Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H630 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 498 FILED ON: 1/9/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 630
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kate Lipper-Garabedian and Manny Cruz
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act establishing an education-to-career data center.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kate Lipper-Garabedian32nd Middlesex1/9/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex1/9/2025 1 of 10
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 498 FILED ON: 1/9/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 630
18	18	By Representatives Lipper-Garabedian of Melrose and Cruz of Salem, a petition (accompanied
19	19	by bill, House, No. 630) of Kate Lipper-Garabedian and Manny Cruz for legislation to establish
20	20	a education-to-career data center. Education.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act establishing an education-to-career data center.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 7D the
30	30	2following chapter:-
31	31	3 Chapter 7E. Education-to-Career Data Center
32	32	4 Section 1. Definitions
33	33	5 As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires
34	34	6otherwise, have the following meanings:—
35	35	7 “Board”, the board of the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data Center established
36	36	8pursuant to section 4.
37	37	9 “Center”, the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data Center established pursuant to
38	38	10section 2. 2 of 10
39	39	11 “Data element”, a variable or field in an administrative database or record.
40	40	12 “Data provider”, the public agency that provides data elements to the data system.
41	41	13 “Data requests in the public interest”, requests for data that enable families, educators,
42	42	14public agencies, researchers and policymakers to make appropriate choices and investments or
43	43	15provide appropriate interventions to improve educational and workforce outcomes for all
44	44	16individuals.
45	45	17 “Data system”, the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data System established pursuant
46	46	18to section 2.
47	47	19 “De-identification”, the removal of an individual’s name, address, employer, date of
48	48	20birth, social security number, driver’s license number and other personal information from a data
49	49	21record. Data shall be considered “de-identified” only if satisfying the standard for de-
50	50	22identification set forth in 45 CFR § 164.514(b)(1) or (2) and 34 CFR § 99.31(b)(1).
51	51	23 “Longitudinal data set”, a data set containing information on individuals from various
52	52	24public and private sources over multiple periods of time.
53	53	25 “Research-practice partnerships”, collaborative, long-term relationships between
54	54	26researchers and practitioners that are designed to increase educational or workforce outcomes.
55	55	27 “Secure data enclave”, a secure, remotely accessible environment to aggregate and
56	56	28analyze personal data, as set forth in M.G.L c. 66A, without transferring the underlying data.
57	57	29 “Strategic initiative”, a major initiative to increase educational or workforce outcomes
58	58	30that receives funding from the commonwealth over multiple years or entails substantial changes
59	59	31to policy or practice. 3 of 10
60	60	32 Section 2. The Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data Center
61	61	33 (a) The Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data Center is hereby established within the
62	62	34Executive Office of Technology Services and Security. The center’s purpose is to build and
63	63	35operate the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data System pursuant to section 3.
64	64	36 (b) The center shall be headed by an executive director who shall report to the secretary
65	65	37of information technology services and security. In selecting the executive director, the secretary
66	66	38shall consult with the board. The executive director shall be the chief executive, administrative
67	67	39and operational officer of the center; shall direct and supervise the administrative affairs and the
68	68	40general management of the center and shall attend the meetings of the board. The executive
69	69	41director may appoint and remove such employees deemed necessary to perform the duties of the
70	70	42center.
71	71	43 (c) The center may receive funding for its operations from state appropriations, federal
72	72	44grants, and any other grants or contributions from public agencies or other entities.
73	73	45 (d) The duties of the center shall be to:
74	74	46 (1) Oversee and maintain the data system.
75	75	47 (2) Develop de-identification processes.
76	76	48 (3) Regularly audit and ensure compliance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy
77	77	49Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, the Federal Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, the Fair Information Practices
78	78	50Act, M.G.L. c. 66A, the state unemployment insurance statute, M.G.L. c. 151A, § 46, the
79	79	51security breach statute, M.G.L. c 93H, the workforce development statute, M.G.L c. 23H § 6(b),
80	80	52and all other state and federal data privacy laws without limitation. 4 of 10
81	81	53 (4) Work with public agencies to define statewide education, workforce development,
82	82	54and employment metrics and ensure the integrity and quality of data collected.
