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2003 SESSION

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SB 830 Equal Educational Opportunity Plan.

Introduced by: Henry L. Marsh III | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE: (all summaries)

Equal Education Opportunity Plan. Requires the Secretary of Education to develop and implement a statewide plan to provide for equal education opportunity for all students in Virginia. The Plan must include, but not be limited to, (i) an annual report of the percentage of minority students enrolled in the public schools by grade, and in undergraduate, graduate, professional, and postdoctoral degree programs by discipline; (ii) strategies to increase college admissions, retention, and graduation rates of minority students at the undergraduate and graduate degree levels; (iii) an analysis of the preparation of minority students for college-level work; (iv) an evaluation of the impact of financial assistance and tuition rates as inducements and obstacles to college education; (v) a summary of existing programs in Virginia and nationally that have proven effective in providing equal education opportunity; and (vi) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Plan. The Secretary shall modify the Plan as necessary and recommend appropriate and feasible strategies and alternatives, including the projected costs of implementing the Plan, to address issues and policies identified by the Secretary as essential to the furtherance of the objectives of the Plan.

Effective on December 1, 2004, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary must submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary of the Equal Education Opportunity Plan no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary must state whether the Secretary intends to submit his findings and recommendations for publication as a state document. The executive summary and report must be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and will be posted on the General Assembly's website.

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, which was a part of the legislative initiatives of the Commission on Access and Diversity in Higher Education during the 2002 Session of the General Assembly, was favorably considered by the Commission this year.


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