Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S427 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 826 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 427
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Jacob R. Oliveira
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 expanding high school student access to earn industry recognized credentials.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Jacob R. OliveiraHampden, Hampshire and Worcester 1 of 4
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 826 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 427
18	18	By Mr. Oliveira, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 427) of Jacob R. Oliveira for
19	19	legislation to expand high school student access to earn industry recognized credentials.
20	20	Education.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE SENATE, NO. 334 OF 2023-2024.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act expanding high school student access to earn industry recognized credentials.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 Chapter 69 of the General laws, as appearing in the 2022 official edition, is hereby
32	32	2amended by adding the following section:-
33	33	3 Section 37.
34	34	4 Section 1. (a) As used in this section, “Executive Office” shall mean the Executive Office
35	35	5of Labor and Workforce Development.
36	36	6 (b) As used in this section, “Department” shall mean the Department of Elementary and
37	37	7Secondary Education. 2 of 4
38	38	8 (c) As used in this section, “employment value” is an assessment of the value of a
39	39	9particular occupation based on the entry wage, growth rate in employment for such occupation,
40	40	10and average annual openings for such occupation.
41	41	11 Section 2. (a) The Executive Office shall provide the Department annually with a list of
42	42	12occupations in high need of additional skilled employees that either requires an industry-
43	43	13recognized certification, or for which such a certification will materially enhance a job
44	44	14applicant’s chances for employment and/or compensation. The Executive Office shall rank the
45	45	15list based on employment value. The top 20% of the list shall be deemed occupations of high
46	46	16employment value, provided, however, that no occupation shall be included on the list if it leads
47	47	17to an occupation with wages less than 70% of the average annual wage in the commonwealth
48	48	18unless the certification for such an occupation is stackable to another industry certification and is
49	49	19required for the next level of occupation, which does meet the 70% wage criterion.
50	50	20 (b) The Department shall make the current list available to all school districts in the
51	51	21Commonwealth and to the public on the Department’s website.
52	52	22 Section 3. (a) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall pay each school district a
53	53	23certification award calculated as follows:
54	54	24 (i) $750 for each student in the district who earns an industry-recognized certification for
55	55	25an occupation that has high employment value or an industry recognized certification that is
56	56	26recognized by any public institution of higher learning in the commonwealth as a basis for
57	57	27academic credit in such institution. 3 of 4
58	58	28 (ii) $600 for each student in the district who earns an industry-recognized certification
59	59	29that does not meet the criteria of the previous paragraph but addresses regional demands
60	60	30identified by the local MassHire Workforce Board.
61	61	31 The school district receiving a certification award must allocate at least 80% of any
62	62	32certification award to the school whose students obtained the qualifying certification. The
63	63	33allocation may not be used to supplant funds otherwise provided for the basic operation of the
64	64	34school. The school receiving a certification award must use the award to support or maintain the
65	65	35program, including the payment of stipends for instructors and the subsidization of fees for low-
66	66	36income students to obtain the certification.
67	67	37 (b) Subject to appropriation, the Department may pay a certification development award
68	68	38to a school district to support the development of programs to assist students in obtaining
69	69	39industry-recognized certifications described in subsection 3(a)(i). School districts may use a
70	70	40certification development award to develop instructors able to prepare students to obtain
71	71	41certification, to obtain equipment and other instructional materials to be used for such
72	72	42preparation, or any other purpose directly related to developing programs to assist students in
73	73	43obtaining a qualifying certification.
74	74	44 Section 4. The Department shall each year prepare an annual report on the progress made
75	75	45under this section including:
76	76	46 (a) The number of public school students who are seeking certifications for high demand
77	77	47occupations, identifying the number of such students who are low-income, ELL and/or SPED.
78	78	48 (b) The certifications earned by such students, including the number of each such
79	79	49certifications earned. 4 of 4
80	80	50 (c) An analysis of the extent, if any, to which the funding provided for the program
81	81	51during the year was insufficient to make the awards under section 3.