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Adult Education and Literacy Committee

This was a committee of the Governor's Workforce Board. Its minutes are no longer on the web, removed sometime before June 2023.

Excerpt from Governor's Workforce Board Adult Education and Literacy Committee minutes, September 23, 2014, concerning adult education:

Dr. Philip Less provided an update on the recent GED changes and recent legislation. Dr. Less reported on the passage of RI Senate Bill S2182 Sub A. He discussed the two requirements: that the Board of Education shall consider all available high school equivalency tests that meet and adhere to Rhode Island Academic standards and shall give priority to those tests which are provided at the lowest cost; and that the Board shall provide waivers of the fees for individuals with limited income who can prove financial hardship. He stated the current total wait list is more than 1,300. Dr. Less also noted the Senate Bill which would add $2 million to RIDE to eliminate the wait list, but this bill did not pass. A House Bill with $200,000 to provide GED waivers for individuals with limited income also did not pass, but was amended by the Senate. The Senate bill requiring waivers was passed, but there was no funding tied to it....

Dr. Philip Less provided an Adult Education handout : Improving Rhode Island’s Workforce. The data story hosted by the Providence Plan Data Hub examines the potential role of Adult Education in increasing the competitiveness of the workforce in RI, which continues to face one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Dr. Less noted that the data indicates there are more out of state people taking RI Jobs, mostly Massachusetts residents. George Nee asked what the 5 things are that we can take out of this data. George Nee also asked what types of jobs Rhode Island is losing to Massachusetts. Dr. Less noted that Rhode Island’s graduate out of high school, very few earn a bachelor degree. In total, 74,069 RI Working age adults (18-64) did not graduate from high school and do not have a high school diploma.