Committee adopts author's amendment and re-refers statewide teacher-apprenticeship proposal to workforce committee

Representative Mueller presented House File 1538 as a proposal to fund and organize a statewide registered teacher apprenticeship program and a joint apprenticeship training committee (JATC). The committee adopted the author's DE2 amendment and approved re-referral of the bill to the committee on workforce, labor and economic policy.

Representative Mueller said registered teacher apprenticeship is a federally recognized career pathway in which employers provide paid, on-the-job training combined with related instruction, and she described the bill as a proposal to use workforce-development dollars to support a statewide structure. “This funding would be used … to support establishment of a statewide registered teacher apprenticeship program and joint apprenticeship training committee,” Mueller said, describing recommended appropriations in the governor’s budget and differences between her draft and the administration’s approach.

Several district and sponsor testifiers described local programs and urged the committee to support the statewide effort. Sarah Paul, superintendent of North Branch Area Public Schools and a DLI Apprenticeship Advisory Committee member, said her rural sponsorship model reported a first cohort in which “our North Branch apprentices are 100% on track to get their degree in June of next year.” Tim McMillan, school board chair in North Branch, said the program provided a pathway for nine apprentices in his district and argued the approach helps rural districts compete for and retain staff.

Gina Boots, apprenticeship liaison for BrightWorks Service Cooperative, said BrightWorks is acting as the sponsor and shared outreach to districts seeking to join existing registered apprenticeship programs or develop new ones; she said a statewide sponsor model creates sustainability and that funding could be structured per-apprentice once programs are registered.

Representatives from higher-education providers described program design and capacity. Dr. Kelly Bridal Oborn of the University of St. Thomas said a residency infrastructure and partnerships positioned the university to develop an undergraduate registered apprenticeship pathway and that St. Thomas’ residency work supports expansion of apprenticeship programming without diminishing existing residency programs.

Erin Larson, director of apprenticeship at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), testified for the agency and recommended that any appropriation be made to DLI rather than the Department of Education because DLI registers and regulates apprenticeship programs. She summarized federal and state registered apprenticeship requirements, noted Minnesota has more than 11,000 active registered apprentices across more than 200 programs, and said DLI has already registered three teacher apprenticeship programs serving 45 apprentices.

Committee members asked technical and implementation questions about sponsor roles, JATC composition, union representation and how funds would flow. Representative Sensomira asked whether registered-apprenticeship recognition is federal; Representative Mueller and DLI staff answered that registered apprenticeship is a federal recognition and that programs may access federal workforce funds.

The committee adopted Representative Mueller’s DE2 amendment by voice vote. Representative Mueller then moved to re-refer House File 1538, as amended, to the committee on workforce, labor, and economic finance and policy; the committee approved the re-referral by voice vote. The bill was sent forward with the DE2 included for further consideration.