Promoting Innovations to 21st Century Careers Act
A BILL
To establish partnerships to create or enhance educational and skills development pathways to 21st century careers, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings; purposes
Findings— Congress finds the following:
A highly skilled and agile workforce is necessary to compete in the global economy and maintain the standard of living of the United States.
According to a 2011 report by the Alliance for Excellent Education, nearly 7,000 students drop out of high school every day. Annually, 1,200,000 students will not graduate from high school with their peers as scheduled.
High school dropouts have a high social cost. According to a 2009 study by Northeastern University, when compared to high school graduates, high school dropouts will cost the taxpayers an average of $292,000. And for high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 24, incarceration rates are 63 times higher than among college graduates.
According to the United States Census Bureau, on average a student who drops out of high school will have an annual income $20,241. That is $10,386 less than an individual with a high school diploma, and $36,424 less than an individual with a bachelor’s degree.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 21 percent of first-year undergraduate students in the 2007–2008 academic school year reported taking at least one remedial course. Twenty-four percent of first-time undergraduate community college students reported taking a least one remedial course.
According to a 2011 report by the American College Testing Program (ACT), by 2018, 30,000,000 new and replacement jobs will require some postsecondary education. The current decline in postsecondary credential attainment threatens the ability of American businesses to compete globally. Currently, about 90,000,000 Americans (half of the U.S. workforce) lack the skills required to function well in the global economy or to earn family sustaining wages.
According to the findings of a 2006 study conducted by the American College Testing Program (ACT), the skills required for high school students to be ready to successfully enter postsecondary education and to enter workforce training programs are comparable. The report found that high school graduates need a comparable level of readiness in reading and mathematics to enter college-level courses without remediation and to enter workforce training programs in jobs that are likely to offer family-supporting wages and the potential for career advancement.
According to a 2003 report for the Educational Testing Service, about 40 percent of American adults do not have skills typical of those with some college, but the fastest job growth will occur in those jobs in which incumbent workers currently have skill levels reflecting at least some postsecondary education.
An increase in a country’s overall level of educational attainment leads to an increase in its overall rate of economic growth. According to a 2009 Mckinsey & Company report, if the United States had in recent years closed the gap between its educational achievement levels and those of better-performing nations such as Finland and Korea, gross domestic product in 2008 could have been $1,300,000,000 to $2,300,000,000 higher. This represents 9 to 16 percent of gross domestic product.
According to the American College Testing Program’s (ACT) analysis of the data from a 2009 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development repot, if current trends in postsecondary credential attainment continue for the United States, the next generation of American workers will be less educated than the previous generation for the first time in the history of the United States.
Purposes— The purposes of this Act are—
to increase the graduation rate of students from high school;
to increase the number of high school students prepared with 21st century skills for college-level work and workforce development after graduation from secondary school;
to improve the long-term labor market prospects for young people;
to establish State and regional partnerships among education, business, labor, and workforce and economic development leaders for the purposes of—
creating or enhancing educational pathways for high school students to postsecondary education, including registered apprenticeship programs, and to 21st century careers;
aligning the requirements for successfully exiting secondary education and entering postsecondary education and workforce development; and
developing a coherent vision for community development that complements and coordinates ongoing and new efforts in education and workforce and economic development;
to increase the use of industry-based skill standards, such as those certifications developed by the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council and the National Institute for Metalworking Skills; and
to increase the number of highly skilled and agile workers available to employers, particularly in high skill, high demand industries.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
At-risk youth— The term at-risk youth means a high school student who—
is economically disadvantaged, as determined by the student being—
eligible for free or reduced price lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.);
eligible to receive medical assistance under the State Medicaid program established under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); or
a member of a family receiving assistance under the State program funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
is at risk for academic failure;
is a student with disabilities;
is a student who is a homeless child or youth, as defined in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a);
is a migrant student or a student with limited English proficiency;
is a youth offender; or
is in foster care or is aging out of the foster care system.
Board— The term Board means the National Academic and Career Innovation Center Board established under section 301(d).
