INDIANAPOLIS— A measure that would kick into gear Gov. Mike Pence's effort to rejuvenate vocational and technical education programs in Indiana high schools won praise from a state Senate panel Wednesday.
The bill would launch regional "Indiana Works Councils" that would spend 2013 studying job openings in their areas, and then draft vocational and technical education curricula for high schools to match those needs. Those new programs could be offered starting in the fall of 2014.
It's an attempt to turn high school graduates' degrees into "immediate currency in the workplace," said Pence's senior policy director, Marilee Springer.
The Senate Education and Career Development Committee took an hour of mostly-positive testimony from business officials and teachers' unions on Wednesday. The panel – whose chairman, Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, is carrying the bill for Pence – is likely to vote next week.
Senate Bill 465 is a key plant of Pence's first-year legislative agenda. He campaigned on a promise to better match the skills of Indiana's students to the private sector job openings available, and featured that pledge prominently Tuesday night during his State of the State address.
"It can launch entrepreneurs, give kids a reason to finish high school, and create a well-qualified workforce that will encourage business to build here and grow here," the Republican governor said.
Lobbyists for business and logistics groups lined up to support the bill during Wednesday's hearing.
"We have thousands of employers who simply can't find people with the skills they need to fill the jobs that are out there," said Derek Redelman, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce's vice president for education and workforce development.
He said the Chamber's most recent studies show 931,000 Hoosiers who lack the skills that employers need. Many of the jobs that are open now, he said, are in the "middle-skills range – it's more than high school, but less than a four-year degree."
About 440,000 Hoosiers have manufacturing jobs, but companies are still looking for more workers, said Brian Burton, a lobbyist for the Indiana Manufacturers Association.
Manufacturers, he said, have "the number of people we need applying for jobs, but we do not have the number of people with the skills applying for jobs."
The only complaints were over the makeup of the regional councils – and who they'd report to.
Under the measure Kruse filed, Pence would appoint all the members of each regional council. They'd report to the Indiana Education Roundtable, and their curriculum proposals would need the Indiana Board of Education's approval.
During Wednesday's hearing, Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, asked if legislative leaders from each party and in both the House and the Senate could appoint members of the regional councils.
Meanwhile, a liaison from state Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz's office said she supports the increased focus on vocational education but that the Department of Education should play a larger role.
Kruse said he'll talk in the coming days with the governor's office and legislative leaders about those potential changes.