Advance CTE is posting a series of blogs on each 2020 presidential candidate who has released an education or workforce development platform and is polling above one percent. Check our website to catch up on previous posts!

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign platform has touted the Senator’s broad and detailed platform has “Got a Plan For That,” regardless of the topic. Her platform for education and workforce issues are no exception as these priorities are laid out in great detail on her website. With her background as a special education teacher, and later as a law professor, it is no surprise that education issues are a focal point of her campaign.

Warren’s entire platform places a high value on the role of public education. – “Every kid in America should have the same access to a high-quality public education – no matter where they live, the color of their skin, or how much money their parents make.”.

Specifically, Warren’s K-12 strategy includes:

• Quadrupling Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title I funding – an additional $450 billion over the next 10 years (on the condition that states are required to contribute additional funding consistently); 
• An additional $20 billion a year to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants;
• An additional $100 billion over ten years for “Excellence Grants” to public schools; and 
• $50 Billion to support school infrastructure.

Warren’s detailed higher education plan calls for a broad investment in our postsecondary institutions and support to help learners and their families with the rising cost of higher education. She notes that her in-state tuition at the University of Houston “was just $50 a semester” and that current student debt is holding back learners and their families. Her postsecondary proposal includes:

• Eliminating up to $50,000 of debt for household income under $100,000, and tiered debt cancellation amounts up to households earning $250,000 a year.
• Eliminating the cost of tuition and fees at every public two-year and four-year college in America. This proposal also includes investing an additional $100 billion over ten years in Pell grants, to help support non-tuition expenses.

Her platform intends to pay for these programs through an “Ultra-Millionaire Tax,” a two percent annual tax on families with $50 million or more in wealth. Warren notes that it’s “time to give our schools the support they need to ensure that every student has access to a meaningful, high-quality public education.”

In regards to the workforce development system, her platform similarly has a broad array of topic areas. If elected, Warren plans to:

• Dramatically scale up apprenticeship programs, which will be supported in part by a $20 billion commitment to apprenticeship programs over the next ten years that can “bring together community colleges, technical schools, unions, and companies.”
• Institute new sectoral training programs to “help align training with the local job market, leverage the
•  community college system…” and “…ensure that workers gain skills that are transferable across employers.”
• Create the Department of Economic Development, which would replace the Commerce Department and many smaller agencies to have a single goal, “creating and defending good American jobs.”
  • This department would create A four year strategic plan called the “National Jobs Strategy” which would specifically address “regional economies and trends that disproportionately affect rural areas and small cities.”
• Create 10.6 Million Green Jobs.

To learn more information about Warren’s education and workforce platforms, you can visit her platform plans page.

Samuel Dunietz, Senior Associate for Federal Policy

Advance CTE is posting a series of blogs on each 2020 presidential candidate who has released an education or workforce development platform and is polling above one percent. Check back for the next blog in this series, and catch up on previous posts!

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign platform places importance on increasing equity and access in postsecondary attainment. This is outlined in his “College for All” plan that would make all public colleges and universities tuition free and cancel all existing student debt. Some of the strategies to achieve this include: 

• Make Public Colleges, Universities and Trade Schools Free to All
  Sanders commits to passing the College for All Act that would allocate at least $48 billion annually to cover tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities, tribal colleges, community colleges, trade schools and apprenticeship programs. 
• Make College Debt-Free for All
  Sanders outlines a number of measures that he would take as president to ensure that students graduate college without debt, such as providing Pell Grants to cover all non-tuition fees and expenses. He would also require participating states and tribes to provide funding to low-income students for any remaining college costs. The federal government would then match any of the additional fees that are funded by states and tribes. Sanders also makes the campaign promise that he would cap student loan interest rates at 1.88 percent. Finally, Sanders states that he would triple the funding for the Federal Work-Study Program. This would allow the program to grow from serving 700,000 students to 2.1 million students. Funding would be targeted to colleges that have large numbers of low-income students enrolled.  
• Invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions
  In his platform, Sanders commits to putting $1.3 billion into private, non-profit Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). This funding would either eliminate or reduce tuition and additional fees. 
• End Equity Gaps in Higher Education Attainment
  Sanders calls out the need to support students before and during college so that they can be successful. Sanders plans to do this by doubling the funding for Federal TRIO Programs (TRIO) and increasing the funding for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). This expanded funding would allow 1.5 million students to participate in TRIO and GEAR UP participation to grow by over 100,000 students. 

Sanders also outlines a “Jobs for All” proposal that would essentially be a guarantee from the federal level that each individual is able to have a stable job that pays a living salary. The campaign also promises to create 20 million jobs, coinciding with the Green New Deal, that would be needed to build infrastructure and create a sustainable energy system. New jobs would also be created in healthcare services and early childhood education.

To learn more about Sanders’ education and workforce development plans you can check out his campaign platform.

Meredith Hills, Policy Associate 

Advance CTE is posting a series of blogs on each 2020 presidential candidate who has released an education or workforce development platform and is polling above one percent. Check back for the next blog in this series, and catch up on previous posts!

Former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg calls out Career Technical Education (CTE) as its own specific piece of his campaign positioning. He names CTE as a way to provide individuals with the skills they need to find career success. Bloomberg makes the campaign promise that he will “invest in pathways that create new opportunities and access to well-paying jobs for all Americans.”

