Posts Tagged ‘Workforce Pell Grants’

President-Elect Announces New Leader for ED | Legislative Update

Friday, November 22nd, 2024

This week, President-Elect Donald Trump announced that he will nominate former Small Business Administration leader Linda McMahon to lead the U.S. Department of Education (ED) as part of the incoming Trump-Vance administration. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Congress have continued to make important decisions regarding leadership, stakeholders celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, and ED releases new guidance related to artificial intelligence (AI).  

Linda McMahon Nominated to Lead ED

Earlier this week, President-Elect Donald Trump announced his intention to formally nominate Linda McMahon to lead the U.S. Department of Education as part of the incoming Trump-Vance administration. McMahon led the Small Business Administration (SBA) in the previous Trump administration. Prior to her time in the first Trump administration, McMahon served briefly on the Connecticut State Board of Education before resigning to run for the Senate in 2010. She is also well known for her and her husband – Vince McMahon – roles as executive leaders for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). 

Most recently, McMahon co-chaired President-Elect Donald Trump’s transition team and has been the board chair for the America First Policy Institute. McMahon has previously expressed support for increasing access to Career Technical Education (CTE) and urged Congress to expand federal Pell grant eligibility for shorter-term, high-quality CTE programs. 

Congress Continues to Take Shape

This week, Democrats reelected current Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to retain this role along with much of the party’s existing leadership team in the House, including Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA), and Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Chair Debbie Dingell (D-MI). As Advance CTE shared last week, House Republicans similarly reelected most of their current leadership for the coming year. 

In the Senate, current Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced that he plans to serve as the leader of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee next Congress. Clarity regarding committee assignments and other key leadership positions for the next Congress remains to be determined.

In the weeks ahead, lawmakers are still determining what issues will be addressed in the remaining weeks of the current 118th Congress. These agenda items include federal funding for the current 2025 federal fiscal year (FY25), which began on October 1 of this year. Legislation extending current funding levels is set to expire on December 20. Congress will need to determine a pathway forward on this issue in the coming weeks. As these efforts and more continue to take shape, Advance CTE will continue to advocate for a strengthened federal investment in CTE. 

National Apprenticeship Week

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) celebrated the 10th annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) this week – an annual celebration highlighting the value of apprenticeship programs as a pathway to quality careers. Proclamations were signed, and events took place nationwide to showcase the benefits of apprenticeship, often connected to Career Technical Education (CTE) programs and related pathways. In states across the nation, this week was a great opportunity to connect learners to CTE and apprenticeship pathways that reflect the needs of industry and align to educational outcomes along pathways to careers. Read more about this week’s celebration here.

Federal Agencies Release Skills-First Hiring Starter Kit  

Last week at the “Classroom to Career” Summit, a Skills-First Hiring Starter Kit was released by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce. The Kit is a guide that helps employers prioritize skills over degrees when hiring and aims to increase economic opportunity for skilled workers. This initiative is one of many from the Biden-Harris administration that supports workforce development and access to high-quality jobs across the workforce continuum. As Advance CTE reported last week, the “Classroom to Career” Summit highlighted progress in creating job opportunities and expanding the non-degree career pathways

OCR Publishes Artificial Intelligence Anti-Discrimination Guidance

This week, the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) published new guidance related to artificial intelligence (AI) and how to appropriately leverage this new and emerging technology in nondiscriminatory ways. The resource is intended for use by K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions to ensure that the use of this technology is aligned with federal civil rights laws and related requirements, providing illustrative examples of how AI can be thoughtfully and meaningfully used to improve student learning and achievement. Read the full guidance document here. This comes as part of a larger series of guidance related to AI from ED, as previously reported by Advance CTE.

Rob Young, Communications & Advocacy Associate

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

By Rob Young in Public Policy
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Perkins V ICR Comment Extension Requested as Congress Passes FY25 Funding Measure | Legislative Update

Friday, September 27th, 2024

This week, Advance CTE and partners formally requested an extension of the comment period for a recent U.S. Department of Education (ED) proposal impacting state and local Career Technical Education (CTE) systems. In addition, Congress passed a highly-anticipated extension of federal funding ahead of an important deadline while the House and Senate examined issues related to Artificial Intelligence and teacher preparation.

Advance CTE Requests ICR Comment Extension

As Advance CTE has shared previously, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has recently proposed significant changes impacting planning and reporting requirements stemming from the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V). As states and the CTE community have continued to review these proposals, a supporting document related to the Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) was recently updated by ED, reflecting substantial new changes proposed as part of this new Information Collection Request (ICR). Given ED is seeking thoughtful and meaningful feedback from the CTE community, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) have formally requested a 30-day extension of the underlying comment period. We encourage other stakeholders to emphasize to ED directly the importance of providing adequate time through this comment period for the CTE field to review these substantial changes to Perkins V implementation.

Congress Passes Continuing Resolution and Adjourns Until Mid-November

Late Wednesday evening, Congress passed a three-month extension of fiscal year 2024 federal funding—just a few days before the formal start of the 2025 federal fiscal year (FY25) was set to begin on October 1. The extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), provides lawmakers additional time to focus on campaigning for the fast-approaching November elections. The expiration of the CR on December 20, near the end of Congress’ upcoming “lame duck” session, also provides more time for lawmakers to negotiate a compromise on a full-year FY25 funding bill during this last stretch of the 118th Congress.

In the meantime, education and workforce development programs like Perkins V’s state grant program will be supported at the same FY24 funding levels for this period. Shortly after the passage of the CR, which cleared both chambers on a wide bipartisan basis, Congress formally recessed, with lawmakers expected to return on November 15. Advance CTE will continue to advocate for a strengthened investment in CTE made via Perkins V as this process moves forward later this year.