83	83	55 (5) Produce standard reports and build and maintain data query tools, reducing
84	84	56duplication of effort for agency staff and providing the public with one location to access
85	85	57education and workforce data.
86	86	58 (6) Facilitate research requests, ensuring that research complies with all state and federal
87	87	59law related to individual privacy, including by building and maintaining a secure data enclave.
88	88	60 (e) Pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, the center shall be considered an authorized
89	89	61representative of the department of elementary and secondary education, the department of
90	90	62higher education, and the department of unemployment assistance under applicable state and
91	91	63federal statutes for purposes of accessing and compiling student record and wage data for
92	92	64research purposes. Any disclosures of confidential unemployment compensation information to
93	93	65the center for purposes of populating the data system shall adhere to the requirements of 20
94	94	66C.F.R. Part 603 and state law concerning the confidentiality of the information.
95	95	67 Section 3. Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data System
96	96	68 (a) There is hereby established the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data System for
97	97	69the purpose of providing reliable and actionable information on education and workforce
98	98	70outcomes. Information contained in the data system shall be used to:
99	99	71 (1) address disparities in educational and workforce outcomes;
100	100	72 (2) support student guidance and informed student and family decision-making; 5 of 10
101	101	73 (3) foster continuous improvement and accountability for educational and workforce
102	102	74outcomes; and
103	103	75 (4) ensure efficient utilization of public and private resources devoted to furthering
104	104	76educational and workforce outcomes.
105	105	77 (b) The data system shall employ technologies to accomplish the following:
106	106	78 (1) enable the ongoing creation, management, and monitoring of longitudinal data sets in
107	107	79a manner that protects individual privacy;
108	108	80 (2) facilitate utilization of longitudinal data sets and reduce the administrative burden on
109	109	81public agency staff responsible for producing reports and fulfilling data requests in a timely
110	110	82manner, including by providing a public platform for querying the data and building custom
111	111	83reports;
112	112	84 (3) provide access to actionable data for use by students, families, counselors, educators,
113	113	85and workforce development providers; and
114	114	86 (4) enable academic, nonprofit and governmental research to enhance the development of
115	115	87policies focused on educational and workforce outcomes.
116	116	88 (c) At least once per year, the following public agencies shall provide data to the data
117	117	89system:
118	118	90 (1) department of early education and care;
119	119	91 (2) department of elementary and secondary education;
120	120	92 (3) department of higher education; 6 of 10
121	121	93 (4) department of unemployment assistance; and
122	122	94 (5) Any other public agencies that the executive director, subject to the review of the
123	123	95board, identifies as appropriate for ongoing incorporation into the data system.
124	124	96 (d) The executive director may incorporate additional data elements from any public
125	125	97agency or private entity into the data system.
126	126	98 (e) Ownership of data provided to the data system shall be retained by the providing
127	127	99entity.
128	128	100 (f) At all times, the data system shall act in furtherance of the public good and shall be
129	129	101held accountable thereto.
130	130	102 Section 4. Board of the Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data Center
131	131	103 (a) The Massachusetts Education-to-Career Data Center shall be governed by a 15-
132	132	104member board composed of the secretary of information technology services and security or
133	133	105their designee, who shall serve as chair; the secretary of education or their designee; the secretary
134	134	106of labor and workforce development or their designee; the secretary of health and human
135	135	107services or their designee; the commissioner of early education and care or their designee; the
136	136	108commissioner of elementary and secondary education or their designee; the commissioner of
137	137	109higher education or their designee; the director of the department of unemployment assistance or
138	138	110their designee; the undersecretary of housing and community development or their designee;
139	139	111three members of the public appointed by the speaker of the house; and three members of the
140	140	112public appointed by the senate president. 7 of 10
141	141	113 (b) In appointing members of the public to the board, the speaker and senate president
142	142	114shall strive to ensure that the governing board represents the racial and ethnic diversity of the
143	143	115commonwealth and includes persons with experience in data security, quantitative research and
144	144	116helping students and families consume education data. A member of the public shall serve a term
145	145	117of no more than three years and shall not serve more than two consecutive terms or more than six
146	146	118years. For the first appointments of members of the public, to create staggered terms, the speaker
147	147	119and senate president shall appoint one member of the public to serve a one-year term, one
148	148	120member of the public to serve a two-year term, and one member of the public to serve a three-
149	149	121year term.
