HARRISBURG – Speaker of the House Mike Turzai and Rep. Mike Tobash have introduced new legislation designed to give career and technical education students more opportunities to fulfill their graduation requirements, according to a press release jointly written by Turzai and Tobash.

“We need to have a more open-minded view of what is meaningful, quality education for our students – one size does not fit all,” Turzai said in the release. “Each approach is as important and challenging as another. Providing additional routes for students highlights the value of a variety of educational paths and careers.”

House Bill 2381 would provide students who participate in a vocational education program, either in vocational technical school or in a school district, with the opportunity to display their proficiency on exams created by the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute in place of the Keystone Exams, according to the release.

Dan Potutschnig, administrative director at The Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology, said the NOCTI exam has had great success with students attending The Academy and he is in support of the new legislation.

John Bilich, assistant director at The Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology, is also in support of the new legislation.

In the last several years, students have been achieving at a high level on the NOCTI assessment, an average of 90 percent proficiency and advanced proficiency, Potutschnig said.

“House Bill 2381 recognizes the efforts at The Academy and across the state to ensure that CTE students are college and career ready,” Potutschnig said.

He also said the new legislation would allow CET students to apply their proficiency on the NOCTI exams toward their graduation requirements at their high school, if needed.

The option to use the NOCTI exam in place of the Keystone Exam would only be available during school years in which proficiency on a Keystone Exam is a graduation requirement, according to the release.

Act 1 of 2016, which amends the act of March 10, 1949, known as the Public School Code of 1949, delayed the implementation of the Keystone Exams as a high school graduation requirement until the 2018-19 school year.

According to Potutschnig, the push for House Bill 2381 now, rather than after the 2018-19 school year, is a preliminary effort to get the new graduation requirements in place for students who will be seniors after the delayment period is over.