Today, Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09), member of the House Education and Labor Committee, passed a bipartisan amendment to the America COMPETES Act to include his bipartisan Jumpstart Our Businesses By Supporting Students (JOBS) Act and the late Congressman Paul Mitchell's (MI-10) College Transparency Act, which former Rep. Mitchell implored leadership to pass in his final days. The amendment passed 238-193.
"This is incredibly meaningful," said Congressman Levin. "I'm grateful to be able to honor my colleague, the late Congressman Paul Mitchell and his hard work to make job training a bipartisan issue. Together, these measures will make higher education more achievable and level the playing field for workers as we revive American manufacturing."
Three days before his death on August 15, 2021, Rep. Mitchell said in a letter to House and Senate Committee leadership: "Passing this bill is common-sense, long overdue and extremely timely as our nation works to recover from an economic crisis and Americans return to school to get the skills they need to rejoin the workforce."
The JOBS Act would amend the Higher Education Act by:
- Expanding Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in rigorous and high-quality short-term skills and job training programs that lead to industry-based credentials and ultimately employment in high-wage, high-skill industry sectors or careers.
- Ensuring that students who receive Pell Grants are earning high-quality postsecondary credentials by requiring that the credentials:
- Meet the standards under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), such as meaningful career counseling and aligning programs to in-demand career pathways or registered apprenticeship programs;
- Align with the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act's program of study definition;
- Are recognized by employers, industry, or sector partnerships;
- Align with the skill needs of industries in the state or local economy; and
- Are approved by the state workforce board in addition to the U.S. Department of Education.
- Defining eligible job training programs as those providing career and technical education instruction at an institution of higher education, such as a community or technical college that provides:
- At least 150 clock hours of instruction time over a period of at least 8 weeks;
- Training that meets the needs of the local or regional workforce and industry partnerships;
- Institutional credit articulation so students can continue to pursue further education in their careers; and
- Students with licenses, certifications, or credentials that meet the hiring requirements of multiple employers in the field for which the job training is offered.
- Creating an inter-agency data sharing agreement between the Department of Labor and Department of Education to share WIOA performance outcomes metrics such as median earnings and completion.
- Disaggregates data to understand challenges that are unique to underserved students. To identify inequities in students' success outcomes by race/ethnicity, gender, Pell Grant-recipient status, military status, and other key characteristics.
- Protects student privacy, including for the most vulnerable students and their families. The legislation prohibits the collection of data on citizenship, migrant or national origin status, health, political affiliation, or religion, among other unnecessary data points. It also prohibits any of the data from being used by federal, state, or local law enforcement to take adverse action against any student or a student's family.
- Provides information to policymakers and educators to inform equity-oriented change,
- reporting aggregate information back to states and institutions so they can develop and implement targeted, data-informed strategies that promote student success and educational equity.
- Makes data transparent and accessible to all students and families, requiring a consumer-tested, user-friendly website that makes information transparent, meaningful, and accessible for students, parents, policymakers, institutions, and employers.
Source:https://andylevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-levin-passes-bipartisan-pro-worker-job-training-measures-including-late
