On March 19, Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education Carol D?Amico addressed the issue of the administration?s fiscal year 2004 funding request for career and technical education at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations. The request includes $1 billion to support the administration?s proposed secondary and technical education program?which would replace the current career and technical education program?but does not include funding for career tech programs such as Tech Prep State Grants and Tech Prep Demonstration.
Some members of the committee expressed concerns about the Bush administration?s proposal that cuts funding for career and technical education at a time when the need for CTE programs appears to be greater than ever. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and John Peterson (R-Pa.) were among those expressing such concerns.
For a more detailed report about the hearing, see the March 26 issue of ACTE?s
Career Tech Update.
The text of D?Amico?s statement before the House subcommittee is available at
www.ed.gov/Speeches/03-2003/03192003.html. Also available at the Office of Vocational and Adult Education Web site is The Secondary and Technical Education Excellence Act of 2003: Overview for FY 2004 Budget Release. To read this document, which is titled, "A Blueprint for Preparing America?s Future," visit
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/pafblueprint.doc.
A new section on the U.S. Department of Education?s Web site is designed to help school officials plan for any emergency?from natural disasters to terrorist acts. The new resource was unveiled by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at an event held in March at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.
In addition to the Web site, Paige also announced the availability of $30 million in fiscal year 2003 to help school districts improve and strengthen emergency response and crisis management plans. Uses for these funds include crisis response training for school personnel, students and parents; coordination with local emergency responders; purchase of equipment; and coordination with organizations such as health and mental-health agencies.
"The tide of events since September 11, 2001, demands that schools be better prepared," says Paige. "We?re here to help?to provide more information and resources and to highlight programs we know work."
For more information, visit the new Web site at
www.ed.gov/emergencyplan. The Homeland Security Ready Campaign also includes a new Web site, which can be found at
www.ready.gov.
In March, Robert J. Kemmery, the executive director of student support services for the Baltimore County Public Schools, spoke to the Senate Agriculture Committee about the benefits of business-education partnerships. He told the committee that such partnerships enhance student achievement and pride in the public schools, but he also advised that local educators, working closely with parents, should develop policies that govern partnerships between local businesses and schools.
"Business-school partnerships, including one with a local soft drink company, at Eastern Technical High School where I was principal in 1991, were essential in empowering a school and community to revitalize and reinvent itself," said Kemmery.
Eastern Tech progressed from a school rated unsatisfactory in many areas of the Maryland State Department of Education?s School Report Card to being named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1997. In 1999, it was designated a U.S. Department of Education New American High School.
Kemmery, who was the ACTE-McDonald?s Outstanding Career and Technical Educator for 2002, noted that food and beverage sales at schools seem to garner more scrutiny than other business partnerships.
"In my experience," he told the Senate committee, "the best way to foster partnerships is for the local community, not the Congress, to make the final decisions about vending machines in their schools. That allows the local school community to make the decision about what kind of products?water, teas, juices, sports drinks, diet and regular sodas?should be offered for sale. Most importantly, the local community makes the decision about which educational activities benefit from the revenues."
Kemmery also cited the pressure educators are currently under to improve the quality of the education they provide at a time when their financial resources are shrinking and noted that business partnerships can help. At Eastern Tech, such a partnership has provided revenue for the purchase of computers, training faculty and staff, and paying activity fees for economically disadvantaged students.
"The partnership key is establishing an ongoing, collaborative relationship among the parents of the students, the school administration and the business community," said Kemmery. "It is important to establish a culture of partnerships in which the school and business communities work together to best serve the needs of students."
