MLC Education & Workforce Committee News

2025 Quarter 3 | The Council of State Governments (CSG) | Midwestern Legislative Conference (MLC)

MLC Education & Workforce

Committee Newsletter

Co-Chair

NE Sen. Jana Hughes

Co-Chair

MN Rep. Bernie Perryman

Vice Chair

KS Rep. Mari-Lynn Poskin

Committee Happenings

Greetings members of The Council of State Governments' Midwestern Legislative Conference Education & Workforce Development Committee. I want to personally give a big thank you to those of you who were able to travel to the MLC Annual Meeting this summer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and for engaging in the sessions and with the featured speakers.

Copies of the various presentations from the entire meeting can be found on the CSG Midwest website.

For the committee-hosted session held on the first day of the conference, attendees had an opportunity to share the latest accomplishments happening in their respective state and provincial legislatures. The session also featured a policy presentation detailing the utility of computer science education in high school and explained why a growing number of states are moving to require it for graduation.

For more information about the session and the policy issue, please check out the following Stateline Midwest article HERE and copies of the two presentations below.

Presentations:

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Fall Webinar and Future Meeting Suggestions

Later in the season the MLC Education & Workforce Committee will host a webinar open too all members, legislative staff and interested parties. If you have a topic idea in mind, please email your suggestion to Derek Cantù at dcantu@csg.org.

As a member-driven organization, The Council of State Governments is also committed to providing lawmakers with research assistance on a variety of issues and is willing to host in-person policy or professional development sessions with programs like Under the Dome.

This specific program delivers customized training to lawmakers inside their state capitols or virtually, including briefings covering important policy areas and workshops focused on professional development and consensus building.

Again, please contact Derek for research assistance and Under the Dome requests.

Education & Workforce Articles

An increasing number of families are choosing to homeschool their children, constituting around 3 to 6 percent of all K-12 students in the United States. As such, policymakers are debating whether to enhance or reign in state regulations of this educational option.

This article assesses a legislative proposal from this year's spring session in Illinois that sought to have parents and guardians annually indicate their desire to homeschool their children, as well as implement certain requirements for homeschool instructors (for example, possession of a high school equivalency degree).

Conversely, the article also takes a look at a proposal debated this year in Iowa that sought to create regulatory parity between accredited and unaccredited homeschooling paths.

The Stateline Midwest article can be found HERE.

Research Resources

Community Schools Impact on Student Outcomes: Evidence from California

A new Learning Policy Institute study examined the academic outcomes resulting from recent investment in community schools. The approach these school systems follow incorporates integrated student supports (such as health services, meals, and academic supports); expanded learning opportunities, including after- and summer-school activities; collaborative leadership within the school and across partners (such as co-creating professional learning and shared decision-making); and family engagement.

The post-pandemic study of nearly 2,500 California community schools reveals that newly funded community schools saw consistently positive impacts on student outcomes after just one year, including notable math and English language arts learning gains and positive impacts on chronic absence and suspension rates.

And, while all student groups benefited from community school grants, gains were greatest for Black students, followed by English language learners and students from low-income backgrounds.

Read the full LPI report HERE.

Thank you for reading. Watch for the next edition to come out in November 2025.