business and industry « Advance CTE Blog

ACTION ALERT: House Proposes Cutting Tech Prep!

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

On Friday evening, the House Appropriations Committee released its updated continuing resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 11. The bill, H.R. 1, proposes to cut $100 billion from non-security discretionary funding from a variety of federal programs. Department of Education programs would be cut by $4.899 billion compared to FY10. This includes cutting Title II of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in its entirety, or $103 million in Tech Prep funding for CTE. This affects ALL states, even those that chose to merge Tech Prep because that portion of funding will be taken from their Basic State Grant.

The House is expected to debate and vote on the CR this week, allowing for amendments that could mean deeper cuts than those in the bill. The Senate will take up the House bill when they return from recess on February 28 and try to work out a compromise before the current CR expires on March 4.

While the President released his FY12 budget today that proposes deeper cuts to Perkins, we are focusing our efforts on the FY11 CR because of the very short timeline to affect change. We will take up the fight on FY12 cuts after this is resolved.

CALL YOUR SENATOR

It is crucial that you contact your Member of Congress (especially your Senator) this week to urge them to preserve Tech Prep funding for FY11!

Call the Senate at 202-224-3121and the House at 202-225-3121. Ask to be connected to your Membersâ€™ offices.

Once connected to the Memberâ€™s office, ask to speak to the staffer that works on appropriations or education issues.
Tell them to oppose eliminating Tech Prep funding in H.R. 1

SEND US BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY CONTACTS

NASDCTEc is working with ACTE on a sign-on letter to send to business and industry that will show Congress the number and variety of businesses that support Perkins funding and how many of them will be impacted. If you have any contacts in your state, please send them to us, so that we can ask them to sign on to the letter.

RESOURCES

Talking points

Congressâ€™ rationale for eliminating Tech Prep is that it is duplicative of how funding in the Basic State Grant can be used. You can counter this by saying:

Any cut to Perkins funding will hurt CTE students in every state. Insert concrete examples and data from your state about how students and programs will be impacted by losing this money. Make the case, where appropriate, that cutting Tech Prep will hurt the stateâ€™s economy.
Some states have chosen not merge Tech Prep with the Basic State Grant so that they can ensure that the full amount of funding is used for these activities. Losing this money will eliminate these programs, as their Basic State Grant funding is being used for other things.
In the states that have merged, the funding may be used for other programs and activities, thus eliminating Tech Prep funding will actually impact non-Tech Prep activities.

Also use the talking points on ACTE’s Web site.

State funding chart

ACTE has put together this chart that shows the impact of Tech Prep cuts on each state. Use these numbers to make the case to your Senator that these cuts will hurt his or her state.

Key Members to contact are those on the:

If you have any questions or to update NASDCTEc on your contact with Congress, please call Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager at 301-588-9630 or email her at nconneely@careertech.org

By admin in Legislation
Tags: advocacy, appropriations, budget, business and industry, Congress, funding, Perkins

White House Launches â€œSkills for Americaâ€™s Futureâ€

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

At a meeting before the Presidentâ€™s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) yesterday, President Obama announced a new initiative, Skills for Americaâ€™s Future, which focuses on improving industry partnerships with community colleges to ensure that students obtain the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in the workforce.

President Obama said, â€œWe want to make it easier to join students looking for jobs with businesses looking to hire.Â We want to put community colleges and employers together to create programs that match curricula in the classroom with the needs of the boardroom. Skills for Americaâ€™s Future would help connect more employers, schools, and other job training providers, and help them share knowledge about what practices work best. The goal is to ensure there are strong partnerships between growing industries and community college or training programs in every state in the country.â€

To reach these goals, the President has asked members of PERAB to reach out to business and industry and ask them to partner with their local community colleges. The following businesses have already committed to being partners:

Accenture
Gap, Inc.
McDonalds
Pacific Gas and Electric
United Technologies

The goals of this initiative will help make the United States number one in terms of college graduates by 2020, by ensuring that 5 million community college students graduate and earn certificates by the end of the decade. Skills for Americaâ€™s Future will be housed at the Aspen Institute, and more information can be found at www.skillsforamerica.org.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: business and industry, community colleges, future, Job training, postsecondary, president, Public Policy

White House to Host Community College Summit

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

On October 5, 2010 Dr. Jill Biden will host a White House Summit on Community Colleges.Â The summit will bring together community colleges, business, philanthropy, federal and state policy leaders, and students to discuss how community colleges can help meet the job training and education needs of the nationâ€™s workforce, as well as the critical role community colleges play in achieving the Presidentâ€™s goal to lead the world with the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020.

The White House is inviting the public to submit their thoughts, questions and challenges for discussion as part of the summit dialogue:

Submit a video that highlights how has the community college experience has affected your life. Submit your stories via YouTube or our web form.
Join the online dialogue to brings together community college administrators, students and stakeholders from around the country to discuss these ideas.
Watch the live webcast of the plenary session of the summit on October 5.Â Much of the dayâ€™s content will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov.

