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MSSC Launches Master Training Center Pilots
 To increase the number of instructors qualified to deliver MSSC's new hands-on Certified Production Technician Plus (CPT+) option using "Skill Boss Manufacturing" MSSC has begun piloting 1-2 Master Training Centers in manufacturing-intensive states. Once MSSC selects these schools against rigorous criteria, it then funds a Master Trainer from MSSC's CPT National Training Center in Scottsburg, Indiana to train 2-3 Master Trainers at each MSSC Master Training Center pilot site, all of which are equipped with "Skill Boss" devices. Thereafter, the Master Training Center will offer CPT+ Skill Boss instructor training to candidate instructors from community colleges, high schools, companies or community-based organizations in the state. Instructor training will be available at most pilot sites this spring-early summer. These Master Training Centers will also be open next summer or fall to students seeking the hands-on CPT+ Skill Boss credentials from schools that do not yet have Skill Boss devices and Skill Boss-trained Instructors. This program will make CPT+ Skill Boss training accessible within each state without the added expense of sending instructors to Scottsburg or sending a Master Trainer from Scottsburg to a minimum class of six candidate instructors. Again, the main focus of these Master Training Centers is on hands-on CPT+ Skill Boss Instructor Training. The traditional CPT program will continue as before, with regular CPT instructor training available online. This remains a robust program, with MSSC training 2800 instructors to date, mostly at community colleges and high schools. For quality control purposes and to preserve MSSC's accreditation under ISO 17024 (Personnel Certification) MSSC will continue its long-standing practice of offering its Amatrol computer simulation-based eLearning courseware only to schools with MSSC trained instructors. |
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Meet the New MSSC Master Trainers
As soon as MSSC selects the Master Training Center pilot locations, the chosen two-year college nominates 2-3 candidate Master Trainers from their faculty. Those instructors then meet with Bruce Dickson, MSSC's Senior Director of Product Development, to ensure that they are each fully CPT Certified, a prerequisite for all Master Trainers. Bruce then schedules the in-person training by a Master Trainer from Scottsburg.
Dave Cash, Master Instructor Trainer, has performed that role very ably with the earliest pilot Master Training Centers at Gateway Technical College in WI and Rowan-Cabarrus and Sandhills Community College in NC. Meet our new Master Trainers at those locations:
- Tony Lestan, Advanced Manufacturing Technology Instructor, Gateway Technical College
- JD Jones, Electro-Mechanical Maintenance Technician Instructor, Gateway Technical College
- Justin Steffen, Advanced Manufacturing Technology Instructor, Gateway Technical College
- Wes Prosser, Adjunct Professor, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
- Stan Honeycutt, Instructor, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
- Steve Fisk, Instructor, Advanced Manufacturing, Sandhills Community College
- Charles Johnson, Instructor, Sandhills Community College
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Senate Confirms Secretary of Education
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) voted 17-5 to confirm Dr. Miguel Cardona as the new U.S. Secretary of Education. The vote followed last week's HELP Committee hearing on Dr. Cardona's nomination. Confirmation of Dr. Cardona was supported by both HELP Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC). Next, Dr. Cardona's nomination will be voted on by the full Senate.
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OCTAE Assistant Secretary Announced
Jen Mishory, a senior fellow and senior policy advisor at the Century Foundation, will be the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education. Mishory co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the millennial advocacy group Young Invincibles.
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House Committee Advances its Piece of Relief Bill
The House Education and Labor Committee approved a $357.9 billion draft proposal for inclusion in the COVID-19 relief package that's slated to move through Congress under the Fiscal Year 2021 budget reconciliation process. The process is important because it is a maneuver used to allow the legislation to pass the Senate by a simple majority, instead of the normally required 60-vote threshold.
The bill directly appropriates a total of $170.1 billion for education programs within the U.S. Department of Education. Of the $170.1 billion, $169.8 billion is for the education emergency relief fund. Unlike the two previously enacted bills, there is no separate fund for governors to administer. Below is a further breakdown of funds.
- $128.6 billion for K-12 education - The bill provides the funding under the same terms as previously for the Elementary and Secondary Education Emergency Relief Fund, with 90% of the funding going to local educational associations (LEAs).
- $39.6 billion for higher education - The bill provides 99% of the funding ($39.2 billion) for public and private non-profit institutions of higher education, which must use at least 50% of their funding on emergency financial aid grants to students.
- Other education-related provisions:
- $1 billion for Head Start
- $1 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service
- $23.975 billion for childcare stabilization funding for providers
- $15.0 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant
- $200 million for Institute of Museum and Library Services
The committee is one of several that has begun considering portions of the COVID-19 relief package within their committee's jurisdiction. Committees must submit their legislation to the House Budget Committee by February 16. The total package, which is expected to cost $1.9 trillion, is moving under the budget reconciliation instructions included in the FY2021 budget resolution (S Con Res 5) the House and Senate adopted last week.
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The National Apprenticeship Act of 2021 (H.R. 447) will invest over $3.5 billion to expand registered apprenticeships, youth apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships over five years and create close to 1 million new apprenticeship opportunities. Additional information about the bill is available, including a fact sheet, section-by-section summary and full bill text.
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