Yesterday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education held a hearing entitled, “From Classroom to Career: Strengthening Skills through CTE.” The witnesses for the hearing included:
- Deb Volzer – Vice President, Workforce Development, SME
- Kristi Rice – Cybersecurity Teacher, Spotsylvania County Public Schools
- Braden Goetz – Senior Policy Advisor, Center on Education & Labor, New America
- Nicole Gasper – CEO, Western Michigan Aviation Academy
Several themes emerged throughout the hearing. Many Republicans on the subcommittee focused their questions on local needs and industry alignment. In an exchange with Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI), Volzer stated, “When we look at developing out these programs, we’re looking at, locally, what the needs are for those industry partners, what equipment, what skills, and what future technologies are being integrated into that environment, into that local, so that we can best support those local entities.”
The witnesses also highlighted the innovations happening in the field. In her testimony, Ms. Gasper from the Western Michigan Aviation Academy showcased how her school is creating talent pipelines. “We create meaningful talent pipelines, and over the past 15 years, we’ve had just under 200 high school seniors earn their private pilot’s licenses by the time they graduate. We’ve also had 27 students earn their Part 107 commercial drone licenses,” she stated.
Democrats in the hearing largely focused their questions on the Interagency Agreement (IAA) shifting the administration of CTE funds from the Department of Education (ED) to the Department of Labor (DOL). In his testimony, Mr. Goetz called the IAA “confusing and inefficient.” He later went on to say that “CTE is fundamentally an education program. It is not job training.” ACTE has previously expressed concern over the IAA.
A recording of the hearing can be found here.
