Posts Tagged ‘Future Ready Oregon’

Maryland Strengthens Quality of Apprenticeships; Iowa, Oregon Advance Governors’ Initiatives

Wednesday, July 11th, 2018

As most legislative sessions have come to a close, states have adopted policies to expand opportunities for learners. Maryland and Iowa took steps to improve apprenticeship programs, and Oregon passed a bill that would help to encourage construction workers to start their own businesses and expand the talent pipeline.

Maryland Passes Bills to Strengthen Access and Quality of Apprenticeships

In Maryland, Governor Larry Hogan signed two bills in May related to apprenticeships that strengthen the quality and accessibility of the programs to learners. HB1216 authorizes the State Department of Education to adopt regulations requiring the award of credit toward high school graduation for time spent in certain apprenticeship programs and expands state financial aid for apprenticeships.

By allowing time spent in an apprenticeship program to count towards credit for high school graduation, this law prevents students from having to choose between work-based learning opportunities and the completion of high school credit requirements. Additionally, the expansion of financial aid will allow more students to access apprenticeship programs and gain the real-world experience needed to be successful in an ever evolving job market.

Governor Hogan also signed HB1234, which authorizes county boards of education to award credit to high school students for work-based training or classroom instruction completed under a Registered Apprenticeship Program and prohibits certain institutions from referring to certain courses as an apprenticeship or apprenticeship training course unless the course is part of a Registered Apprenticeship training program.

Since Registered Apprenticeship programs are registered with the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and must meet federal and state requirements, this law will help to ensure that apprenticeship programs in Maryland are high-quality and culminate with learners receiving portable, industry-recognized credentials.  

Oregon and Iowa Advance Governors’ Initiatives

In Iowa and Oregon, governors took steps to advance their offices’ initiatives, both of which aim to build a talent pipeline to address the skills gap in their respective states.

In Iowa, in alignment with Future Ready Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds announced an online High School Apprenticeship Playbook, a guide that provides detailed steps for Iowa high schools, employers and students interested in establishing a Registered Apprenticeship program. This guide is meant to help scale apprenticeships in Iowa and provide a model from which schools can develop apprenticeship programs so that they don’t have to start from scratch.

In Oregon, as part of the Future Ready Oregon initiative to turn wage earners into job creators, Governor Kate Brown signed HB4144, which aims to help mid-career construction professionals start their own business, and provides incentives to attract and retain new, young talent into the workforce through providing funding to new businesses and waiving all state fees and formal education requirements for aspiring entrepreneurs who have worked in the construction industry for more than eight years for certain construction licenses.

Brianna McCain, Policy Associate

By admin in Uncategorized
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Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina Expand Career Readiness, CTE Efforts

Thursday, March 15th, 2018

At the beginning of this year, governors delivered their State of the State addresses and highlighted the 2018 policy priorities for their states. Many of this year’s State of the State addresses underscored the importance of workforce development and Career Technical Education (CTE). According to the Education Commission of the States (ECS), 23 governors encouraged expanding workforce development efforts, 19 governors mentioned the need to improve postsecondary affordability, and 16 governors identified modernizing CTE as a priority. Unsurprisingly, as the 2018 legislative session moves forward, governors have recognized and announced new initiatives that highlight the importance of job readiness and CTE.

In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds recognized the recent launch of the Work-based Opportunity Regional Referral Consortium (WORRC), a partnership with the Iowa Community Colleges and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) to expand and improve work-based learning in the state. The 15 Iowa Community Colleges and more than 1,500 member companies represented by the ABI will partner together to increase the number of work-related learning opportunities, such as internships and apprenticeships, available to learners. According to ABI, the partnership aims to:

In addition to addressing the demand for highly skilled workers, the WORRC will collaborate with Gov. Reynold’s Future Ready Iowa initiative, which focuses on building Iowa’s talent pipeline, to implement workforce recommendations from the governor’s initiative.

Oregon’s Gov. Kate Brown launched the Future Ready Oregon initiative, which aims to address the “skills gap” in Oregon and provide jobs and skills training to adults and students. Currently, middle skill jobs, which require some post-secondary education and training, account for 50 percent of Oregon’s job market, but only 45 percent of workers in Oregon are qualified for those jobs. This governor’s initiative recognizes that CTE can address this “skills gap,” and involves dedicating $300 million to CTE classes in the 2019-2021 state budgets, expanding existing apprenticeship opportunities, and introducing legislation that will help mid-career construction professionals start their own business. The initiative also places a significant emphasis on equity and access, calling for an investment in rural areas, communities of color, and Oregon’s nine Native American tribes, an increase in affordable housing supply in rural Oregon, and for hands-on learning to be available in every school district in Oregon.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper recently announced NC Job Ready, a job readiness initiative that aims to equip North Carolinians with the skills, employer guidance, and economic opportunities necessary to secure high wage, high demand careers. This governor’s initiative consists of three core elements: skills and education attainment, employer leadership, and local innovation. Governor Cooper’s calls for improved skills and education attainment in North Carolina comes after a recent report ranked the state’s public schools 40th in the nation, a worse ranking than the year before. NC Job Ready aims to make North Carolina a top ten educated state and focuses on increasing public awareness about job growth in local areas and training programs that can provide North Carolinians with the skills for high-demand jobs. The initiative draws on North Carolina’s already existing 27 Certified Career Pathways to increase the accessibility of job training.

NC Job Ready recognizes that obtaining a quality education is just one part of the equation to ensuring success for North Carolinians. The initiative focuses on the importance of employer-led job training programs and utilizing the partnerships among workforce and economic development agencies to advance career-readiness. The initiative also will support innovation and replication funds so that local leaders may pilot new ideas for local workforce development, which if successful can be replicated in other parts of the state.

These recent governors’ actions are just some examples of governors’ plans to leverage existing and new programs and partnerships in their states to promote CTE and workforce development.

Brianna McCain, Policy Associate

By admin in Public Policy
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