Workforce Diploma Pilot Program

Workforce diploma pilot program - performance payments to qualified providers for student outcomes - appropriation. The act creates the workforce diploma pilot program (program) in the department of education (department) to award completion payments to qualified providers for the attainment of certain outcomes achieved by eligible students enrolled in the courses or programs, including earning high school diplomas, course credits, or industry-recognized training certificates. The department shall administer the program. The program will operate in any year in which the general assembly appropriates money for the program.

Based on criteria listed in the act, the department shall prepare a list of qualified providers. A qualified provider may be a public, nonprofit, or private accredited, degree-granting organization with at least 2 years of experience in providing adult dropout recovery services resulting in an accredited high school diploma, as well as a local education provider, as defined for purposes of existing adult literacy and education programs. The act sets forth the amount of the payments qualified providers receive for each completion or attainment outcome achieved by their eligible students. The act includes performance standards for qualified providers and allows the department to suspend or remove providers from the list of qualified providers for failing to meet those standards.

Qualified providers receiving payments must report certain information to the department. The department shall report to certain committees of the general assembly summarizing the information reported by qualified providers. The act repeals the program in 2022.

For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $1,012,201 and 0.2 FTE from the general fund to the department of education to implement the program.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)