With momentum growing toward expanding career-connected learning options for all Massachusetts students, the Student Pathways to Success coalition last week welcomed legislators, community leaders, and coalition members to a legislative briefing at the State House.

The June 15 event, Improving Student Opportunity, Preparing our Future Workforce, was organized in partnership with Student Pathways legislation sponsors Sen. John Cronin and Rep. Chynah Tyler and hosted by Ed Lambert, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE). Speakers explored how we can strengthen and scale college and career pathways here in the Commonwealth in order to connect more students to future career and economic opportunities aligned with our state’s workforce needs:

• Strong legislative momentum towards expanding pathways: The briefing began with remarks from various lawmakers, including Sen. Cronin and Rep. Tyler, who expressed their support for legislation aimed at expanding pathways for workforce skills and college and career readiness.

• • Rep. Josh Cutler highlighted the need for historic action at this crucial turning point in the workforce. He advocated for the passage of An Act Creating a Workforce Skills Cabinet Supporting Pathways to Success, which establishes a cross-agency governance structure to enhance workforce skills and readiness.
  • Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian emphasized the importance of high-quality education to career data systems to inform policies and investments.
  • Rep. Manny Cruz shared the success of the MyCAP program, a comprehensive college and career advising system implemented in the Salem district. He aims to expand the program through An Act to Expand the Use of Career and Academic Plans, a legislation introduced by him and Rep. Reyes.
  • Rep. Kate Donaghue stressed the significance of incorporating computer science coursework into school curricula. “I switched to computer science 5 years after college and it changed my life,” she said. In collaboration with Rep. Andres Vargas and Sen. Barry Finegold, Rep. Cruz has worked towards this goal through An Act to Expand Access to Computer Science Coursework. If passed, this legislation would mandate every public high school in Massachusetts to offer at least one foundational computer science course.

• Pathways matter: A presentation by Quentin Suffren, senior policy advisor at ExcelinEd, spoke about essential components of a comprehensive education to workforce system that aims to equip students with the skills necessary to thrive in the evolving job market. He highlighted best practices from other states in three key policy areas: the work in Texas to greatly scale Early College opportunities; Florida establishing incentives for industry-recognized credentials earned in high school; and, Colorado creating a very popular and effective annual jobs report through cross-agency governance collaboration. These state examples directly influenced the development of our pathways legislative package.

• Students in every corner of the Commonwealth need information and access: A distinguished panel of Massachusetts leaders shared their perspectives on the crucial work required to advance the academic and professional futures of students in the Commonwealth. The panel featured Amanda Fernandez, CEO & Founder of Latinos for Education, Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, CEO & President of MassBio, and Robert Lewis Jr., CEO & President of Boys & Girls Clubs Boston. “Do we really believe our young folks are our future? If we do, then how do we get them ready for our future workforce?” asked Lewis. “We can’t just wait for talented people to come here from around the country for our colleges and hope they decide to stay here.”

The speakers highlighted the effectiveness of various pathways resources, such as vocational education, early college programs, and workforce training initiatives. Burlin O’Connell pointed out the high demand for life sciences jobs in the region, with the MassBio Education Foundation predicting the life sciences industry will add nearly 42,000 jobs by 2032. But a shortage of trained workers to fill these positions persists, partly due to communities’ limited knowledge about the available training programs. O’Connell emphasized the need to break this barrier by creating an inclusive environment and educating communities and local leaders about the abundant opportunities at their fingertips.

The Student Pathways to Success Coalition is asking state leaders to adopt a bold goal: By 2030, every student in Massachusetts will be on personalized pathway that offers opportunities to earn college credit, engage in work-based learning experiences, obtain industry-recognized credentials, and benefit from dedicated career counseling. We are immensely grateful for the opportunity to host events like this legislative briefing, as they allow us to showcase our initiatives and create awareness around our transformative vision.

To achieve our goal, we are actively working towards the passage of Pathways legislation and fostering ongoing conversations with key stakeholders. These legislative efforts, coupled with continuous dialogue, will enable us to pave the way towards comprehensive educational reform and the realization of our shared vision.