The State Board of Education shall be charged with the responsibility for the removal of illiteracy in Alabama. It shall have the power to make research and to collect data and shall endeavor to enlist the services of any and all community agencies of the state for the removal of illiteracy. The State Board of Education is authorized to receive and expend any funds which may be given to it from time to time from public, private or other sources and shall adopt such rules and regulations as may seem to it most satisfactory for carrying on the work outlined in this section.

It shall be the duty of county and city boards of education to cooperate with the State Board of Education in the removal of illiteracy in the territory under their respective jurisdictions, and to this end the said boards may appropriate from public school funds such amounts as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

The State Board of Education and county and city boards of education are hereby authorized to cooperate with the federal government in making effective any law enacted or that may be enacted by congress for the removal of illiteracy and for maintaining adult education programs and classes in Alabama and in the counties and cities thereof.

The State Board of Education is hereby authorized to expend the State Illiteracy Fund appropriated for the removal of illiteracy and for otherwise maintaining adult education programs and classes; provided, that the State Board of Education is authorized to provide from said fund the necessary professional and clerical assistants to carry on said program.

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish a Council on Adult Education prior to October 1, 1991. The membership of the council shall be as follows:

(1) The Governor or his designated representative;

(2) The State Superintendent of Education;

(3) The Chancellor of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education;

(4) The Executive Director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education;

(5) A member of, as selected by, the Alabama Council for School Administration and Supervision;

(6) A member of, as selected by, the Alabama Association of School Boards;

(7) A member of, as selected by, the Alabama Education Association;

(8) A member of, as selected by, the Alabama Parent Teacher Association;

(9) The Director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs;

(10) The Governor's education liaison; and

(11) Five members of the business/professional community appointed by the Governor.

(b) The Council on Adult Education, created by this section, shall:

(1) Develop long-range recommendations, for submission to the Legislature and the State Board of Education, designed to establish a coordinated system of adult education in the State of Alabama, including a full assessment of the costs of any such recommendations;

(2) Develop recommendations, for submission to the Legislature and the State Board of Education, designed to coordinate existing adult education programs offered by the State of Alabama through different agencies;

(3) Inventory all existing adult education programs in the State of Alabama and recommend to the Legislature and the State Board of Education whether such programs should be abolished, expanded, or continued at present levels;

(4) Develop recommendations, for submission to the Legislature and the State Board of Education, to encourage business and industry to employ participants in adult education programs;

(5) Establish priorities and performance standards prior to December 31, 1992, and design measurement devices and procedures to determine level of accomplishing specific objectives; and

(6) Complete the above directives and submit a written annual report to the Legislature and the State Board of Education beginning with the 1993 Regular Session of the Legislature.

(c) The Council on Adult Education, created by this section, shall be provided with support staff by the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education and the State Department of Education.