If the House on Wednesday passes a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act, the next stop could be the president’s desk for his signature, which is likely.
The Senate on Monday passed by voice vote the House version of the Perkins reauthorization bill and then substituted the bill with the Senate version, which the Senate education committee passed last month. If the House passes the Senate version of the bill without amendments, a conference committee to hash out differences between the two bills won’t be needed.
The Senate bill would encourage states, schools and local career and technical education providers to update education and job training to meet the needs of the local economies, ensuring students have the skills needed to remain competitive, according to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. It would also increase alignment with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Every Student Succeeds Act, and promote collaboration between stakeholders so that local businesses can communicate their needs to states and educators as strategies and programs are developed, the committee said.
“What I hear most often from Tennessee employers is that they need more skilled workers,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), chair of the HELP Committee, said in a press release following passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. “The Perkins CTE Act funds the programs that help train those skilled workers — for example, a high school student wanting to become a computer coder, or an adult going back to school to learn about commercial construction.”
Committee Minority Leader Sen. Patty Murray (Washington) said she was glad lawmakers were able to “push partisanship aside” to move on a bill that will invest in students and workers through education, skills and training for better jobs and higher wages.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pennsylvania), issued a statement indicating their eagerness to keep the momentum going on passing Perkins legislation this year.
“Today’s action by the United States Senate is one of the final, crucial steps in making better career and technical education options a reality for millions of Americans,” they said.
Combing through the bill
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), which is reviewing the bill, said that, for the most part, it embodies AACC’s legislative priorities for reauthorization. Those include: continued emphasis on sub-baccalaureate education at the postsecondary level; greater alignment with WIOA; a stronger role for business and the private sector; and refinement of the law’s performance indicators. AACC plans to soon have a more detailed analysis of the bill.
The Association for Career and Technical Education and Advance CTE, which represent both secondary and postsecondary institutions and systems, said in a joint statement that they support certain provisions in the bill, such as increasing the reserve fund and expanding career exploration into the middle grades. However, it added that the legislation “falls short of fully addressing our legislative priorities and includes some potentially troubling provisions.”
ACTE and Advance CTE hope Congress will “clarify the legislative language to ensure that there are no unintended consequences that result in setting unambitious performance targets, lower academic standards for CTE students, or force states and programs to meet onerous administrative requirements instead of focusing on providing high-quality CTE programs.”
