Secretary of Education (185)

Authority: Title 2.2, Chapter 2, § 2.2-208 Code of Virginia.

A. The Secretary of Education is hereby authorized to make allocations to qualified zone academies of the portion of the national zone academy bond limitation amount to be allocated annually to the Commonwealth of Virginia pursuant to Section 1397E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to provide for carryovers of any unused limitation amount. In making such allocations, the Secretary of Education is directed to give priority to allocation requests for qualified zone academies having at least 35 percent free lunch participation or either located in federal enterprise communities or located in cities and counties within which federal enterprise communities are located.

B. The Secretary of Education is hereby authorized to make allocations of the portion of the tax-exempt private activity bond limitation amount to be allocated annually to the Commonwealth of Virginia pursuant to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (PL 107-16)(Section 142(k)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended) for the development of education facilities using public-private partnerships, and to provide for carryovers of any unused limitation amount. In making such allocations, the secretary is directed to give priority to public-private partnership proposals that will serve as demonstration projects concerning the leveraging of private sector contributions and resources, the achievement of economies or efficiencies associated with private sector innovation, and other benefits that are or may be derived from public-private partnerships in contrast to more traditional approaches to public school construction and renovation. The Secretary is directed to report annually not later than August 31 to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees regarding any guidelines implemented and any allocations made pursuant to this paragraph.

C. Out of this appropriation, $600,000 the second year from the general fund is designated to plan for the development and establishment of innovative education programs and to promote greater cooperation and coordination between institutions of higher education for preschool to grade 12 students through the establishment of College Partnership Laboratory Schools pursuant top Chapter 871 of the 2010 Acts of Assembly. The Secretary of Education is authorized to select institutions of higher education to receive funding provided in this item.

D.1. The Secretary of Education shall evaluate the organizational structure of Virginia Cooperative Extension.  The analysis shall include a presentation of the advantages and disadvantages of the current organizational structure for Virginia Cooperative Extension as compared to the organization structure prior to the merger of the research and extension divisions.  In addition, the Secretary of Education shall conduct a thorough analysis of Cooperative Extension and Agricultural Experiment Station operations.  The Secretary shall determine appropriate reporting requirements for the agency so that the source of funds and the activities that the funds support are transparent.  This examination will provide a thorough analysis of Cooperative Extension finances including (a) historical spending by fund source (state, local, federal) and type (teaching, research, extension) since 1990; and (b) on-campus extension spending which examines research products produced, the cost of each product, the distribution of the research to the field extension offices and administrative overhead.

2. The Secretary of Education shall report the findings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by November 1, 2011.