Minutes - Council Meeting - December 9, 2008 - Workforce Creation and Adult Education Transition Council

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Adult Correctional Education/Juvenile Services Education separation

The meeting opened with a discussion about juveniles services education as it relates to the administration of adult correctional education.

MSDE reports that there are 10 positions at MSDE headquarters that have responsibilities for both juvenile services and adult correctional education. There are 4 positions exclusively devoted to the administration of juvenile services education.

At the previous meeting, the Council asked the Internal Administration work group to look closer at the adult/juvenile separation and how it might impact service delivery. The Council posted questions that were answered by MSDE and DLLR in the interim.

In the time since the previous meeting, the two departments were able to come to the agreement that the programs could be separated, provided there are adequate resources for both, including the creation of a new position for a full time director of juvenile services education.

DLLR and MSDE have also agreed to continue discussing the exact number of new PINs needed to operate the programs separately.

Senator Middleton asked if the fiscal note for SB 203 had contemplated new PINs.

Kathy Oliver said the fiscal note did not have a sufficient examination of positions needed, and that the two departments are negotiating whether there is a need for 2 or 3 new positions in addition to the full time director of juvenile services education.

Mary Baykan asked which department would keep the old PINs and which would make new hires if and when the new PINs are approved. It has not yet been determined.

Dr. Grasmick said MSDE cannot do what is required for juvenile services education under law without additional PINs. She asked if there is a backup plan in case new PINs are not approved in the upcoming legislative session. DPSCS and DLLR agreed that if the PINs are not approved, MSDE will keep the existing PINs, and DLLR and DPSCS will combine existing resources to oversee adult correctional education.

The Council agreed to the backup plan, and it will be added to the final report.

Town Hall meetings

Andy Moser and Kathy Oliver provided an overview of the six town hall meetings that had taken place so far.

The town halls have taken place across the state with a good showing of adult and correctional education practitioners, as well as some learners, in attendance. Many of the questions raised at those meetings focused on whether current employees, including employees of grantees, would keep their jobs after the transfer. They were all told yes, they will continue to offer the services they now provide. Questions also focused on whether grantees would continue to get their funding, and the answer was again yes. The bill required continuing grants for FY 2010.

The two departments remain committed to continuing the town hall meetings in the time before the transfer takes place.

Accountability Plan

At the previous meeting, Senator Middleton asked DLLR to create an accountability plan that would explain how oversight would ensure continued program quality after the transfer and in the future.

The plan was presented, with the main components including changes to DLLR's existing organizational structure. The Division of Workforce Development will become the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning, and will have three deputy assistant secretaries to oversee Workforce, Adult Education and Correctional Education. The Assistant Secretary will oversee the three deputies.

Accountability measures will include the performance measures already required by the federal funding system currently in place, as well as state level accountability systems including Managing For Results and StateStat. There will also be continuing external stakeholder input and oversight through the education coordinating council and the state advisory council. It is also proposed that the Governor's Workforce Investment Board will establish an adult learning committee to oversee the transition.

P.J. Hogan, representing University of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan, suggested that the Maryland Higher Education Commission should be represented on the Adult Education Oversight Committee.

The Accountability Plan will be an appendix to the Council's final report.

Workgroup Issues/Priorities for Final Report

Internal Administration Work Group

PRIORITIES

Personnel Recommendation #2 - Institutional Educator Pay Plan
  To ensure that transferring MSDE employees who are in the Institutional Educator Pay Plan will remain in this plan, Section 6-302(a) (3) will need to be revised to provide that employees in any correctional education program operated by DLLR in a facility of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services will be part of the plan.

Fiscal Recommendation #2 - Continuation of Grant Process
  Implement the process to award FY 2010 AELS grants on a timely basis.

Fiscal Recommendation #4 - Contracts and Agreements with partners and vendors
  a. Review copies of all current contracts and agreements that involve the transferring programs. 
  b. Ensure that all deadlines are met for procurements related to conferences, testing materials, and other items or services covered by regularly scheduled or annual procurements.

IT Recommendation #1 - Transfer of the Literacy Works Information System (LWIS)
  Develop a plan for the physical move and migration of the LWIS and related systems from MSDE to DLLR to ensure the system will be operational on July 1, 2009.

IT Recommendation #2 - Implementation of MGETS
  Develop a plan for the physical move and migration of the MGETS to ensure the GED Office will be operational on July 1, 2009.

Facilities Recommendation #1 - Planning the move to DLLR
  Identify approximately 3000 sq. ft. of office and meeting space and develop a floor plan for the new Adult Education, Correctional Education, and GED Testing Offices.

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

1) Separation of Adult Correctional Education and Juvenile Services Education - 
  See DLLR/MSDE Proposed Plan

2) Technical Changes
  There were some additional technical changes to several recommendations based on comments received from agency personnel.

It was suggested that DLLR may want to request or conduct an initial audit of the units transferring so there will be a baseline for future measurements. It will be made a recommendation in the report.

Correctional Education Work Group

PRIORITY AREAS

CE Recommendation # 5/# 6 - Joint Planning/Regular Communication
  Provide for joint planning and regular communication among agencies.

CE Recommendation #15 - Restructure the EWTCCCI
  Restructure and strengthen the EWTCCCI to fit into the new education/workforce alignment within DLLR.

CE Recommendation #22 - Data and Reporting
  Expand data and reporting of program outcomes.

CE Recommendation #16 - Professional Development
  Continue and expand professional development opportunities for correctional education personnel.

