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Posts Tagged ‘Perkins’

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Legislative Update: House Perkins Hearing This Friday

Tuesday, September 17th, 2013

CapitolThis Friday, the reauthorization process for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act will begin with a hearing called “Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Jobs: A Discussion on Career and Technical Education and Training Programs.” The hearing will be held by the House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. Witnesses will include a State CTE Director and a CTE high school principal.

Hearing: Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Jobs: A Discussion on Career and Technical Education and Training Programs
Time: Friday, September 20, 2013 at 9:00 am ET
Location: Rayburn Building, Room 2175

The hearing will be available on a live webcast. In case you are unable to attend, we will provide a detailed summary in Friday’s legislative update.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation, News, Public Policy
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Legislative Update: House Postpones Markup of Perkins Funding Bill

Friday, July 26th, 2013

House Postpones Markup of Perkins Funding BillCapitol

A markup that was scheduled this week for the House of Representatives’ FY 2014 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS-Education) appropriations bill, which includes Perkins funding, has been postponed by the House Appropriations Committee until further notice.

Earlier this month, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its Labor-HHS-Ed bill, which would restore Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (Perkins) funding to pre-sequestration levels. The Senate bill provides a $3.52 billion, or 5.4 percent, increase for discretionary education spending compared to FY 2013. In stark contrast, the overall funding level for the approved House Labor-HHS-Ed bill is 19 percent below current funding levels and is expected to contain deep cuts to many programs.

Experts project that, due to disparate proposals from each chamber, the FY 2014 appropriations process will not be easily resolved. Congress is required to pass a funding measure by the end of September. Please take the opportunity to contact your Representative to let them know why Perkins funding needs to be maintained and how it would impact Career Technical Education (CTE) programs across your state and district.

Senate Introduces Bipartisan WIA Legislation

This week, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) officially introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The Workforce Investment Act of 2013, or S.1356, contains some positive elements for CTE, including prioritization of career pathways and programs that lead to industry-recognized credential and high-demand jobs. Unfortunately, the bill also proposed to fund One-Stop infrastructure and other activities from state allocations of One-Stop partners.

While only postsecondary Perkins programs offer training services as partners in the One-Stop system under WIA, Perkins funding supports both secondary and postsecondary CTE programs with individuals deciding how to split overall funding between secondary and postsecondary CTE. The bill proposes a 1.5 percent contribution, or $17 million overall, that would come from Perkins administrative funds, and would result in a 30 percent cut to the administrative funds that are available to most states. This has been a longstanding issue and will likely continue to be a sticking point as WIA reauthorization progresses.

NASDCTEc provided input to the committee on this issue prior to the release of the bill, and we will continue to work with committee staff to address this significant issue. Please contact your Senators to let them know how the One-Stop infrastructure proposal would negatively impact CTE in your state. Ask them to oppose this method for supporting WIA infrastructure and, instead, to carve out administrative funding in WIA to pay for its own infrastructure.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has scheduled a markup of the WIA bill next Wednesday.

Senate Passes Bill on Student Loans

The Senate passed a bill this week that would allow students to lock in currently low interest rates on student loans. In future years, fixed rates would depend on current market conditions. The Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act, or S.1334, passed by a vote of 81 to 18 and will next go to the House for approval.

Of interest for CTE stakeholders, Senators Patty Murray and Al Franken (D-MN) introduced an amendment that would, in part, restore the Ability to Benefit provisions of the Higher Education Act for certain students enrolled in evidence-based career pathways programs. While the amendment was not included in the final version of the Senate bill, there is opportunity for it to resurface in the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Senate Confirms New Labor Secretary

Last week, the Senate voted to confirm President Obama’s pick for labor secretary, Thomas Perez, on a party-line vote of 54-46. Prior to this role, Perez served as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. As labor secretary, Perez replaces Hilda Solis, who held the position from 2009 through January 2013.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation, News, Public Policy
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Spring Meeting Recap: A View from the Hill: Reauthorization

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Earlier this week, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) held its annual Spring Meeting to share information on the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) and other important Career Technical Education (CTE) issues. With Perkins becoming eligible for reauthorization this summer, representatives from key Congressional committees shared their thoughts on CTE and possible timing for reauthorization.