Bloomberg goes into more detail about his “All-In Economy” agenda that would support individuals in getting higher paying and higher quality jobs, as well as modernize education and training practices to provide adults with the skills and credentials needed for careers that offer upward mobility and income growth. This strategy is comprised of five pillars: “Make education and training a national priority; create the jobs of the future in communities today; make work pay; tap into the job-creating energy of entrepreneurs; and connect rural communities.”

In particular, the modernizing education and training piece of the agenda would be the highest priority assigned to the administration’s Vice President. The Vice President would be tasked with working with states, employers, community and technical colleges and other relevant parties to provide millions of people with the skills needed for a career. This would be achieved through: 

• Training and Retraining
  Bloomberg intends to provide every state with grants to improve career-training systems and programs that are specific to the skills and credentials identified by employers as necessary for in-demand jobs and careers. Bloomberg’s plan requires significant new investments in community and technical colleges and partnerships with employers. In addition, employers, industry groups and educators would collaborate regionally and nationally to define credentials and develop impactful curricula. Part of the grant funding would be competitive and allocated to innovation and scaling up successful and inclusive programs that end with credential attainment.
• Apprenticeships
  Bloomberg set the goal that “by 2030, one million students annually will enroll in apprenticeship degrees and quality credential programs.” This would mean that youth and adult learners would participate in paid on-the-job learning that is related to classroom and results in both academic credit and employer-valued credentials. This plan includes grants for partnerships that include educational and training institutions as well as employers to create and scale programs. Bloomberg would also provide funding for state and local intermediaries.
• Helping Working Adults Transition into Different Jobs and Careers
  This component of Bloomberg’s platform addresses the modernization of education and training systems that he plans to undertake. To achieve this Bloomberg would provide innovation grants to education providers and employers to meet the needs of both full and part-time adult learners. Included in this strategy is Pell Grant eligibility for short-term programs.
• Expanding and Extending Access
  The way that Bloomberg plans to expand and extend access is by making programs more affordable. One way this would be done is by expanding Pell Grant eligibility to short-term programs. In addition, Bloomberg shares that he will open Pell Grant funds to incarcerated individuals.

Bloomberg’s campaign platform also prioritizes Education & College Access by “improving schools and student achievement.” For example, Bloomberg states that increasing student achievement, college preparedness and career readiness would be a national priority if he wins the election. He supports this by sharing his current work leading efforts nationally to increase college enrollment for low-income students. 

To read more about Bloomberg’s education and workforce development platforms you can check out his campaign website. 

Meredith Hills, Policy Associate

Advance CTE is posting a series of blogs on each 2020 presidential candidate who has released an education or workforce development platform and is polling above one percent. Check back for the next blog in this series!

In his campaign platform, former Vice President Joe Biden includes proposals related to Career Technical Education (CTE) and workforce development. He calls out “guaranteeing every American the skills and education they need to get ahead” as a pillar of his vision for the country. The husband of an educator, Biden makes the campaign promise that as president he would provide each middle and high school learner with a path to a career. Specifically, there are two avenues that he focuses on to build CTE opportunities and set learners up for success in higher education and the workforce: 

• Ensure middle and high schools prepare students for good jobs.
  Biden notes that “students who participate in high-quality career and technical education are more likely to graduate, earn industry credentials, enroll in college, and have higher rates of employment and higher earnings.” He shares that he would support CTE by investing in partnerships between high schools, community colleges and employers. Through these partnerships, learners would have the opportunity to earn an industry credential at the time of high school graduation. Biden also stipulates that these credentials would lead to a good-paying career. In addition, Biden calls out how CTE programs can provide middle and high school learners access to computer science classes that are needed for emerging fields such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
  
• Create more opportunities for high school students to take practical classes that lead to credentials.
  Biden states that he would invest in and expand Pell Grant eligibility to include dual- enrollment programs. These programs would allow for learners to take classes at a community college and would result in college credits or a credential ahead of high school graduation.

Biden also prioritizes “investing in all children from birth, so that regardless of their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability, they are prepared to succeed in tomorrow’s economy.” He calls out the reality that about six out of ten jobs in this country require some education beyond high school, and that each learner must have access to an education system that begins at birth and continues past high school. There are a number of strategies that Biden would implement to achieve this goal. For one, Biden would work to improve teacher diversity in ways such as supporting dual enrollment courses that lead into teacher preparation programs, provide paraprofessionals with the opportunity to work toward a teaching certificate and working with historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to recruit and train teachers. He also would take measures to ensure innovative schools are located in traditionally underserved areas by creating a new competitive program for communities to rethink how high school can prepare learners for the skills needed in today’s workforce.

Biden’s full education priorities cover how to: 

• “Support our educators by giving them the pay and dignity they deserve.
• Invest in resources for our schools so students grow into physically and emotionally healthy adults, and educators can focus on teaching. 
• Ensure that no child’s future is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability.
• Provide every middle and high school student a path to a successful career. 
• Start investing in our children at birth.”

To read more about Biden’s education platform you can check out his campaign website.

Meredith Hills, Policy Associate