Commonwealth of Pennsylvania House of Representatives
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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND CAREER READINESS PUBLIC HEARING STATE CAPITOL HARRISBURG, PA IRVIS OFFICE BUILDING ROOM G-50 TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2 015 9:32 A.M. PRESENTATION ON HR 102 CAREER TRAINING PROGRAMS BEFORE: HONORABLE SETH GROVE, MAJORITY CHAIRMAN HONORABLE HARRY LEWIS HONORABLE MIKE TOBASH HONORABLE PATRICK HARKINS, DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN Pennsylvania House of Representatives Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 2 ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: HONORABLE STANLEY SAYLOR HONORABLE KRISTIN PHILLIPS-HILL HONORABLE MARK LONGIETTI COMMITTEE STAFF PRESENT: NICHOLE DUFFY MAJORITY SENIOR EDUCATION ADVISOR KAREN SEIVARD MAJORITY SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL JONATHAN BERGER MAJORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MICHAEL BIACCHI MAJORITY RESEARCH ANALYST JESSICA HENNINGER MAJORITY LEGISLATIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT CHRIS WAKELEY DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TRACEY ANN MCLAUGHLIN DEMOCRATIC RESEARCH ANALYST MARLENA MILLER DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT 3 I N D E X TESTIFIERS ~k k k NAME PAGE DIANE BOSAK ACTING DEPUTY SECRETARY, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, 3 PA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRY............. 8 1 ED LEGGE DIVISION CHIEF, CENTER FOR WORKFORCE INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS... 11 LEE BURKET DIRECTOR, PDE BUREAU OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION PA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION....................... 31 HANNAH SMITH-BRUBAKER DEPUTY SECRETARY, MARKET DEVELOPMENT, PA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE..................... 58 JACQUELINE CULLEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PA ASSOCIATION OF TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATORS...... 78 ACCOMPANIED BY: THOMAS ALLEN PRESIDENT, PA ASSOCIATION OF TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATORS; ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR, EASTERN CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY WALTER SLAUCH VICE PRESIDENT, PA ASSOCIATION OF TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATORS; ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR, CENTRAL MONTCO TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL DAVID THOMAS ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR, YORK COUNTY SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY 4 I N D E X TESTIFIERS (cont’d) ~k k k NAME PAGE VICKI SMITH BOARD PRESIDENT, HOMER CENTER SCHOOL DISTRICT, ON BEHALF OF PA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION.......................98 ERIC WOLFGANG BOARD PRESIDENT, CENTRAL YORK SCHOOL DISTRICT ON BEHALF OF PA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION........ 104 JAMES BUCKHEIT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PA ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS.......... 110 DAVID C. NAMEY PRESIDENT, DEPARTMENT OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL STUDIES, PA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION....................122 SUBMITTED WRITTEN TESTIMONY ~k ~k ~k (See submitted written testimony and handouts online.) 5 P R O C E E D I N G S 1 ~k ~k ~k 2 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN GROVE: — HR 102, prime 3 sponsored by Education Majority Chairman Stan Saylor and 4 Minority Chairman James Roebuck. 5 I'm State Representative Seth Grove, who's been 6 tasked with chairing the Select Committee, along with 7 Representative Patrick Harkins to my left. 8 I'd like to remind Members, testifiers, and 9 guests, this Committee hearing is being tape-recorded, it's 10 been streamed live, and I believe PCN is picking up live as 11 well. I ’d also like to ask everyone to silence your phones 12 and electronic devices. 13 I’d like to start off this meeting with the 14 Pledge of Allegiance, and Representative Harkins, could you 15 lead us? 16 DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN HARKINS: Yes. 17 18 (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.) 19 20 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN GROVE: W e ’ll start off with 21 introductions. Again, I ’m State Representative Seth Grove, 22 York County. 23 DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN HARKINS: Good morning. I ’m 24 Pat Harkins, [microphone turned off]. 6 1 REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS-HILL: Kristin Hill, 93rd 2 District, Southern York County. 3 REPRESENTATIVE LEWIS: Good morning. Harry 4 Lewis, 74th District, Chester County. 5 REPRESENTATIVE LONGIETTI: Good morning. Mark 6 Longietti. I represent the 7th District in Mercer County. 7 MR. BIACCHI: Mike Biacchi, Research Analyst. 8 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN GROVE: Thank you. I have 9 brief comments, as well as Representative Harkins. 10 Generally here, how do we do a better job 11 matching up the workers of tomorrow with the careers of 12 tomorrow? How do we match up the workers today with the 13 careers of today? How do we end the biases we feel towards 14 technical education in the Commonwealth? These are not new 15 questions, and in fact many programs and policies have been 16 adopted to address them. 17 But we'll dive deeper into these policies and 18 programs and demand more answers in order to fully complete 19 our work. We will work diligently and comprehensively, as 20 I feel it is imperative for the future of our economic 21 viability as our Commonwealth. I truly believe 22 Pennsylvania is on the cusp of being an economic 23 powerhouse, and what we do today will set our fate in the 24 future. 