House Bill No. 373, introduced by Representative Hughes, mandates the Louisiana Workforce Commission to conduct an annual return on investment (ROI) analysis regarding industry-based credentials earned by high school students. This analysis aims to evaluate the correlation between these credentials and the students' success in obtaining high-wage, high-demand jobs that align with state workforce priorities. The bill requires the commission to submit a written report on the findings to relevant legislative committees and the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education by February 1st each year. Importantly, the report must aggregate student data without including any personally identifiable information.

Additionally, the bill amends existing law to facilitate the collection and sharing of social security numbers from students pursuing diplomas, which will be used for the ROI analysis. The governing authorities of public high schools are now required to share these social security numbers, matched with student names and identification numbers, with the state Department of Education, which will then share them with the commission. The bill removes previous requirements for parental or student consent for collecting social security numbers and repeals certain provisions related to the collection of student information, while still retaining the overall privacy protections for students' personally identifiable information.

Statutes affected:
HB373 Original: 17:3914(N)(1), 17:3914(C)(1)
HB373 Engrossed: 17:3914(N)(1), 17:3914(C)(1)