INDIANAPOLIS — A bill that would establish an employability standards curriculum in K-12 schools passed Thursday unanimously through a House committee.
Senate Bill 297 has multiple components but focuses mostly on increasing students’ soft skills in hopes of solving a current skills gap in Indiana’s workforce and giving students different options for career pathways.
Alicia Kielmovitch, DOE director of policy and legislation, said these skills could include everything from problem-solving, to decision-making, to time management, to work ethic.
She said these skills are not merely confined to the workplace but are important throughout everyday life.
“Employability skills are crucial for the health of our workforce and for the future economic success of our students,” Kielmovitch said.
The first part of the bill establishes interdisciplinary employability standards that school corporations would implement in their curriculum. These standards would be created by the Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Development, and they would be approved by the Indiana Board of Education.
The second part increases the number of schools using the Indiana Career Explorer pilot program, a program that helps students explore in-demand jobs, skills and career pathways.
The third part of the bill establishes a work ethic certificate program, a certificate high schoolers can get along with their diploma.
The program is already being used throughout the state, but supporters of the bill said adding it in the bill would ensure it had marketability and street credibility. The certificate would help students gain more soft skills, something many people in the workforce lack.
House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, said even if students don't plan to go into the workforce right away, having these soft skills are still important.
“Those soft skills are so essential even if you’re going into higher ed,” Behning said.
Caryl Auslander, Vice President of Education and Workforce Development Policy, and Federal Relations at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, said having a program that focuses on soft skills is a long-term fix for the skills gap currently in the Indiana workforce.
“Our hope that all of these students will be entering workforce at some point in time,” Auslander said.
In his January State of the State Address, Gov. Eric Holcomb made clear his focus for the year would be workforce development. Holcomb said he worries jobs in Indiana can’t be filled because there aren’t enough skilled people to fill them.
“This is the defining issue of the decade, and we don’t have a day to waste,” Holcomb said.
Holcomb came up with plans to improve Indiana’s workforce. Those plans include requiring every Indiana school to offer at least one computer science course by 2021. The plans also include creating programs for adults to finish high school diplomas and college degrees.
He called improving Indiana’s workforce a long-term commitment.
“The results when we succeed will position Indiana for even more economic gain for your children and grandchildren for generations to come,” Holcomb said.
Still, some lawmakers wonder if changing K-12 curriculum is enough. Sen. Mark Stoops, D-Bloomington, said in an interview with the Indiana Daily Student that legislators should focus more on properly funding education, increasing teaching salaries or expanding pre-K programs, instead of creating a new curriculum.
He said lawmakers should focus on expanding the ability for students to go to college.
“That’s what our stated goal is in Indiana, but we’re not really good at following through on that priority with actual statutes and programs and funding them,” Stoops said.
The bill will head to the full House floor in the coming weeks, where it will be voted on.