150	150	122 (c) The governing board shall develop and revise, from time to time, a self-governance
151	151	123process to ensure that it, among other actions, convenes on a regular basis, but no less than
152	152	124quarterly; and posts and archives video recording of all board meetings on the center’s public
153	153	125website.
154	154	126 (d) The governing board shall be responsible for the strategic direction and
155	155	127implementation of the data system, including, but not limited to:
156	156	128 (1) ensuring the data system is serving its intended purpose by providing an annual report
157	157	129to the Governor and the legislature, including the number of research requests approved and
158	158	130denied, the number of unique visitors to online data access tools maintained by the center, an
159	159	131annual budget recommendation for the center, and legislative recommendations to adjust the data
160	160	132system’s mission or operation to improve educational and workforce outcomes; 8 of 10
161	161	133 (2) establishing a research agenda that balances strategic initiatives, research priorities for
162	162	134data providers, legislative requests, research-practice partnerships, and data requests from
163	163	135outside researchers and the public;
164	164	136 (3) adopting best practice policies related to privacy and security, including creating
165	165	137policies, in accordance with federal and state law and regulation, related to data de-identification
166	166	138as well as governing the collection and use of personally identifiable information from data
167	167	139providers, which may include the creation of an “opt out” policy for students and families;
168	168	140 (4) adopting and adjusting as necessary a data dictionary, data standards, and security
169	169	141protocols to ensure interoperability between the data system and other state data systems using
170	170	142the same source data;
171	171	143 (5) expanding the collected data set by approving additional data providers or requesting
172	172	144additional data points from data providers, consistent with all applicable laws; and
173	173	145 (6) creating, and revising from time to time, a data request process for use by researchers
174	174	146and policymakers, that:
175	175	147 (i) maintains compliance with federal and state laws to protect individual privacy,
176	176	148including by allowing any data provider to exclude its data elements from a request if the data
177	177	149provider determines that access to the data element conflicts with its statutory requirements to
178	178	150protect individual privacy; and giving data providers the opportunity to review and approve the
179	179	151public release of research products derived from their data elements to ensure that the research
180	180	152products conform with statutory requirements to protect individual privacy; and 9 of 10
181	181	153 (ii) facilitates the timely approval of data requests in the public interest, as defined
182	182	154pursuant to section 1, to generate information that is not otherwise available via public query
183	183	155tools or published reports; and
184	184	156 (iii) provides a clear and publicly accessible record of all data requests approved, denied,
185	185	157or withdrawn, including by issuing a clear written explanation for the determination when a
186	186	158request is denied.
187	187	159 Section 5. Strategic Initiatives
188	188	160 (a) The board may determine that a strategic initiative of the commonwealth merits
189	189	161enhanced data collection or evaluation, or both.
190	190	162 (b) At such time, the executive director shall appoint a special committee with two co-
191	191	163chairs. One co-chair shall be a member of the board that represents an agency involved in the
192	192	164strategic initiative or their designee. The second co-chair shall be an academic researcher who is
193	193	165not principally employed by the commonwealth. The special committee shall include at least five
194	194	166members, inclusive of the co-chairs. At least three of the members shall have expertise in
195	195	167statistical methods for program and policy evaluation.
196	196	168 (c) Over the life of the strategic initiative, the special committee shall recommend
197	197	169evaluation methods. To the extent that these methods require additional data elements, the
198	198	170executive director and board shall direct the agencies to prioritize the integration of these data
199	199	171elements into the data system.
200	200	172 Section 6. Research-Practice Partnerships 10 of 10
201	201	173 A municipality or group of municipalities of the commonwealth may create research-
202	202	174practice partnerships to improve their understanding of education and workforce outcomes at the
203	203	175local or regional level. The center shall support these efforts by developing policies and
204	204	176procedures to link local data to the data system, in compliance with all state and federal laws to
205	205	177protect individual privacy.
206	206	178 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage.