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2002 SESSION

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HB 1070 Equal Education Opportunity Plan.

Introduced by: Jerrauld C. Jones | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Equal Education Opportunity Plan. Requires the Secretary of Education to develop and implement a statewide plan to provide for equal education opportunity in Virginia for all students in pre-kindergarten through grade twelve, undergraduate and graduate degree programs, and professional and post-doctorate degree programs. Among other things, the Plan must provide (i) strategies to assist local school boards and public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education in diversifying their personnel, (ii) strategies to increase college admissions, retention, and graduation rates of minority students at the undergraduate and graduate degree levels, particularly in disciplines in which they are under-represented, (iii) the effect of the escalating costs of college on the enrollment of minority students, (iv) an analysis of the preparation of minority students for college-level work, (v) an evaluation of the impact of financial assistance, institutional admissions and retention policies, and public policies as inducements and obstacles to college education, (vi) a 10-year projection of minority enrollment and graduation rates at public institutions of higher education, and (vii) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Plan. The Plan, including recommendations to address issues and modifications of strategies, must be reported by the Secretary, biennially, to the Governor and the General Assembly, beginning December 1, 2002. The Equal Education Opportunity Plan, although never implemented, was required initially as a result of Adams v. Richardson, 480 F2d 1159 (DC Cir. 1973) and Adams v. Califano, 430 F. Supp. 118 (DC 1977), concerning the desegregation of Virginia colleges and universities, and has been incorporated in the Virginia Plan for Equal Opportunity in State-Supported Institutions of Higher Education since 1973, Item 131.10 of the 2001 Budget communicated by the Governor. The Plan provides evidence of Virginia's good faith effort to comply with the new agreement entered into by the Commonwealth with the U. S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on November 7, 2001, to work toward resolution of the 5-year federal compliance review precipitated by the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in Ayers v. Fordice, (505 US 717, 112 S.Ct. 2727, 1992).

This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Access and Diversity in Higher Education.


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