Two briefs published by Bellwether provide state policymakers with strategies to expand career-connected learning opportunities in their schools, such as CTE and early college high schools (ECHS).  

The first brief contains an overview of different career-connected learning models and policy recommendations for state policymakers to consider when supporting local programs. Additionally, a table summarizes the benefits students reap across models based on the research. For instance, CTE programs and CTE dual credit courses are associated with strong high school, postsecondary and workforce outcomes. Policy recommendations the authors outline include the following: 

• Developing and sustaining a credential of value framework so that students, families, teachers and employers are aware of high-value, industry-aligned credentials 

• Expanding alternative certification pathways, easing licensure requirements and other actions that encourage industry professionals to become CTE teachers 

• Implementing a specific funding mechanism and agreement on how dual enrollment costs are allocated between K-12 school districts and postsecondary institutions, avoiding potential confusion 

• Creating or adopting frameworks that define specific roles, definitions, functions and goals of various career-connected learning models 

The second brief draws from the career-connected learning ecosystems of four states to provide lawmakers with a series of recommendations on building and supporting new ecosystems in their own state. The states profiled—Colorado, Delaware, Tennessee and Texas—have each taken considerable steps in advancing state policy to support career-connected learning and can serve as a basis for other states interested in implementing similar work: 

• Colorado’s S.B. 315 consolidated the state’s postsecondary and workforce readiness programs into three funding streams, better aligning the state’s education and workforce priorities 

• Delaware Pathways connects students and employers to develop career pathways that begin in middle school 

• The Innovative School Models (ISMs) initiative in Tennessee, a $500 million grant program, encourages school districts to reimagine how they deliver career-connected learning 

• Texas’s College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) indicator captures various student postsecondary outcomes and provides high-performing districts with financial incentives.  

This week, although the Senate was in recess, congressional leaders released a four-bill “minibus” funding the remaining federal government agencies for FY 2026, including the Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL). The bill proposes level funding for most education and workforce programs, including Perkins, and contains language barring the Trump Administration from transferring funds to other agencies unless authorized by law, although it is unclear how this will apply to the interagency agreements already in place. The House voted to pass the minibus on Thursday, and the Senate is expected to vote next week when it returns from recess so that the bill can be enacted before the current continuing resolution expires on Jan. 30In other news, ACTE continues to prepare for CTE Month as well as the National Policy Seminar coming up in March. Read more updates below. 

• House Advances Pregnant Students’ Rights Act: On Jan. 22, the House voted to advance the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act. The bill, if passed, would require postsecondary institutions to advise pregnant students on their rights, such as securing modified class schedules or attaining excused absences for doctor’s appointments.  

• ED Encourages States to Consolidate Title I Funds: On Jan. 21, ED issued a Dear Colleague Letter that encourages states to take advantage of existing flexibility for Title I schools to consolidate federal, state and local funding streams together. This letter follows a series of other letters the Department has issued to states encouraging the flexible use of funds in advancing school choice and other Administration priorities. 

• ED Drops Appeal Against Judge’s Ruling on DEI Memos: On Jan. 21, ED moved to dismiss its appeal against a federal judge’s ruling that struck down two anti-DEI memos the Department issued earlier this year. The memos warned schools and universities against employing DEI-related practices and threatened to pull federal funding from those that do.  

• Trump Admin Reworking Higher Ed Compact: On Jan. 21, the New York Times reported that the Trump Administration is working on another version of its higher ed compact it sent to universities late last year. Universities that signed the compact would receive preferential funding treatment in exchange for abiding by several of the Administration’s priorities, such as doing away with DEI initiatives and limiting international student enrollment. Most universities rejected the compact last year. 

• Federal Judge Orders ED to Reconsider Canceled TRIO Grants: On Jan. 20, a federal judge ruled that ED must reconsider over 100 TRIO grants it had canceled last year due to DEI-related concerns. Over a dozen states and the Council for Opportunity in Education had filed lawsuits challenging the cancellations.  

• DOL Announces $23 Million to Support Homeless Veterans: On Jan. 16, the DOL announced over $23 million to support homeless veterans with training and employment services. Grant recipients will offer veterans with skills and on-the-job training as well as support participation in Registered Apprenticeship programs. 

• ED Delays Garnishing Wages of Defaulted Student Loan Borrowers: On Jan. 16, ED announced that it was delaying involuntary collections on federal student loans to allow the Department to implement additional repayment plans that were created in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and set to begin in July. ED initially announced that it would resume collections this month following a pause on payments during the pandemic.  

