NEWS: Senators Blunt Rochester, Marshall Introduce Bill to Modernize Statewide Data Systems, Improving Accessibility of Education, Employment Data

U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), both members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, introduced the bipartisan Reimagining Education and Skills through Unified Longitudinal Talent Systems (RESULTS) Act. This bill modernizes and improves the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) program, to encourage connected insights across early childhood, K-12 education, and the workforce. The RESULTS Act will better equip states to understand and respond to potential education and workforce shifts caused by AI and other emerging technologies.

"AI presents never-before-seen opportunities for education, and our economy. However, we need access to high-quality data to ensure we're making the best decisions for our communities. Right now, that data is decentralized, making it hard to access, and harder to interpret," said Senator Blunt Rochester. "I'm proud to introduce the RESULTS Act alongside Senator Marshall to empower states to build better data systems that will connect education and employment outcomes, making information more accessible to our communities as emerging technologies change the world we live, learn, and work in."

"Artificial intelligence is a tool-not a replacement for the American worker. Whether it's in a doctor's office, on a farm, or in manufacturing, AI can help people work smarter and more efficiently. But if you can't measure it, you can't manage it," said Senator Marshall. "The RESULTS Act gives states better tools to understand how our workforce is changing so we can prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow and keep America's workforce the strongest and most competitive."

The RESULTS Act would:

• Modernize the SLDS program to incentivize highly connected state data systems that incorporate early childhood, elementary and secondary education, higher education, workforce and labor market data.  
• Streamline state funding by starting to consolidate the SLDS program and the parallel Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) at the Department of Labor.
• Expand eligibility of SLDS to include a state's governor as well as a state agency or data governance entity designated by the governor. 
• Improve access to the National Directory of New Hires, a detailed and underutilized source of wage and employment data for directed use to support statutorily required education and workforce performance reporting. 

The RESULTS Act is endorsed by the Advance CTE, Alliance for Learning Innovation, America Forward, Association for Career and Technical Education, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, Credential Engine, Data Quality Campaign, Jobs for the Future, LISC-Kansas City, National Skills Coalition, Results for America, and Rodel.

"Every day, states make decisions about how to support students without the data infrastructure to know what's actually working," said Sara Schapiro, Executive Director of the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI). "A state should be able to answer a simple question: did the students who completed that CTE pathway or apprenticeship land jobs that pay a living wage five years later? Today, most can't. By modernizing and consolidating the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems and Workforce Data Quality Initiative programs, this legislation gives states the tools to connect data across early learning, K-12, postsecondary, and the workforce, so families, educators, and policymakers can see which programs actually lead to good jobs. ALI is proud to support Senators Blunt Rochester and Marshall in this bipartisan step forward for education and workforce innovation."

"America Forward applauds Senators Blunt Rochester and Marshall for their leadership on the RESULTS Act, which would dramatically accelerate the nation's data infrastructure. America Forward Coalition members delivering and supporting evidence-based higher education and workforce programs depend on access to high-quality data for performance management, learning, and improvement," said Deborah Smolover, America Forward Executive Director.

Credential Engine has worked for years with partners to shed light on the credentials, programs, and pathways available to learners and workers. Yet, efforts to increase transparency can only go so far if it is not connected to what happens after someone earns a credential, said Scott Cheney, CEO of Credential Engine. The RESULTS Act gives states the flexibility and resources to link credential and program data with earnings and employment outcomes, so that states, along with the learners and workers they serve, can answer fundamental questions about credential quality and program value. With a modernized, consolidated funding stream and expanded access to critical wage data, this bill helps states build the data infrastructure needed to make these connections real. We are proud to support it.

"Consistent federal investments have been a critical component of supporting states to build statewide longitudinal data systems that provide the backbone for timely, informed decision making by individuals and policymakers alike. But, those investments are currently siloed, placing guardrails around how states can evolve and modernize their systems in ways that enable state leaders to respond to the changing education and workforce needs of policymakers, students, workers, and employers. Students don't experience their lives in silos-and state data systems shouldn't either. The RESULTS Act provides a modern vision for federal investment in these data systems that will offer states the flexibility to invest federal funds in ways that meet today's unique needs. DQC applauds Senators Blunt Rochester and Marshall on the introduction of this critical piece of legislation," said Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger, President and CEO, Data Quality Campaign.

"As Workforce Pell is implemented, transparent and modern data systems will be essential to ensuring students can identify high-quality programs, policymakers can evaluate outcomes, and employers can find the skilled workforce they need. Strengthening our education and workforce data infrastructure via the bipartisan RESULTS Act will help ensure Workforce Pell delivers on its promise of expanding access to credentials that lead to good jobs and economic mobility," said Brooke DeRenzis, Chief Executive Officer, National Skills Coalition.

"A student's journey from early childhood to professional career shouldn't have to navigate gaps between government agencies," said Michele Jolin, co-founder and CEO of Results for America. "When a state's early childhood, K-12, higher education, and workforce data systems are siloed, policymakers are forced to make billion-dollar decisions using only a fraction of the picture. The RESULTS Act provides states with the tools they need to build secure, statewide longitudinal data systems that will enable policymakers and practitioners to connect the dots between education and employment outcomes and inform policy that drives results and helps government work better for American families," said Michele Jolin, CEO and Co-Founder, Results for America.

"For years, states have had to stitch together data on students and workers using two separate, siloed federal grant programs. The RESULTS Act, led by Sens. Marshall (R-KS) and Blunt Rochester (D-DE), fixes that by giving states one flexible funding stream to build data systems that follow a person from the classroom to the workforce. That reflects a core recommendation of BPC's Commission on the American Workforce: eliminate data silos so that states can build a single, coherent longitudinal data system rather than managing separate, fragmented funding streams. That's the kind of practical, cross-agency thinking Congress needs more of, and BPC Action is proud to support it," said Michele Stockwell, President, Bipartisan Policy Center Action.

The full bill text of the RESULTS Act can be found HERE, and a one-pager can be found HERE.