Bringing New Opportunities for Adult Education to the Show-Me State
Each session, Missouri lawmakers spend a considerable amount of time discussing various issues pertaining to the education of our young people, and rightly so. Much of our state’s future is determined by the academic success of today’s students. Unfortunately, conversations about education too often leave out an important segment of our population — adults without a high school diploma. On Tuesday, I presented legislation in committee that I hope will reshape the conversation about adult education in Missouri and ultimately open new doors for adults who want to improve their lives but feel trapped because they never received their diploma.
Senate Bill 406 directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to issue a bid to a Missouri-based nonprofit organization to operate four adult high schools. Among other criteria, the selected organization must demonstrate a proven track record in providing education, certification and job placement services to adults whose opportunities have been limited by educational disadvantages, disabilities, homelessness, criminal backgrounds or similar circumstances. The high schools will be located throughout the state, with one each in southeast Missouri, St. Louis City, central Missouri and southwest Missouri. This legislation is modeled after programs in several other states, including Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas. Indiana was the first state to develop standalone adult high schools. Today, they operate 11 schools.
My legislation has three main components. The first of which is high school education. Senate Bill 406 allows any person who is 21 or older to enroll in an adult high school if he or she has not earned a high school diploma. Eligibility is limited to adults 21 or older because individuals under 21 are still eligible for traditional high schools. Each school would work with DESE to review a student’s prior high school achievement and determine any gaps in their high school credits. Students would then be able to complete any necessary classes at their own pace, a feature that will be especially beneficial to students who need to work part time.
Students who successfully complete their required credits will receive a diploma from DESE that is indistinguishable from those earned by students attending traditional high schools. This is one of the most important provisions of my legislation. It is also what distinguishes it from exams like the HiSET or GED. Senate Bill 406 offers adult students the chance to receive a true high school diploma, and nothing less.
Missouri employers are facing a shortage of skilled, trained workers, which is why the second component is skill certifications. Through partnerships with public higher education institutions and other programs, each adult high school would be required to offer an industry certification program, or programs, based on regional workforce needs. The third component is child care. Each adult high school will be required to offer an on-site child care facility for children of enrolled students, eliminating a common barrier to education for many low-income families.
Funding for this initiative would come from several different areas. The bill requires the successful organization to contribute at least $2 million to help get the schools up and running. We believe most of the skills training costs can be covered through existing programs, such as Missouri Work Assistance and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The child care and educational components would be eligible expenses under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In 2015, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 24 to tighten TANF eligibility requirements. Those reforms have freed up a significant amount of TANF funding, which we believe can be used to cover the educational and child care costs of SB 406. After all, the goal of SB 24 was to encourage reinvestment in programs that help families escape the cycle of poverty.
There are many benefits to receiving a high school diploma and none of them are insignificant. A person who graduates from high school is a person with options. For many people, not having a high school diploma has made the difference between attaining financial independence and security and being trapped in poverty. It is also important to recognize that high school graduation rates affect the economy at all levels.
According to one statistic on WorldEducation.org, “federal, state and local governments stand to gain $2.5 billion in tax revenue and reduced expenses for every 400,000 adults who earn a high school diploma.” Now consider this — approximately 500,000 adults in Missouri lack a high school diploma, with about 350,000 of those on food stamps. With numbers like these, it is my hope that we can turn the great ideas contained in SB 406 into actionable progress in the very near future.
If you have any questions or comments regarding your state government, please feel free to contact me at (573) 751-1503. You are also welcome to e-mail me at jay.wasson@senate.mo.gov.