The Florida Senate

231.614  Inservice master plan for vocational educators; task force.--

(1)  The Department of Education shall develop an inservice master plan for professional and technical updating for vocational instructional personnel in school districts and community colleges. The plan shall be updated every 5 years, and progress in implementing the plan shall be reported in the annual report pursuant to s. 239.233. Specifically, the plan shall provide for:

(a)  Identification of all funds and other resources which are available to support updating activities.

(b)  Identification of appropriate strategies for addressing technical updating needs in each vocational field at the state, regional, district, and institutional levels.

(c)  The involvement of business and industry in the design and delivery of technical updating activities.

(d)  Use of educational technology in the delivery of personnel training and updating.

(e)  Coordination with the district inservice plans developed pursuant to s. 236.0811.

(f)  Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the plan through each system's program review process.

(2)(a)  The department shall coordinate the delivery of inservice education for vocational educators employed in school districts and community colleges in conjunction with the state universities, community colleges, and teacher education centers. A vocational inservice education task force shall be established for the purposes of this subsection. Such task force shall consist of 15 members who are jointly appointed by the Director of the Division of Workforce Development and the Director of the Division of Community Colleges. Membership on the task force shall consist of:

1.  The Director of the Division of Workforce Development, or the director's designee.

2.  The Director of the Division of Community Colleges, or the director's designee.

3.  A vocational educator employed in a school district.

4.  A vocational educator employed in a community college.

5.  An adult educator employed in a school district.

6.  An adult educator employed in a community college.

7.  A teacher education center director.

8.  A community college employee responsible for staff development.

9.  A state university career education teacher educator.

10.  A state university adult education teacher educator.

11.  Five representatives of business and industry.

(b)  The terms of the members shall be 3 years. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointment of a person of the same classification or status as his or her predecessor, and such appointee shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term. Members may be reappointed to serve consecutive terms. Members of the task force may not receive compensation for their services, but are entitled to per diem and travel expenses pursuant to s. 112.061, when actually engaged in discharging their duties as members of the task force.

(c)  The duties of the task force include, but are not limited to:

1.  The identification of inservice education needs of vocational and adult educators.

2.  The identification of public sector and private sector resources available for meeting identified inservice needs.

3.  The determination of the best means for delivering inservice instruction to vocational and adult educators.

4.  The preparation of a biennial report to be submitted to the State Board of Education, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives which delineates the recommendations of the task force and inservice opportunities provided as a result of such recommendations. The first biennial report shall be submitted on or before July 1, 1994.

History.--s. 15, ch. 85-238; s. 42, ch. 92-136; s. 1255, ch. 95-147; s. 16, ch. 97-95; s. 10, ch. 97-307.