25 I thank the testifiers today for their time in 7 1 helping us understand where career and technical education 2 is today. With over a year until this Committee report is 3 due, w e ’re planning several hearings and tours. This 4 morning, we are building a foundation focusing on K through 5 12 career and technical education. In developing policy, I 6 personally ask what is happening now and how do we improve 7 it? That is our goal for our first two hearings. 8 Our next hearing will be Thursday, May 28th, at 9 Reading Community College. We will be focused on higher 10 education, career and technical education, and a tour of 11 Reading Community College, followed by a roundtable on June 12 11th hosted by Representative Mike Tobash on Act 168, 13 followed by another tour. 14 I fully believe the more work we do as a Select 15 Committee, the better the final product we will develop. 16 My goal is to make everyone on this Select Committee, 17 whether they like it or not, an expert in career and 18 technical education. 19 With that said, Representative Harkins, do you 20 have any opening comments? 21 DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN HARKINS: Thank you, 22 Representative Grove. 23 I ’d just like to add that I look forward to 24 working with all the Members, all the stakeholders. My 25 background in high school was Erie Tech Memorial, a degree 8 1 in electronics and electricity that I still use to this 2 day. I also had the good fortune of meeting my wife there, 3 but that’s for another day. 4 But, no, I just look forward to traveling around 5 the State, getting to know more about the trades, and 6 putting more of an emphasis on the trades, working with 7 everyone. 8 Thank you very much. 9 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN GROVE: Thank you. 10 As this Committee was borne out of 11 bipartisanship, we hope to have a final bipartisan product 12 moving forward working with all stakeholders and I look 13 forward to all the input from every stakeholder, every 14 testifier, and the countless people I have met with. There 15 is a ton of excitement, I think, for this Select Committee, 16 and hopefully we can do good due diligence through -- by 17 all the stakeholders through this process. 18 With that, I ’d like to call our first testifier, 19 Diane Bosak, Acting Deputy Secretary of Workforce 20 Development for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and 21 Industry. Welcome this morning. 22 MS. BOSAK: Thank you. 23 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN GROVE: And feel free to start 24 when you’re comfortable. 25 MS. BOSAK: Okay. Good morning. Chairman Grove, 9 1 Chairman Harkins, and the Members of the House Education 2 and Select Subcommittee on Technical Education and Career 3 Readiness. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you 4 this morning regarding technical education and career 5 readiness in the Commonwealth, particularly as these relate 6 to the workforce development. 7 The Department of Labor and Industry is committed 8 to Governor Wolf's priorities of jobs that pay, government 9 that works, and schools that teach. The role the 10 Department's Workforce Development activities plan of 11 supporting the Governor's philosophy is twofold: 12 • By engaging stakeholders across the workforce 13 and service delivery spectrum, including 14 employers, education, and training providers 15 and jobseekers, we are helping to create an 16 economy that provides family-sustaining jobs 17 for Pennsylvanians. 18 • By providing Pennsylvanians the skills that 19 employers are looking for, our Workforce 20 Development system, with 22 local Workforce 21 Boards and 65 CareerLink Centers, is preparing 22 Pennsylvanians for family-sustaining jobs. 23 24 Today, we'll describe one proposed and four 25 existing workforce development initiatives in which the 10 1 Department carries out in areas related to technical 2 education and career readiness. The Career and Technical 3 Education Initiative, Business-Education Partnership 4 Grants, Apprenticeship Program Grants, and industry 5 partnerships, all these programs encourage local and 6 regional collaboration and strong connections between 7 employers and the workforce system. 8 As you may be aware, Governor Wolf's budget 9 provides for a major new investment in career and technical 10 education taking the first step toward modernizing and 11 transforming what has often been a neglected and 12 underperforming part of the State's educational and 13 workforce development system. The budget provides 15 14 million to help school districts partner with career and 15 technology centers, higher education institutions, 16 employers and labor organizations to train students for 17 high-demand, high-growth occupations that pay a living wage 18 and offer a career ladder. Students will have the 19 opportunity to earn college credit and industry credentials 20 and will participate in work-based learning. 21 Approximately 30 grants of up to $500,000 each 22 will be awarded with at least one in each workforce 23 investment area. The Department will administer this 24 program jointly with the Departments of Education and 25 Community and Economic Development. 11 1 I ’m going to pause for a moment in my comments 2 and ask Ed Legge from the Center for Workforce Information 3 and Analysis to provide an overview of the kinds of jobs 4 for which these initiatives will prepare students, and then 5 I will share some highlights of our other initiatives.