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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), reintroduced two bipartisan bills, the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act and the PARTNERS Act, both to help expand job opportunities and career advancement through work-based learning programs.

Guthrie, co-founder of the bipartisan Congressional Apprenticeship Caucus, reintroduced the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act with Representative Susan Wild (D-PA). This bipartisan bill would support states’ efforts to increase early childhood education apprenticeship programs, including in underserved and rural areas that are experiencing teacher shortages.

“Early childhood educators are vital to help kids up to five years old start their education, but schools are facing a shortage of qualified early childhood educators,” said Guthrie. “As we are working to defeat COVID-19 with safe and effective vaccines and restore our country, it is critical that students safely return and remain in classes with in-person instruction from skilled teachers. I introduced The Early Educators Apprenticeship Act to help meet the increasing demand for teachers. An investment in a highly qualified workforce of early childhood educators is also an investment in our students, who are our future leaders. I appreciate Rep. Wild’s work and support on this commonsense bill to strengthen this important job field.”

Wild said, “Here’s the bottom line: Supporting our child care sector is an absolute prerequisite to rebuilding our economy. Workers cannot return to their jobs—and the U.S. economy cannot fully rebuild—if families are unable to access quality child care. And this pandemic has devastated our child care sector. Strong apprenticeship programs for child care workers encourage future educators to join the field during this critical time and help equip them with the skills they need to be successful and support the young children they care for. As our nation begins to move toward a period of recovery, this legislation helps empower Americans to return to the workplace and find new career opportunities, while giving parents the freedom to return to the workplace.”

Guthrie also reintroduced the Promoting Apprenticeships through Regional Training Networks for Employers’ Required Skills (PARTNERS) Act with Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Drew Ferguson (R-GA), and Haley Stevens (D-MI). Through the creation of a grant program, the PARTNERS Act would promote work-based learning programs for small and medium-sized businesses to join together with other community partners to enhance job training and mentoring services for workers.

Summaries of the Early Educators Apprenticeship Act and the PARTNERS Act can be found HERE and HERE, respectively.

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