Apprenticeship in Review 2020

Throughout 2020, the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) continued to lead the movement to advance high-quality youth apprenticeship programs in cities and states across the U.S., uplifting the work of trailblazers in a fast-growing field. As communities across the U.S. adapted to historic disruptions to learning and work, PAYA supported partnerships’ continued efforts to innovate and adapt. Writing on EdCentral, Taylor White made the case for prioritizing the needs of young adults in pandemic relief investments, and explained why youth apprenticeship is a smart strategy for recovery.

October 2020 marked the two-year anniversary of PAYA’s launch and ushered in the next phase of the initiative. New America celebrated this milestone with the 2020 Youth Apprenticeship Summit on October 13-15th. In addition to spotlighting the progress of PAYA Grantees, the virtual event brought together more than 1,000 leaders from across education, government, philanthropy, and the private sector to explore how youth apprenticeship can provide more equitable outcomes for youth and a sustainable, cost-effective talent strategy for employers.

In a series of blog posts featuring PAYA Network members Apprenticeship Maryland, Youth Apprenticeship NH, and GPS Education Partners, Joyce Hwang and colleagues profiled innovative program designs and implementation strategies advancing youth apprenticeship in three different locales. To support these and other place-based partnerships working to expand and strengthen youth apprenticeship, PAYA National Partners continued to grow PAYA’s collection of research products and tools. New resources include “Why Should Employers Invest in Youth Apprenticeship?”, an infographic designed to support employer engagement, as well as the Equity in Youth Apprenticeship Toolkit, produced by the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity.

Looking specifically at the field of early childhood education, a September report from New America’s Cara Sklar considered how youth apprenticeship could create pipelines of well-trained early childhood educators to support economic recovery and expand quality learning opportunities for young children and teens alike.

Because apprenticeship is a fundamentally place-based strategy, state and local governments, education systems, and civic leaders are instrumental to the development and expansion of high-quality, equitable programs. In addition to PAYA, which adopts a state- and region-focused lens in all aspects of its work, 2020 saw our staff at the Center on Education & Labor supporting exciting new apprenticeship partnerships in Indiana, Texas, and western New York with direct technical assistance. We also carried out a number of state and regional research initiatives, including:

• A year-long research effort in California that culminated last month with a report from Brent Parton and Michael Prebil providing policy recommendations to realize Governor Gavin Newsom’s ambitious goal of 500,000 active apprentices statewide by 2029. The report’s launch was marked by a virtual roundtable event with apprenticeship innovators from across California, who shared their experiences and ideas for supporting the expansion of non-traditional apprenticeships in the state’s economically diverse regions.
• A pair of reports from Michael exploring efforts to expand apprenticeship in the San Francisco Bay Area’s booming tech industry, as well as initiatives in the Chicago metro area aimed at supporting traditional as well as non-traditional apprenticeships. For decades, Chicagoland leaders have supported local prosperity through apprenticeships in the traditional building trades; increasingly, business and higher education partners have joined in to support non-traditional apprenticeships in IT, health care, and financial occupations as well. Chicago and San Francisco both serve as an instructive examples for municipal leaders hoping to connect economic development with educational attainment, as Lul Tesfai described in her March report on efforts to integrate apprenticeship into broader community development strategies.

Apprenticeship remains a rare area of bipartisan consensus, and 2020 saw several notable apprenticeship policy developments at the federal level. These included important new investments and regulatory changes as well as a number of ambitious proposals that didn’t quite make the cut:

• The arrival of IRAPS: Perhaps this year’s most momentous change to the American apprenticeship system came in early April, when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its long-awaited final rule setting the parameters for industry-recognized apprenticeship programs (IRAPs). IRAPs, a policy priority of the Trump administration since 2017, operate separately from the time-tested Registered Apprenticeship system. The new regulations defined the roles and responsibilities for Standards Recognition Entities (SREs), non-federal organizations tasked with recognizing and monitoring IRAPs. In September, DOL announced the first group of 18 SREs, which includes businesses and industry associations, state offices of apprenticeship, and community college districts and systems.
• New investments: Also in April, DOL issued a $42.5 million funding opportunity under its Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grants. Aimed at growing the number of apprentices ages 16 to 24, the grants can be used to cover expenses related to program development, partnership building, and supportive services such as transportation, childcare, and housing. Michael Prebil provided a written overview of the initiative, as well as a presentation to the PAYA Network on strategies for applicants. Ultimately, PAYA Partners and Network members in Colorado, Delaware, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Idaho were among the 14 funding recipients.
• New legislative proposals: Other important apprenticeship proposals didn’t receive due consideration among the pandemic’s many competing legislative priorities, or otherwise sunk in this year’s deeply polarized political climate. In the spring, Lul Tesfai and Cara Sklar explored the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act, a Senate bill aimed at helping states establish college-connected Registered Apprenticeship programs for their early childhood education (ECE) workforce. And in May, the House proposed $15 billion for the nation’s public workforce system through the Relaunching America’s Workforce Act (RAWA), more than twice the amount invested in the public workforce system in response to the Great Recession. Lul wrote about RAWA’s stimulus provisions; Michael wrote about its $500 million in new apprenticeship expansion grants; and Iris Palmer focused on its Community College and Industry Partnership Grants, which would have authorized $2 billion to support community colleges’ capacity to retrain adult workers. Finally, a proposed reauthorization of the National Apprenticeship Act would have rebooted apprenticeship for the 21st century but, like RAWA and the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act, never made it to a floor vote.

As of November, Congress has yet to make a significant federal workforce investment to support the reemployment and training of the millions of Americans impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. When Congress finally takes up this vital task, apprenticeship should remain one of the tools they turn to. Look out for more from team CELNA in what promises to be another important year in the future of American apprenticeship.