By admin in News, Public Policy
Tags: business and industry, community colleges, future, global competition, Job training, postsecondary, president, Public Policy

Education is Critical to Economic Development, IBM Director Says

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Even in tough economic times, education remains the best way for students to ensure a prosperous future and steer away from lower-skilled, lower-wage jobs, said the Director of IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs in a recent Huffington Post editorial.

At a minimum, Diane Melley of IBM said that students should strive to develop basic and vital skills that will be of value in all industries: creative thinking, the ability to think analytically, entrepreneurial and leadership. For those with advanced skills, a range of new opportunities are opening. Â Individuals who have the skills to work with â€œintelligent technologiesâ€ such as those used to efficiently manage water and power resources; or can create modern systems to conserve resources for a sustainable future, are ripe for employment opportunities today and in the future.

Overall, helping students stay in school, attain college education and develop employment skills they will help to assure a successful future for them and their community, she said.

â€œPreparing our young people for the jobs of the future is the first and most important step in our economic development.â€

By admin in News
Tags: business and industry, college and career readiness, Job training

A Model for Transforming Technical Education

Friday, July 9th, 2010

An automotive manufacturing technical program that joined governors, industry and community colleges to develop comprehensive education training could serve as a scalable model for other sectors to answer the high-demand for technical workers in the global economy.

The Automotive Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative (AMTEC) program demonstrates how governors, industry and community colleges can work together to transform Americaâ€™s workforce with better technical skills, according to a recent National Governors Association Center for Best Practices report. Through this model AMTEC has brought together automotive manufacturers and community colleges to identify and implement potential improvements within technical education, noted in the report, A Sharper Focus on Technical Workers: How to Educate and Train for the Global Economy.

AMTEC is a collaboration of community colleges and industry partners working to align automotive manufacturing programs to the growing needs within the automotive manufacturing technology field.

Some of the major lessons within this case study include:

The U.S. must value and invest in technical education and manufacturing companies, as other nations do.
Technical education must reflect the requirements of the knowledge economy.
Curricula must be developed with industries to ensure that the skills being taught are what industry needs.
Programs must be rigorous to ensure that students are prepared to take what they have learned and implement that easily into the workplace.

An example within this report highlights the collaboration efforts between Toyota, located in Kentucky, and the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. Toyota partnered with the Kentucky Community College system because other schools were not providing the training Toyota was looking for. They challenged the school system to create a rigorous curriculum that would reflect the needs of their company, and the needs of the economy, so that students were better prepared for the workplace.

AMTECâ€™s model can transferred to other sectors of technical education because it focuses on meeting the needs of industry, employers and students by creating a standard for technical education, within each specific sector, where student performance can be assessed.

As the United States continues to advance with our global economy it is imperative that we recognize the importance of producing skilled workers. These kinds of partnerships are vital to the success of CTE, and Americaâ€™s future workforce, as they demonstrate the value of CTE and how these programs will ensure the United States a place in this competitive global economy.

By admin in Public Policy, Resources
Tags: business and industry, community colleges, global competition, Job training, Public Policy, workforce

Institute Report Out: Closing General Session Highlights Employer Needs

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Tim Taylor, Colorado Succeeds

We closed out the 8^th annual Career Clusters Institute with a panel discussion lead by Tim Taylor, President of Colorado Succeeds, a coalition of business leaders who focus on education and workforce policy. He explained to the audience that the business community is excited about career pathways because they provide the â€œwhyâ€ to students who question the relevance and importance of high school and postsecondary. The panel included Gary Barbosa, Lockheed Martin; Elaine Gantz Berman, Colorado State Board of Education; and Tom Currigan, Kaiser Permanente. Expanding on Mr. Taylorâ€™s point about relevancy, Mr. Barbosa of Lockheed Martin stated that businesses should be part of enticing students to their industries and should be developing talent rather than just being the consumer of talent. He suggested that businesses should offer programs such as internships for teachers as a way to help them teach relevant skills in the classroom.

Ms. Gantz Berman said that Colorado just revised their state education standards to focus more on workforce readiness and 21^st century skills, with a big emphasis on CTE.Â They are also working on assessments that will be able to test these areas. She was also passionate about the need to get Career Clusters into all of our high schools â€“ to â€œmainstream itâ€ as she said. But she was not sure how to accomplish this.

Finally, Mr. Currigan of Kaiser Permanente emphasized the need for a skilled workforce. When a company considers moving to region, the first thing they look at is whether there are skilled workers there. In order to keep the workforce in tune with the times, he said each Career Cluster must be continually refreshed to keep up with the changes and new demands from industry. But more important than the specific technical skills required by the job, employers want workers who are able to navigate complexity and who understand connections â€“ skills that the foundational Career Clusters Knowledge and Skills statements help students master.

