An Act for equitable workforce development

This bill requires Massachusetts vocational-technical schools to use a weighted lottery for admissions when demand exceeds capacity, prioritizing students of color, economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and English language learners. Schools must maintain waitlists ordered by the lottery results and forward them to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by June 1 each year. The Department must collect and publicly report annual data on admissions, enrollment, and demographic information (including race, disability status, and economic disadvantage) related to vocational programs. The policy directly affects students applying to vocational-technical programs and mandates schools and the Department to implement these equitable admissions and reporting mechanisms.