Crystal Bridgeman, a Senior Education Policy Advisor on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, discussed the importance of improving the quality and accessibility of CTE, aligning the programs with labor market demands, and creating stronger performance accountability measures. While she emphasized the value of Perkins and CTE, Bridgeman suspects that reauthorization for expired legislation, such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), will occur before Perkins reauthorization.

Rosemary Lahasky, a professional staff member with the U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Education and the Workforce, also highlighted the importance of CTE. She stressed that the focus for Perkins in the House will be on providing more flexibility for states and locals. While Lahasky also anticipates that Perkins reauthorization will fall behind legislation such as ESEA, she expects for Perkins hearings to begin at some point this year.

Please visit the NASDCTEc blog for the most current news and information on Perkins reauthorization and CTE legislation and policy issues.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Advance CTE Spring Meeting, Legislation, Resources
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CLASP Releases Federal Funding Toolkit for Career Pathways Initiatives

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

CLASP, an organization aiming to improve the lives of low-income individuals, has recently released a comprehensive resource to help state teams identify and use federal resources to support career pathways models.

The Federal Funding Toolkit is comprised of four parts:

Introduction: This introductory document describes the importance of career pathways, defines the term, and explains the relevance of the toolkit.

Using the Toolkit: This document describes who should use the toolkit, how to use it, and an overview of 10 federal programs that could potentially support career pathways.

Funding Options Worksheet: These customizable worksheets list sample tasks to design, implement, and sustain career pathways.

Summary of Federal Programs: Each summary identifies federal programs that relate to career pathways and can be used to support these initiatives. The summaries include information on: type of program, eligibility requirements, type of services or support provided, and an analysis of how the program can support career pathways. Federal program summaries with relevance to Career Technical Education (CTE) include:

View the entire toolkit here.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Resources
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National Public Radio Show Discusses New Direction for CTE

Friday, March 15th, 2013

Over the last decade, Career Technical Education (CTE) has transformed from skills-focused vocational education into a robust educational environment that integrates core academics with real-world relevance. A recent story on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition highlights an example of this transformation at Stockbridge Community Schools in Michigan.

Listen to the story or read the script here.

Administrators at Stockbridge have embraced CTE because they recognize the value of equipping students with both academic and technical skills. Reporter Sarah Alvarez noted that “When kids from the rural mid-Michigan school district of Stockbridge go looking for work, they have to go pretty far. There are no jobs here to speak of. That means they’re competing against applicants from bigger, richer districts for jobs. That’s made the school system willing to embrace technical education in a big way, even when it had a serious image problem as second rate education.”

According to the report, Stockbridge offers courses such as alternative energy, underwater robotics, and marketing that equip students with the high-level skills they need to compete in postsecondary education and the workplace.

But like other CTE schools and programs across the nation, Stockbridge suffers from cuts to the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act – the main source of federal funding for CTE. One teacher reports storing old equipment from shut-down CTE programs in his classroom. Alvarez also describes the difficulty of attracting CTE teachers from industry where they can earn much higher salaries.

Though budget cutbacks create challenges for CTE programs, Stockbridge and other CTE schools across the nation continue to prioritize CTE because they are seeing such positive results for students.

CTE State Directors are committed to advancing this new direction for CTE. Read more in Reflect Transform, Lead: A New Vision for Career Technical Education.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in News
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Politico Opinion Article Touts Benefits of CTE, Encourages Perkins Reauthorization

Friday, March 8th, 2013

A recent opinion article in Politico points to a revamped Career Technical Education (CTE) system as one possible solution to some of our nation’s toughest problems including the skills gap and high school dropout epidemic.

In the article, former White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes and Civic Enterprises President and CEO John Bridgeland discuss the benefits of high-quality CTE, which they call “enterprising pathways,” such as helping address the nation’s job crisis and making postsecondary education more accessible.

In the article, Barnes and Bridgeland encourage Congress to prioritize the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. They call for reforms that strengthen the links between secondary education, postsecondary education and employers, and link student data with employment and earnings data to assess education and workforce training program efficacy.

Read the full piece here.

