Governor Snyder’s “Marshall Plan for Talent” Signed Into Law

The overall idea is to connect employers with educators to pair students with in-demand careers and encourage apprenticeships and mentorships with an educational focus on certifications and occupational licensing, according to the Governor’s office.

“So many areas of the state are changing their approach to education, and the Marshall Plan for Talent brings everyone together on the best approaches to match educational skills with available well-paying jobs,” Snyder said in a statement today.

The $100 million in funding will go toward, in part:

— Career navigators to help guide students toward career and associated academic goals.

— Equipment, additional staff, new curriculum, professional development, industry mentors, testing fees, and other tools.

— Scholarships and stipends for high school students and low-income residents to get high-demand credentials.

The Governor proposed his Marshall Plan back in February as an answer to what he said would eventually be a massive gap in talent needed for in-demand fields. The key stat Snyder relied on is his projection that the state will have more than 811,000 career openings to fill through 2024 in fields facing a talent shortage (See “Gov Wants To Marshal Up $100M To Fill Talent Gap,” 2/22/18).

A big piece to the puzzle was to find the funding to get it done, which the administration was able to do by tapping into the state’s Student Loan Operating Fund, which isn’t kicking out new loans anymore (See “Where Did $100M For Gov’s Marshall Plan Come From?” 6/14/18).

There was some pushback on the Marshall Plan approach just Monday, where the head of the Building and Trades Construction Council expressed concern over where the money would eventually flow (See “Trades Cautious About Marshall Plan Implementation,” 6/25/18).

Both Steve CLAYWELL, president of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, and Jonathan BYRD of the Michigan Laborers’ District Council in an interview today, raised concerns about “fly-by-night” training systems coming into Michigan to make money off the training funds.

These entities, Byrd said, “say they’re doing training but really they’re charging people for books, don’t have a strong pipeline for jobs after the training is completed.” He didn’t provide any specific ones when asked but said, “they’re out there.”

In response, Snyder spokesperson Ari ADLER said, “it’s easy to throw criticism around. It’s hard to tear down silos and make a difference. We would encourage them to get involved and make a difference in Michigan for the youth of today who could be their highly skilled members of tomorrow.”

The Governor signed the Marshall Plan bills in Muskegon today. Lt. Gov. Brian CALLEY was present for the bill signing, and also released a statement from his gubernatorial campaign saying he’d “see this plan through as governor.”

In connection to the main Marshall Plan bills, Snyder also signed a variety of “career pathways” bills into law:

 HB 5139, sponsored by Rep. Daire RENDON (R-Lake City), requires the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), in consultation with the Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development (TED), to develop and make available a model program of instruction in career development. The bill also requires that, beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, schools incorporate grade-appropriate instruction on career development in each grade level from K-12. This section of the act is now known as “The Superintendent Brian WHISTON Career Pathways Law,” after the late state superintendent.

 HB 5145, sponsored by Rep. Julie ALEXANDER (R-Hanover), requires the MDE to develop rules that allow an individual to use time spent engaging with local employers or technical centers to count toward the renewal of a teaching certificate.

 HB 5141, sponsored by Rep. Bronna KAHLE (R-Adrian), allows non-certificated individuals with professional experience to teach in an industrial technology or career and technical education program for up to 10 years.

 SB 0684 and  SB 0685, sponsored by Sen. Ken HORN (R-Frankenmuth) and Sen. Peter MACGREGOR (R-Rockford), respectively, require schools to provide more meaningful and frequent use of Educational Development Plans for students, along with an opportunity to develop a talent portfolio. Schools must include information in their school improvement plans, information on how the school will provide career information, experiences, work-based learning opportunities, and programs of instruction.

 SB 0175, sponsored by Sen. Jim STAMAS (R-Midland), allows students who graduate high school through the year 2024 to fulfill one credit of the foreign language requirement by completing a department-approved formal CTE program or curriculum.

Outside of those bills, the Governor also said he signed these bills in his Marshall Plan press release:

 SB 0889, sponsored by Sen. Marty KNOLLENBERG (R-Troy), would remove the basic skills exam (BSE) from the requirements to teach for more than one year as a noncertified teacher in a shortage area such as computer science, foreign languages, mathematics, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, robotics, or other courses that the state board determines appropriate.

 HB 4069, sponsored by Rep. Jim TEDDER (R-Clarkston), would amend current law to allow the board of a school district to employ an individual without a teaching certificate as a substitute teacher if the individual has 60 hours of college credit or an associate degree from a college, university, or community college.