(1) The board shall prepare state plans for occupational education in this state that are required for compliance with any acts of congress which require a state plan for vocational education and shall prepare or approve such further plans for occupational education programs as it deems necessary.

(2) The board shall provide for the implementation of state plans for occupational education and for this purpose may enter into contracts with or purchase services from the governing bodies of school districts, boards of cooperative services, local college districts, other approved local educational agencies, state institutions of higher education, private vocational schools that have been approved under the provisions of article 64 of this title 23, and other appropriate agencies and institutions.

(3) (a) The state plans for occupational education shall include provisions relating to the training of teachers and administrators of occupational subjects and programs, and the board shall take steps to implement these provisions. The board shall also establish minimum qualifications necessary for teachers of occupational subjects, teacher-trainers, supervisors, directors, occupational counseling specialists, and others having responsibilities in connection with occupational education at both the secondary and postsecondary levels and shall certify these qualifications to the department of education.

(b) Credentials to teach an occupational subject or program shall be issued as follows:

(I) The board shall issue a credential to a person specified in this subsection (3) who teaches an occupational subject or program at the postsecondary level and who meets the established minimum qualifications; except that the board may delegate to a postsecondary institution the authority to issue the credential. The board shall establish and charge fees for the issuance of a credential issued pursuant to this subparagraph (I). The amount of the fee shall be determined by the board on the basis of the direct and indirect cost of providing the service. If a postsecondary institution issues a credential, that postsecondary institution may charge the fee established by the board.

(II) The department of education shall issue a credential to a person specified in this subsection (3) who has responsibility for an occupational subject or program at the secondary level and who meets the minimum qualifications established by the board. The state board of education shall establish and charge fees pursuant to sections 22-2-132 and 22-60.5-112, C.R.S., for the issuance of a credential pursuant to this subparagraph (II).

(4) (a) The board has the authority to enter into cooperative arrangements with the system of public employment offices in the state, in order to make available to appropriate educational agencies all occupational information possessed by such employment offices regarding reasonable prospects of employment in the community and elsewhere, so that such agencies may consider such information in providing occupational guidance and counseling to students and prospective students, and in determining the occupations for which persons should be trained, and in order to make available to the public employment offices information possessed by guidance and counseling personnel regarding the qualifications of persons leaving or completing occupational education programs, so that the employment offices may be aided in the occupational guidance and placement of such persons.

(b) The board shall enter into a cooperative arrangement with the state department of human services to develop:

(I) Appropriate educational and academic training programs for participants in the Colorado works program, created in part 7 of article 2 of title 26, C.R.S., based upon the job market analysis prepared in accordance with section 26-2-712 (10), C.R.S.; and

(II) A tuition voucher system pursuant to which a participant in the Colorado works program, created in part 7 of article 2 of title 26, C.R.S., may attend courses at an institution in the state's system of community and technical colleges by using a tuition voucher.

(5) The board shall establish a comprehensive plan for the role of occupational education in support of overall state educational policy that includes improved criteria to measure the quantity, quality, and cost of occupational education in Colorado, alternative funding mechanisms for occupational education including the possibility of private sector support of specialized programming, and a determination of how the board will coordinate among the various agencies responsible for providing vocational and occupational education in Colorado. The plan shall be contained in a report to be submitted to the Colorado commission on higher education on or before January 15, 1987.

(6) The board shall enter into a cooperative arrangement with the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety to develop a system in which a qualified volunteer firefighter may receive a tuition voucher to attend courses at an institution in the state system of community and technical colleges in accordance with section 24-33.5-1216, C.R.S.