Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Improve Career Readiness of High School Graduates

Employee Relations, Jobs, Skills and Training

A bipartisan group of Senators has introduced legislation to better prepare high school graduates for careers by requiring states to report on career readiness indicators instead of just focusing on college preparation.  The Career Ready Act of 2015 (S. 478) would, among other things, encourage states to report on the opportunities they offer such as work-based learning, postsecondary credentials and Career and Technical Education courses completed.  This is intended to ensure that students can compete for well-paying jobs and help schools align career exploration course offerings and counseling to the workforce needs of the local community.  Currently, all 50 states track efforts to instill academic knowledge for college preparation, but less than half of states publicly report on career readiness indicators.  The bill's authors believe by tracking and publishing this data, businesses and workforce leaders will be better informed about the level of career preparation in a given state or region.  The bill would also fund a grant program for professional development for school counselors and train them to use information on the workforce needs of the local community to help guide students toward in-demand career paths.  The bill was authored by the co-chairs of the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rob Portman (R-OH).