CE Recommendation #9/13 - Institute a State-Wide Inter-Agency Policy for Re-Entry and Expand Employer Engagement
  Institute a state-wide inter-agency policy for reentry and expand existing employer engagement strategies to increase the pool of job orders that skilled individuals who have been incarcerated can fill.

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

CE Recommendation #2 - Role of Community Colleges
  Clarifying the role of the community colleges in the provision of correctional education is needed to support the transition of the program from MSDE to DLLR. Revised wording was suggested by MSDE and agreed to by the community colleges.

CE Recommendation #4 - Organizational Structure and Staffing
  Ensuring that adult learning programs transferred from MSDE to DLLR have high visibility within the organizational structure of DLLR and access to the highest level within the organization was discussed by the Transition Council, but there was not agreement on this recommendation.

There were some additional technical changes to several recommendations based on comments received from stakeholders through the public comment process.

Adult Education Work Group

PRIORITY AREAS

AE Recommendation # 11 - Future State Practices
  Supported by recommendation 19
  Improve the transparency and flow of communication between the state administration and a variety of stakeholders by publishing guidelines and program expectations.

AE Recommendation # 9 - Future Program Practices
  Supported by recommendations 2, 5, 6, 8
  Improve the alignment between adult education, workforce development and post-secondary services by establishing clear pathways for transition of adult learners.

AE Recommendation # 3 - High School Diploma
  Increase the number of high-school diploma recipients

AE Recommendation # 20 - Professional Development
  Reexamine the priorities for current funding for Professional Development in order to move beyond basic requirement training.

AE Recommendation # 26 - Comprehensive Assessment
  Begin to develop integrated outcome measures that move beyond solely education focused or workforce focused such as customer satisfaction.

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

AE Recommendation #1 - Target Populations
  Because of the education needed to support the sectors of growth in Maryland's economy, serve the targeted populations identified in the federal adult education legislation which include those who have high school diplomas but lack basic skills, as well as those that have no diploma and those who have limited English ability.

AE Recommendation #3a - GED Practice Tests
  The language of the recommendation on the issue of requiring participants to take the Official GED Practice Test before taking the full GED exam has been changed to reflect a concern raised by the Transition Council about the cost of "requiring" all potential participants. However, the work group wanted to have the record reflect that in the future, Maryland should examine this issue because GED pass rates are much higher in states where this policy has been implemented.

AE Recommendation #22 - Information Tracking and Sharing
  In order for participant improvement to be tracked across programs and agencies, a common student identifier is required. If this is not a social security number, wage record data will not be available for comparison. There is no resolution to this challenge at this time.

Funding Work Group

PRIORITY AREAS

FWG Recommendation #1 - Sustainable Funding Model
  Supported by recommendations 2, 4, 8, 9, 14, 20, 23, 30
  Develop a model of sustainable funding for statewide adult literacy WIA Title II grantee providers.

FWG Recommendation #15 - Stepping Up To the Future - Resource for Guiding Decisions
  Supported by recommendation 16
  Rely on Stepping Up To the Future as a resource for current questions and future policy and funding decisions.

FWG Recommendation #19 - Business Links - Employer Engagement Plan
  Develop a comprehensive employer- engagement strategic plan.

FWG Recommendation #22 - Quasi-Governmental Non-profit
  Develop a quasi-governmental not-for-profit entity that can administer and develop for funding.

FWG Recommendation #27 - Funding Process to Jurisdictions & Grantees
  Review the allocation method for funding and provide a transparent explanation of the distribution of funds.

OUTSTANDING ISSUES

FWG Recommendation #10 - Statewide Literacy Coalition/Best-Practice Research
  Research national best practice literacy coalitions to identify successful models.

FWG Recommendation #17 - Business Links - Integration WIA Titles I and II
  Integrate funding sources available under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act with Title II adult education and literacy program funds to provide allowable services to business as defined by Title I & II funding.

FWG Recommendation #32 - Identify Additional Funding Strategies for Correctional Education
  Identify strategies to secure funding to maintain the current program and expand to meet needs; sub-recommendations C & D.

NEW - FWG Recommendation #33 - Match Correctional Education Funding
  Funding for adult education in Maryland "outside the fence" should be equal to funding for services "inside the fence", without reducing existing Correctional Education services.

NEW - FWG Recommendation #34 - Ensuring state funding allocations
  Current Maryland funding for adult education should remain dedicated and allocated to adult education services, and not directed elsewhere.\

Next Steps

There was a discussion about the upcoming legislative session. The relevant committees will likely hold briefings to hear about the report and the Council's process.

Also, the Council and other stakeholders will need to work to advocate for the new PINs and any other funding issues that arise.

There will be a need for legislative action to ensure MSDE employees can continue in their current pay plan. P.J. Hogan recommended the Department look at including any statutory changes in the BRFA.

In Attendance: 
Secretary Thomas Perez, Co-Chair
Superintendent Nancy Grasmick, Co-Chair
Sen. Thomas M. Middleton, Council Member
Sen. Katherine Klausmeier, Council Member
Del. C. Sue Hecht, Council Member
Chris Eddings, Council Member
Secretary David Edgerley, Council Member
Shirley Bigley LaMotte, Council Member
Rev. Dr. Karen Brown, Council Member
Melinda Brown, Council Member
Barbara Denman, Council Member
Patricia Keeton, Council Member
James LaCalle, Council Member
Secretary James Lyons, Council Member
Dan McDermott, Council Member
Fred Mason, Jr., Council Member
Jason Perkins-Cohen, Council Member
Patrick Hogan, Representing Chancellor William E. Kirwan
Richard Rosenblatt, Representing DPSCS Secretary Gary Maynard
Secretary Donald DeVore, Department of Juvenile Services

Updated June 8, 2009