Committee Happenings

The holiday season may be upon us and the biennium for the CSG Midwestern Legislative Conference may be coming to an end, but you can still take advantage of learning opportunities offered by The Council of State Governments-Midwest.

Throughout the month of December, the various standing committees of the MLC will host a series of webinars open to all legislators, legislative staff and others. Dates for the series can be found to the left.

Closing out this webinar series will be a session co-hosted by our committee and the MLC Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee.

We invite you to join us on Thursday, Dec. 19, to hear from experts at the Center on Rural Innovation on how policymakers can better identify workforce needs in rural communities, with a particular focus on tech-sector careers, and learn how to effectively create and maintain a network of partners to train prospective workers. 

Registration can be found HERE.

Biennium in Review

From its formation two years ago, this new committee has afforded legislators and policymakers from across the region an open forum to discuss and learn about pressing issues relating to the school-to-career pipeline and the preparedness of young people and adult learners alike for a dramatically changing labor market.

Over the past two years, this policy focus has led to the production of numerous articles in the CSG Midwest publication Stateline Midwest on issues such as literacy education instruction, school choice funding, combating chronic absenteeism, and government oversight of early childhood learning.

Additionally, in an effort to better understand how states are attempting to recruit and retain K-12 teachers, a policy brief was produced for committee members that highlighted recent legislative and state agency actions that have created, for example, loan forgiveness programs, alternative licensure pathways, and upskilling opportunities for paraprofessionals.

Finally, during the past biennium, the committee offered members multiple opportunities to meet in-person during the MLC annual meetings and a policy workshop in Chicago focused on the future of the energy workforce, including innovative recruitment and training strategies and apprenticeship programs.

We hope you had the chance to take advantage of one or more of these resources or networking opportunities during your membership on this committee. Links to relevant articles and presentations throughout the biennium can be found below.

As membership on this committee will reset for all legislators following the new year, we encourage you to reach out to the chief presiding officer of your respective legislative chamber and let them know you would like to be appointed to an MLC committee for the 2025-2026 term.

Stateline Midwest Articles:

• “States use different models to govern K-12 systems, and these structures are subject to change based, in part, on the will of legislatures”
• “Public funds for private-school enrollment? The question is getting a lot of attention this year in state capitols, and Iowa has a far-reaching new law”
• “Indiana’s new career scholarship accounts will provide high school students with up to $5,000 to pursue work-based learning, credentials”
• “In Michigan, a public-private partnership takes a sector-specific approach to building a skilled workforce”
• “With ‘science of reading’ laws, states eye turnaround in recent trends”
• “States, provinces in region have new plans to build immigration workforce”
• “More states are requiring instruction in financial literacy for graduation; among the challenges is building up a trained teacher workforce”
• “Rates of chronic absenteeism are much higher than pre-pandemic levels; Indiana is among the states with a new law to address it”
• “Colleges, states rethink approach to college-level ‘remedial’ education; new K-12 supports also considered”
• “New laws reflect states’ move to consolidate early learning and care”

MLC Annual Meeting Presentations:

2023

• “Update on Midwestern Higher Education Compact”
• “Sector Strategies, Employer-Led Collaborations”

2024

• “The Workforce Connection: Elevating Career Development in Primary & Secondary Education”
• “Science of Reading Implementation: Indiana’s Priorities for Early Literacy”
• “Reforms to Developmental Education: A Synthesis of the Evidence”
• “Developmental Education Reform in Illinois”
• “Academic Recovery in Ohio: An Overview of K-12 Achievement & Learning Acceleration in Ohio”

Policy Workshop-Future of the Midwest Energy Workforce Presentations:

• “Overview of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest and the German Apprenticeship Model-Part 1”
• “Overview of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest and the German Apprenticeship Model-Part 2”
• “Midwestern Economic and Labor Market Outlook”
• “Clean Jobs Midwest”
• “Climate and Equitable Jobs Act Overview”
• “Invenergy Overview”

Issue Brief:

• “State efforts to combat teacher shortages: A look at new laws and investments in the Midwest”
• Legislative Tracker (2023-2024)