SECTION 1. Chapter 6 of the General laws, as appearing in the 2018 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after Section 17A, the following section:-

“Section 17B. (a) There is hereby established within the Office of the Governor a Workforce Skills Cabinet, hereinafter referred to as the “Cabinet,” to serve as a cross-agency governance structure for the purpose of advising the Governor and relevant Executive Branch agencies as well as the General Court, and aligning the programs and policies of the Executive Offices of Labor and Workforce Development, Education and Housing and Economic Development to improve and expand workforce skills and college and career readiness to meet the varying current and future needs of the Commonwealth and its regions.

(b) The Cabinet shall consist of: the secretary of the executive office of education; the secretary of the executive office of labor and workforce development; the secretary of the executive office of housing and economic development; the commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary education; the commissioner of the department of higher education; the chairperson of the workforce development board established by section 7 of chapter 23H of the MGL; the executive director of the Massachusetts Workforce Association; three members appointed by the Governor representing business or industry who - (i) are owners of businesses, chief executive or operating officers of businesses, or other executives or employees with optimum policymaking or hiring authority; or, (ii) represent organizations that represent businesses or industries; three members appointed by the governor representing workers or labor organizations; two members appointed by the governor who represent the perspectives and interests of current or future workforce participants, including educators or the parents of school age students; and three members appointed by the governor from amongst other college and career readiness and workforce development stakeholder groups.

(c) The appointed members shall each serve three year terms at the pleasure of the governor and serve without compensation.

(d) The governor shall select an individual from amongst its membership to chair the cabinet. The chair shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.

(e) The cabinet shall meet monthly and their meetings shall be public.

(f) In addition to, and within, the general mission of the cabinet as stated in subparagraph (a), the cabinet shall:

(i) facilitate alignment, collaboration, strategic planning, and joint execution among participating state agencies, offices, and other stakeholders around the development of workforce development strategies for the Commonwealth and the expansion of college and career readiness pathways for all, with an emphasis on high school programs;

(ii) shall conduct a biennial study of all college and career pathway programs that focuses on equity of access to said programs as well as the alignment of said programs with current and future workforce needs, including recommendations on creating a process to phase out programs that are not aligned;

(iii) shall develop and release an annual report on the state’s top current and future labor market needs;

(iv) shall oversee the improvement of data collection and reporting on pathways programs by facilitating data linkages between agencies, creating mechanisms to analyze meaningful growth data by specific pathways programs, and building new public-facing data tools;

(v) shall advise the departments of elementary and secondary education and higher education with regard to student acquisition of the employability skills that should be achieved in their preparation for career success; and,

(vi) shall submit an annual report to the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means, the chairs of the joint education committee, and the chairs of the joint committee on higher education detailing the Cabinet’s work over the past year.

(g) The cabinet shall be staffed by a full time Executive Director who shall be an employee of the office of the governor, selected in consultation with the cabinet.

(h) The cabinet shall have the ability to receive funding to hire additional technical and administrative staff, to award contracts and grants, and to take actions necessary to fulfilling its responsibilities stated herein or as otherwise assigned by the governor.

SECTION 2. (a) The workforce skills cabinet created, in SECTION 1, shall be charged with developing a set of strategic goals for the Commonwealth, its agencies and education and training institutions, in coordination with the governor’s office and in consultation with the department of elementary and secondary education, regarding the expansion of college and career pathway programs for students that enhance and improve the likelihood of successful outcomes for high school graduates in college and career endeavors. The goals shall include the achievement of universal access for all of the state’s high school students to said pathway programs, which shall include, but not be limited to, Early College programs, vocational/technical education programs, Innovation Pathway programs, STEM-Tech Academies, and other similar programs and courses of study. The cabinet will include, in its consideration of the establishment of said goals, that each pathway program should contain at least one, or more, of the following elements:

(i)the ability of students to earn college credit while in high school;

(ii)the ability of students to earn industry recognized credentials in high school;

(iii)the ability of students to participate in a meaningful and relevant work-based learning experience while in high school; and,

(iv)the ability of students to receive dedicated career counseling while in high school.

(b) The cabinet will develop, in consultation with the governor’s office and the departments of elementary and secondary education and higher education, a plan for the achievement of the goals established in accord with subsection (a) that includes strategies to be implemented, timelines for meeting interim outcomes and final outcome, resources to be allocated, and any other consideration, including an accounting of the persistent inequities inherent in not achieving said goals. The cabinet will report annually on its progress and that of the Commonwealth and its agencies in achieving universal student access to student learning pathways and establish milestone outcomes toward that achievement whose progress will be reported on as part of its annual reporting.