Career pathway— The term career pathway means a rigorous, engaging, and high-quality set of courses and services that—
includes an articulated sequence of academic and career courses, including 21st century skills;
is aligned with the needs of high skill, high demand industries in a region or State;
prepares students for entry into the full range of postsecondary education options, including registered apprenticeships, and careers;
provides academic and career counseling in student-to-counselor ratios that allow students to make informed decisions about academic and career options;
meets State academic standards, State requirements for secondary school graduation and is aligned with requirements for entry into postsecondary education, and applicable industry standards; and
leads to 2 or more credentials, including—
a secondary school diploma; and
a postsecondary degree, an apprenticeship or other occupational certification, a certificate, or a license.
Center— The term Center means the National Academic and Career Innovation Center established under section 301.
Director— The term Director means the Director of the National Academic and Career Innovation Center.
Dropout recovery— The term dropout recovery means a wide range of effective efforts to provide former high school students who did not graduate from secondary school in a standard number of years with an opportunity to earn a secondary school diploma and continue onto postsecondary education.
High school student— The term high school student means a student who is enrolled in a public secondary school—
in one of grades 9 through 12; or
in the case of a student enrolled in a secondary school approved by a State to issue a regular diploma concurrently with a postsecondary degree or with not more than 2 years' worth of postsecondary academic credit, in grade 13.
High skill, high demand industry—
In general— The term high skill, high demand industry means an industry that—
has a significant current or potential impact on the regional economy overall;
brings net dollars into a region or is critical to attracting and sustaining businesses within the industry;
stimulates the growth of other supporting businesses, or the growth of other industries or economic sectors within the region;
provides workers with competitive and family-supporting wages and benefits that increase the strength and vitality of the entire regional economy; and
provides opportunities for career advancement.
Determination— The determination of whether an industry is a high skill, high demand industry shall be made using State or regional business and labor market projections and an analysis of real time data derived from labor market transactions.
Institution of higher education— The term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
Local educational agency— The term local educational agency has the meaning given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
One-stop center— The term one-stop center means a one-stop center described in section 134(c) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(c)).
Pathways grants— The term pathways grants means the grants authorized under title I (excluding section 103) and title II.
Postsecondary education— The term postsecondary education means—
not less than a 1-year program of instruction offered by an institution of higher education that is acceptable for credit toward an associate or a baccalaureate degree; or
a certificate or registered apprenticeship program at the postsecondary level offered by an institution of higher education or a nonprofit educational institution.
Regional partnership— The term regional partnership means a regional pathways partnership receiving funds under section 103.
Registered apprenticeship program— The term registered apprenticeship program means an industry skills training program at the postsecondary level that combines technical and theoretical training through structured on-the-job learning with related instruction (in classrooms or through distance learning) while an individual is employed, working under the direction of qualified personnel or a mentor, and earning incremental wage increases aligned to enhanced job proficiency, resulting in the acquisition of a nationally recognized and portable certificate, under a plan approved by the Office of Apprenticeship or a State agency recognized by the Department of Labor.
Secondary school— The term secondary school has the meaning given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
State— The term State means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
State educational agency— The term State educational agency has the meaning given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
State P–16 or P–20 Council— The term State P–16 or P–20 Council means a body of public officials and public and private sector leaders that—
is established by a State executive order, statute, or voluntary agreement and may be regularly chaired or co-chaired by the Governor of the State;
sets formal, aligned expectations for a seamless system of education from the earliest years of a child’s development through the kindergarten through grade 12 system and into and through postsecondary education;
acts as a venue for collaboration across early learning, including preschool (the “P”) through the first 4 years of higher education (the “16”) or through doctoral and professional schools (the “20”); and
receives State, foundation, business, or other funding to carry out the body's agenda.
State partnership— The term State partnership means a State pathways partnership as established or appointed under section 101(b)(1).
State workforce investment board— The term State workforce investment board has the meaning given the term “State board” in section 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801).
Work-based experience— The term work-based experience means an activity for high school students, postsecondary students, or teachers that provides career knowledge, skills, and abilities, including job-shadowing and internships.