By admin in Career ClustersÂ®
Tags: business and industry, Career ClustersÂ®, college and career readiness, future, Job training, Public Policy, technical skills assessments

Spellings Takes Over Education and Workforce Initiatives at U.S. Chamber

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced today the retirement of Arthur Rothkopf, senior vice president and counselor to the Chamber president. In this role Rothkopf oversaw the Chamberâ€™s Education and Workforc spellings-300 e Initiative, including the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW). Among other issues, ICW has focused its attention on the integration of CTE and academics as a way to prepare students for postsecondary education and careers.

Margaret Spellings, former Secretary of Education and current Senior Vice President for the Chamber’s National Chamber Foundation, will take over the Chamber’s education programs in July. As Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009, Spellings oversaw the implementation of No Child Left Behind and is credited with giving states more flexibility in meeting its requirements.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: business and industry, Job training, NCLB/ESEA, postsecondary, Public Policy

Legislative Update: America COMPETES Act, Education Jobs Bill

Friday, May 7th, 2010

House Committee Approves America COMPETES Act

Last week the House Committee on Science and Technology marked up H.R. 5116, America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, and approved it by a vote of 29 to 8. Originally authorized in 2007, the reauthorized bill seeks to strengthen science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in order to maintain the United Statesâ€™ global economic leadership. The bill would coordinate STEM programs across federal agencies and encourage more participation by females and underrepresented groups. The bill would also focus on the challenges faced by rural school districts, which often have less access to high speed Internet and lab resources.

The bill now goes to the full House for approval. Chairman Bart Gordonâ€™s (TN) goal is to get the legislation through the House before the Memorial Day recess. Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation also held a hearing to consider the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act.

The bill has been endorsed by several business leaders including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers.

Education Jobs Fund

Senator Tom Harkin told Congressional Quarterly May 4 that a Senate floor vote on S. 3206, Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010, may come in the next few weeks, but â€œthere is not a committed time for a vote.â€

The Education Commission of the States has put together a resource that provides a chart of the approximate amount of funding each state could receive under the education jobs fund and the approximate number of education jobs created or saved by the fund. Both of these charts break down the estimates by secondary and postsecondary distributions.Â

By admin in Legislation
Tags: business and industry, Congress, federal legislation, funding, global competition, STEM, teachers

Business and Industry Managers Dub Four Cs as Essential for Employability

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Traditionally, students were told that they needed to master the â€œthree Rsâ€ â€“ reading, writing and arithmetic — to prepare for a successful future. Today, some education and business stakeholders say the nation needs to add what they are coining as the â€œfour Cs,â€ which encompass more dynamic skills related to critical thinking, according to a recent survey.

The findings in the American Management Association (AMA) 2010 Critical Skills Survey address some of the same issues such as employability in a global economy â€“ a significant area in which CTE programs aim to tackle. The survey, which was conducted in partnership with 21^st Century Partnership Skills, includes responses of 2,115 managers and other executives in AMA member and customer companies about the importance of the four Cs to their organization. The business and industry input may provide more insight to the notion of career readiness â€“ a high-profile topic in which education stakeholders across the nation are not quite aligned.

The AMA survey defined the four Cs as:

Critical thinking and problem solving â€“ including the ability to make decisions, solve problems and take action as appropriate;

Effective communications â€“ the ability to synthesize and transmit your ideas both in written and oral formants

Collaboration and team building â€“ the ability to work effectively with others, including those from diverse groups with opposing points of view

Creativity and innovation â€“ the ability to see whatâ€™s not there and make something happen

By admin in Research
Tags: business and industry, college and career readiness, future, global competition

Pathways From Education System to Job Complicated and Oft Wastes Time and Resources

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Pathways from education system to job complicated and oft wastes time and resources
As workers adjust to the changes brought about by the nationâ€™s recent economic downturn, they will be looking to our education system to provide them the knowledge and skills needed to earn a living wage. But navigating the pathway from postsecondary education to a job is complicated and often results in a waste of time and resources that do not even lead to a postsecondary credential, according to a recent Education Commission of the States report.

Revving the Education Engine notes the hurdles that government, education and business leaders must leap in order to create an effective education system which benefits students and state economies. Further, the report provides a series of recommendations on how to overcome those challenges. The suggested approach is drawn from ECSâ€™s work in 2009, which is when the organization dedicated efforts to engage state education, business and workforce development leaders in the creation of a framework that would allow states to more effectively align education, economic development and workforce development policy.

In brief, the report highlights the complicated structure of education and workforce training systems â€“ from high school to workforce training programs to community colleges â€“ and calls for the need to coordinate goals, resources and efforts. The alignment strategy should include four main elements:
1. Integration of education, workforce development and economic development policy
2. Regional focus
3. Positions education as the arbiter of the student supply and workforce demand
4. Aligned P-20, economic development and workforce development system

While it is clear that the need for alignment should be a national priority, the report does point out that the national strategy must be regionally sensitive. The economic downturn has been felt unevenly across states and regions and it is important to recognize the disparities that exist in order to scaffold an education and training plan that can best support a specific area. The report offers thorough examples of how states have deployed strategies to reach some versions of alignment.

By admin in Public Policy, Research
Tags: business and industry, community colleges, Public Policy

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