House Bill 1388 Summary

• Creates the "Comprehensive Career and Technical Education Reform Act" to reform career and technical education programs across Mississippi's K-12 and community college systems.

• Establishes a career coaching pilot program through the Office of Workforce Development to support middle and high school students in connecting to career pathways and work-based learning opportunities.

• Requires the State Workforce Investment Board to create a single list of nationally recognized industry certifications for use in state accountability systems, diploma endorsements, and reimbursement programs.

• Changes "career track" terminology to "career technical education pathways" and allows school districts to tailor pathway curricula to individual needs while maintaining core academic and technical course requirements.

• Expands the expert citizen-teacher license from one year to five years and removes the requirement that expert citizen instructors hold an associate or bachelor's degree if they have relevant industry certification and five years of experience.