Senate HELP Subcommittee Discusses AI and Workforce

This week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, led by Sens. Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Braun (R-IN), convened a hearing to discuss the implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for workers and efforts to prepare them for the future. The panel questioned an array of witnesses about AI’s growth and the workforce’s changing nature. Panel members, AI industry leaders, an economist from LinkedIn, and a human resources director spoke about the importance of thoughtful guard rails and regulatory frameworks needed for industry leaders to support responsible AI development. 

Witnesses highlighted the need for a changing workforce to be highly-skilled in an emerging field and how community and technical colleges, in particular, can help equip learners with the skills needed for future success in the emerging era of AI. Sen. Kaine (D-VA) specifically highlighted the importance of expanding federal Pell Grant eligibility for shorter-term CTE programs as a key strategy to help support workers and learners in the future as AI technologies continue to evolve and impact many facets of daily life. 

More on the hearing, including witness testimony and an archived webcast

House Examines Teacher Preparation Efforts

On Wednesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing titled “Innovative Teacher Preparation: Properly Equipping America’s Educators.” The subcommittee hearing, led by Chair Bean (R-FL) and Ranking Member Bonamici (D-OR), focused on persistent teacher shortages facing schools and communities across the nation and examined ways to prepare teachers for entry into the workforce more effectively. In particular, Rep. Bonamici highlighted the important role that CTE programs can play in these efforts, while witnesses discussed how teacher preparation efforts should also be sure to incorporate CTE educators. Opening statements, witness testimony, and more related to the hearing can be found here.

Advance CTE has continued to focus on these efforts, and more to prepare the CTE educator workforce needed for today and tomorrow:

Rob Young, Communications & Advocacy Associate

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor 

By Rob Young in Uncategorized
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ED Proposes Significant Changes to Perkins V Implementation | Legislative Update

Friday, September 13th, 2024

This week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) proposed significant changes to state Perkins V plans and related reporting requirements, which have significant implications for the law’s ongoing implementation. Elsewhere, Congress continues to grapple with the need to fund the federal government beyond an important upcoming deadline and more.

ED Proposes Changes to Perkins V State Plans and Reporting

This week, the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) published two new proposals that would significantly impact state and local implementation of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act (Perkins V). These new changes to Perkins V state plan requirements and related annual data collections seek to standardize the way in which states and local Perkins V recipients collect and report information related to CTE student performance. Separately, these proposals would increase the broader information gathered by ED via state Perkins V state plans. 

As noted in the related proposals, these changes will require every state and territory to submit new or substantially amended four-year Perkins V plans by 2026—an effort and wider process states and territories just completed this year. Comments on these proposals are due back to ED no later than November 12, 2024. Advance CTE is continuing to analyze these proposals and plans to formally provide feedback to the Department as part of this comment period.

Progress on Stopgap Funding Legislation Stalls

This week both chambers of Congress returned to Capitol Hill following its annual August recess period. As Advance CTE shared last week, Republican leaders had been intending to introduce legislation, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to temporarily extend current funding levels for all federal programs, including Perkins V’s basic state grant program, through the early part of 2025. This six-month funding extension is strongly opposed by the Biden administration and the Senate, who prefer a shorter-term CR lasting through mid-December—timing that would coincide with the lame-duck session of the current 118th Congress. 

Despite this opposition, House Republican leadership attempted to move forward with this six-month CR, which also contained controversial provisions related to upcoming elections. However, support for this proposal remained uncertain within the House Republican conference, with several GOP lawmakers indicating opposition to this approach. This opposition caused Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to pause further consideration of this CR, at least for the time being. With the start of the 2025 federal fiscal year (FY25) set to begin on October 1, it remains unclear how lawmakers plan to move forward with federal funding for the government beyond this date. As these efforts continue to take shape, Advance CTE will continue to advocate for a strengthened investment in state CTE systems made via Perkins V. 

Advance CTE Signs Onto Letter Endorsing Workforce Pell Grant Passage

This week, Advance CTE joined other national and state-based organizations in sending a letter to congressional leadership supporting expanding the federal Pell Grant program to include learners enrolled in high-quality, shorter-term CTE programs. Such legislation has been a longstanding federal policy priority for Advance CTE as a key strategy to provide more learners with quality postsecondary pathways that lead to careers in growing sectors of the economy. The letter also notes these efforts’ critical role in supporting ongoing federal investments in the nation’s infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and green energy sectors. 

HELP Republicans Hold K-12 Education Roundtable

On Tuesday, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) hosted a roundtable to discuss ways to innovate within K-12 education systems to improve learner success. Sen. Cassidy, the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, was joined by Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Joni Ernst (R-IA). Invited panelists discussed innovations in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, work-based learning, and micro-schools throughout their opening remarks and in response to the Senators’ questions.

Ruben Morris, the founder of Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School, spoke about the need for education to reflect local workforce needs built on public-private partnerships. When Sen. Cassidy asked about available funding through Alabama’s Perkins V investment, Ruben shared that he uses Perkins V funding to support further program growth. He also shared ways in which his community leverages this critical federal investment in CTE, including supporting the development of programming for learners that enables their entry into the aviation economy in the state. 

Biden Administration Announces Grants to Recruit Diverse Workforce

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced over $28 million in newly awarded funds through the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) program. This latest grant round aims to recruit, prepare, develop, and retain a diverse educator workforce nationwide. The TQP program funds teacher preparation programs in high-need communities for learners at colleges and universities and in teacher residency programs and aims to encourage more people to pursue careers in teaching through Grow Your Own programs. ED announced the list of award recipients alongside new data on Public Service Loan Forgiveness approvals in each state.

Rob Young, Communications & Advocacy Associate

Steve Voytek, Policy Advisor

By Rob Young in Uncategorized
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