--Graduate/Professional Postsecondary Students--International Postsecondary Students--Low-Income Postsecondary Students--Military Postsecondary Students--Minority Postsecondary Success Postsecondary Success--Completion Postsecondary Success--Developmental/Remediation Postsecondary Success--Retention/Persistence Postsecondary Success--Transfer/Articulation Private Schools Privatization Promising Practices Promotion/Retention Public Involvement Reading/Literacy Reading/Literacy--Adult Literacy Religion Remediation (K-12) Rural Scheduling/School Calendar Scheduling/School Calendar--Day/Class Length Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs Scheduling/School Calendar--Summer School Scheduling/School Calendar--Week Scheduling/School Calendar--Year Scheduling/School Calendar--Year Round School Climate/Culture School Safety School Safety--Bullying Prevention/Conflict Resolution School Safety--Code of Conduct School Safety--Corporal Punishment School Safety--Disaster/Emergency Preparedness School Safety--Expulsion/Suspension School Safety--Sexual Harassment and Assault School Safety--Special Education School Safety--Uniforms/Dress Codes School/District Structure/Operations School/District Structure/Operations--District Consolidation/Deconsolidation School/District Structure/Operations--District Size School/District Structure/Operations--Facilities School/District Structure/Operations--Food Service School/District Structure/Operations--Libraries School/District Structure/Operations--Personnel (Non-Teaching) School/District Structure/Operations--School Size School/District Structure/Operations--Shared Services School/District Structure/Operations--Staffing Ratios School/District Structure/Operations--Transportation Service-Learning Special Education Special Education--Federal Law/Regulations Special Education--Finance Special Education--Placement Special Education--Transition Special Populations--Corrections Education Special Populations--Foster Care Special Populations--Gifted and Talented Special Populations--Homeless Education Special Populations--Immigrant Education Special Populations--Military Standards Standards--Common Core State Standards State Longitudinal Data Systems State Policymaking State Policymaking--Task Forces/Commissions STEM Student Achievement Student Surveys Students--Athletics/Extracurricular Activities Students--Employment Students--Incentives Students--Records/Rights Teaching Quality Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Alternative Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Assignment Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Highly Qualified Teachers Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Natl. Bd. for Prof. Teach. Stds. Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Special Education Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--State Prof. Standards Bds. Teaching Quality--Certification and Licensure--Substitute Teachers Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Pay-for-Performance Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Retirement/Benefits Teaching Quality--Evaluation and Effectiveness Teaching Quality--Induction Programs and Mentoring Teaching Quality--Paraprofessionals Teaching Quality--Preparation Teaching Quality--Professional Development Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention--At-Risk Schools Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention--High-Needs Subjects Teaching Quality--Reduction in Force Teaching Quality--Teacher Attitudes Teaching Quality--Teacher Rights Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract Teaching Quality--Unions/Collective Bargaining Teaching Quality--Unions/Collective Bargaining--Strikes Technology Technology--Devices/Software/Hardware Technology--Equitable Access Technology--Funding Issues Technology--Teacher/Faculty Training Textbooks and Open Source Urban--Change/Improvements