Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, is again sponsoring a multi-part bill that she says is about identifying in-demand careers and giving Alabamians more information about what education they need to qualify for those jobs.
House Bill 109 is similar to Collins’ 2022 legislation that passed the House but died without a vote in the Senate.
The bill does three things:
- Creates an “Alabama Credential Registry” of industry identified degrees and certifications that would result in employment and ready someone for the workforce;
- Puts into law the requirement that Alabama high school graduates have by the 2024-2025 academic year earn one or more college or career readiness indicators before they graduate;
- Gives students at all education levels access to better information about “jobs of value” in their area and the educational requirements required for them.
“Students and families could look at it and see in their region what are the in-demand jobs and what it takes to be qualified for those jobs,” Collins said. “Do you need a four-year degree or do you need a credential?”
The legislation would also give state policymakers “access to data regarding the state talent development system, including early learning, education, workforce training and employment outcomes.”
This section of the proposed law requires analyzing student data over time, including academic performance, employment and wage information. Collins said state agencies already collect the data needed and it would not be personally identifiable.
“All the information is de-identified so we can see what programs are working, but nothing about any individual student,” Collins said.
The bill was approved Wednesday by the House Education Policy Committee, which Collins chairs. Collins said she wants to move it more quickly in the House this session in hopes of final passage in the Senate.
Alabama’s Workforce Council, which includes industry leaders from around the state, helped create the legislation.
“The bill will help individuals by providing more information on what programs and credentials are related to in-demand jobs,” Tim McCartney, chair of the council, told Alabama Daily News. “It will also help to standardize Alabama’s high school diploma by adding more value to it in the labor market. Right now, Alabama’s high school diploma is merely based off completing 24 credits. Adding a college and career readiness indicator requirement will better help individuals prepare for postsecondary education and entering the workforce.”
There are nearly a dozen possible college and career indicators, including earning a benchmark score in any subject area on the ACT college entrance exam, earning a qualifying score of three or higher on an advanced placement exam, earning college credit while in high school; earning a qualifying career technical industry credential; or being accepted into the military before graduation.
This section of the bill is similar to a requirement the Alabama State Department of Education approved last year, but bumps up the effective date three academic years.
“It is heartbreaking to think a child might graduate high school thinking they are prepared for the workforce and they are really not,” Collins told Alabama Daily News.
McCartney also said the bill will help employers by preparing more Alabamians to enter in-demand jobs with credentials of value.
“The intent of this bill is to increase our state’s current labor force participation rate of 56.7 percent,” he said. “The nation’s current labor force participation rate is at a little over 62%. In Alabama, every 1% point of Labor Force Participation represents approximately 50,000 people that are currently not working.
“The bottom line is that this is all about skills-based hiring and competency-based education. Employers need to be able to match their job openings to potential employees that possess the skills necessary to perform the job. Educators need to be able to align education to prepare students to possess the competencies that will equip them to obtain and keep a good job that will allow them to sustain a living wage for themselves and their families.”