NC Senate bill targets teacher shortage, expands community college workforce training

A bill that would commission a state study of accelerated pathways for new teachers cleared the North Carolina Senate Education committee unanimously on May 13. The legislation would also expand community college workforce training for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and fund a $4.9 million digital credential system for the state’s community colleges.

Senate Bill 991, Community College Workforce Readiness Act, drew no questions from committee members and no public comment before advancing.

Co-primary sponsor state Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, told the committee that he and his fellow sponsors — state Sens. Brad Overcash, R-Gaston; and Lisa Barnes, R-Nash — routed the three-part bill through the Senate Education Committee rather than directly to budget negotiations so the policy choices could be aired publicly. 

“These do have appropriations in them, so these are typically things that you would see in an appropriations bill or a budget,” Lee said. “The idea behind coming forward with both of these bills to this committee is so that we can talk about these issues, talk to the public about them, talk to our ed committee, and kind of move that ball forward, rather than just kind of showing up in a budget or showing up in a conference report.”

The bill would direct ApprenticeshipNC to develop a plan for one or more expedited pathways from apprenticeship into the teaching profession. The work would happen in consultation with the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina, the State Board of Community Colleges, the Department of Public Instruction, and Teach NC.

The plan would explore three on-ramps into teaching: high schoolers earning college credit through paid classroom assignments, community college students working toward associate degrees in teacher preparation, and adults completing UNC bachelor’s degrees online.

A report would be due to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by March 15, 2027.

“Learn while you earn. Earn while you learn. Use whatever phrase you want,” Lee told the committee, describing the pathway.

Another part of the bill would expand a community college workforce training program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) — known as “Access to Achievement” — from 15 colleges to 25. The expansion is funded by a $3.85 million recurring appropriation that also includes $640,000 for two new positions coordinating work-based learning placements and $810,000 for marketing, online resources, and professional development. The program dates to a 2017 study championed by Lee.

“It’s an amazing program that allows IDD individuals to get credentials, micro-credentials, certifications, and some IDD individuals are actually going to nursing school and really accomplishing a lot and making the most of their educational and workforce journey,” Lee said.

The bill’s third part appropriates $4.9 million in nonrecurring funds for a digital credential wallet. The system would let community college students hold their own academic records and certifications on a mobile device rather than on a central server. An artificial-intelligence feature would then match those credentials to available job openings.

Lee told the committee the system grew out of a transfer-credit reconciliation his daughter had to navigate.

“It took my daughter two hours with someone from UNCW to look at all of her transfer credits from two different community colleges and the school that she was currently at,” Lee said. 

He added that the design also addresses data-security concerns. “It is not held on a server somewhere. Each student would own their data and hold their data. In fact, the company that operates the management system, they’re not even really able to see what is there,” Lee said.

The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Base Budget.

“NC Senate bill targets teacher shortage, expands community college workforce training” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.