Across the country, CTE State Directors are working to ensure that all CTE programs provide rigorous education and training that will lead students to future career success. The themes echoed throughout this article are well-aligned to those presented in the CTE State Directors’ vision for CTE developed in 2010. View the NASDCTEc vision document here.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in News
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NASDCTEc Releases Recommendations for Perkins Reauthorization

Friday, December 21st, 2012

In 2013, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) will be eligible for reauthorization. Over the last two years, NASDCTEc has gathered input from our membership – through surveys, working groups, conference sessions, and calls – resulting in a broad set of recommendations for Perkins reauthorization. These recommendations are an introduction to the issues that matter to the CTE community, and members will have additional opportunities to engage in the development of a more detailed version of these recommendations in 2013.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Legislation, News, Public Policy
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NASDCTEc Webinar Registration Reminder for Career Clustersâ„¢ Crosswalks and the Crosswalk Validation Project

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

This is a reminder to register now for the Career Clustersâ„¢ Crosswalks and the Crosswalk Validation Project upcoming webinar on October 25.

This webinar will discuss the Crosswalk Validation Project and provide an understanding of why it is necessary use a validated crosswalk when trying to develop and implement programs of study (POS), career pathways, or, more, generally career preparation areas. In addition, discussion about the crosswalk uses for state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) in building linkages for career guidance and a discussion about the necessity for SEAs and LEAs to use a validated resource for reporting Perkins accountability requirements.

The Crosswalk Validation Project was a two-year long project led jointly by the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) and the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE). The Crosswalk Validation Project focuses on updating and refining the original national crosswalk (known as Table 7 on www.careertech.org) used by SEAs and LEAs for career guidance as well as Perkins accountability.

When: October 25, 2012; 3-4 EDT
Link to Register

Presenters:

Ramona Schescke, Member Services Manager

By admin in Webinars
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OMB Releases Sequestration Report

Friday, September 14th, 2012

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this afternoon released the OMB Report Pursuant to the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, as required by Congress. According to OMB’s estimates, non-exempt nondefense discretionary federal programs will be cut by 8.2 percent if sequestration occurs on January 2, 2013. The report does not get down to the program level, so we do not have official numbers on the amount the Perkins could be cut, but based on our rough estimates, Perkins could be reduced by approximately $92 million. The total cut to Department of Education programs would be $4.113 billion.

OMB’s determination that the cut from sequestration would be 8.2 percent is based on the assumption that FY13 discretionary spending will be at FY12 levels. However, as we told you earlier this week, the 6 month continuing resolution increases FY13 spending 0.612 percent above FY12 levels. Therefore, the final sequestration percentage will likely be slightly different than 8.2 percent.

Nancy Conneely, Public Policy Manager

By admin in Public Policy
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Senate Hearing Focuses on College Affordability; Witness Calls for Streamlining Federal Reporting Requirements

Friday, September 14th, 2012

At a hearing this week — Improving College Affordability: A View From the States – members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee heard from higher education stakeholders about the obstacles that keep postsecondary education out of reach for many students. Dr. Camille Preus, Commissioner of the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, spoke about how the Federal government can encourage and support states in making postsecondary education more affordable:

The federal government also could help states in their efforts to be more efficient by aligning the various reporting requirements that it imposes on institutions of higher education. These requirements differ for various programs, such as the HEA and the Workforce Investment and the Carl D. Perkins Act, and these in turn differ from information that states themselves require. A concerted effort needs to be undertaken to eliminate these inefficiencies. Many community colleges have only one individual who is responsible for meeting all reporting requirements. Sometimes states becoming directly involved in providing needed information. In addition, the federal government needs to be much more aggressive in ensuring that appropriate state educational entities have access to data that will enable them, in concert with institutions, to identify the earnings of students after they have left institutions. These data in turn will help colleges to maximize resource allocation.

In the context of better aligning workforce and training programs, NASDCTEc has also recommended that common measures across programs such as WIA, Perkins, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and Adult Education would provide more interconnectivity in the workforce system as programs collaborate and work together to ensure the alignment of goals. Our recommendaitons also call for data sharing across federal programs in order to ease the burden that programs and providers face in collecting accountability information, and foster an environment of collaboration and efficiency in the workforce and education systems.

By admin in Public Policy
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