The House Education and Workforce Committee on Thursday adopted H‑1 substitutes and voted to report House Bill 4836 and Senate Bill 349, measures that would allow Michigan juniors to opt out of the WIN career-readiness assessment (formerly ACT WorkKeys) without jeopardizing school funding.

Representative Paquette, sponsor of HB 4836, said the opt-out framework preserves the WIN for students who need it to access registered apprenticeship programs while removing the testing requirement for students who do not see it as necessary. Paquette told committee members the substitute pushes the effective date back one year to allow the Michigan Department of Education time to prepare and directs the department to create a waiver letter — to be distributed by school districts and signed by parents or guardians — explaining what the test measures and how scores may be used.

A sponsoring senator noted the change would reduce standardized-testing time for all juniors by roughly three hours because the WorkKeys assessment can take three hours to administer. Supporters from the skilled-trades community told the committee the assessment remains a useful, objective measure for entry into apprenticeships and job training.

Grace Roberts, a first‑year apprentice with Operating Engineers Local 324 and an Okemos High School graduate, described how her WorkKeys score opened a path into pre‑apprenticeship training and then into a registered apprenticeship. "Had my family and I been given that information, my path would have been more direct," Roberts said, urging the committee to both preserve the assessment and improve family communication about its purpose.

Robert Mead of UA Local 85 and other trade representatives testified the assessment measures practical workplace skills (applied math, workplace documents, graphic literacy) that local training programs and the U.S. Department of Labor recognize for apprenticeship eligibility. Witnesses and sponsors said the H‑1 substitute would delay implementation to the "2627 school year" to allow the waiver letter to be created by Dec. 31 and for districts to prepare.

The committee adopted the H‑1 substitutes for both bills on voice/roll calls earlier in the hearing and later voted unanimously (11–0) to report HB 4836 as H‑1 with recommendation and to report SB 349 as H‑1 with recommendation. Both measures will move forward with the committee’s recommendation.