• Secretary Chavez-DeRemer continues America at Work tour: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer continued her “America at Work” tour this past week, stopping at Iowa Western Community College to speak with apprentices and students in the school’s welding and HVAC programs. 

• Secretary McMahon continues Returning Education to the States Tour: Secretary McMahon continued her “Returning Education to the States” tour in Georgia, visiting several CTE labs in aviation, dental assistant and audio production programs. 

Market Value of Nondegree Credentials: A report from the Brookings Institution examines the wage premiums workers gain from attaining specific nondegree credentials, such as digital badges and industry certifications.  

After analyzing the resumes and wages of over 37 million U.S. workers, the researchers found that, on average, a worker’s first job-relevant nondegree credential yields them 3.8% higher wages compared to similar workers without a credential—double the 1.8% premium from a job-irrelevant credential. Analyzing by type of nondegree credential, a worker’s first job-relevant microcredential yields the highest wage premium (4.5%), followed by job-relevant industry certifications (4.1%). Premiums associated with digital badges and academic certificates are smaller and do not rely on job relevance.  

Non-college and early career workers realize particularly high wage premiums for their first relevant nondegree credential (6.8% and 6.1%, respectively), indicating that these credentials offer strong occupational pathways to high-wage careers for workers who are not college educated or have limited work experience.  

Administrator Perspectives on CTE Staffing Challenges: A paper from the Georgia Policy Labs examines how CTE administrators perceive and tackle CTE teacher shortages in their districts and schools. The researchers surveyed and interviewed CTE administrators from Massachusetts and Washington, interviewed each state’s CTE director and identified six overarching themes: 

• The Nature of Hiring Challenges: CTE teacher vacancies differed across Massachusetts and Washington by Career Cluster, but administrators in both states identify teacher attrition as the main reason why positions go unfilled. Furthermore, administrators in both states acknowledge the difficulty in finding candidates that meet licensure and experience needs while also competing with industry salaries. 

• Staffing Strategies: When a vacancy occurs, administrators from both states indicate that they usually place a teacher who lacks CTE experience into the course. If the vacancy is immediate and no external help is available, existing teachers may absorb the workload instead, a practice especially common in Washington.  

• Impacts of Challenges and Strategies: Vacancies and a lack of qualified applicants result in administrators either relying on substitutes or shuttering a course, restricting access. The costs of constantly hiring and training teachers also strains districts. 

• District Flexibilities: Administrators have very little leeway when recruiting or retaining CTE teachers but have adapted various go-to strategies. These include placing teachers with industry experience higher on salary schedules, covering costs for certification and developing “grow-your-own” programs. 

• Hiring Preferences: Administrators were presented five random pairs of hypothetical CTE teacher profiles and asked to identify ones they preferred. Respondents in both states most valued prior relevant industry experience and least valued full teacher certification.  

• Policy Recommendations: Nearly half of the administrators in both states indicated that greater flexibility in licensure rules would help the most with CTE teacher hiring, such as allowing CTE teachers to substitute teacher certification exams with industry credentials. 

Exploring the Costs of CTE-dedicated High Schools in New York City: A report from the Research Alliance for New York City Schools analyzes and compares the per pupil costs and return on investment for students enrolled in CTE-dedicated high schools to other types of high schools in the New York City Public Schools system.  

The researchers specifically examined students who entered high school between 2013-16 and found that CTE-dedicated high schools spent about 5% more per pupil compared to other types of high schools. The majority of this difference is spending for teacher salaries, as CTE-dedicated high schools have significantly smaller student-teacher ratios. 

Despite these additional costs, CTE-dedicated high schools showcase a return on investment in both high school graduation and college-going rates. Particularly, newer schools aligned with college degree pathways were the least costly and the most effective at producing graduates and college enrollees. Mixed-aligned schools—where students pursue careers that may require some postsecondary education but not necessarily a bachelor’s degree—also have a positive return on investment with respect to graduation. Workforce-aligned schools experience no positive return on investment for either high school graduation or college enrollment, but the authors note students in these schools often aim to enter the workforce directly after high school. 

A Post-pandemic Analysis of CTE Performance by Gender: A journal article by Ericca S. Douglas and John R. Slate in the American Journal of STEM Education examines CTE participation and completion rates by gender in Texas from 2020-23. 

The researchers found that, across all three school years, girls had significantly higher CTE concentration and completion rates while boys participated in a wider variety of clusters. Unsurprisingly, boys dominated enrollment in clusters aligned with traditionally male fields, such as Manufacturing, while girls were concentrated in clusters like Health Science and Education and Training. Completion rates varied by cluster as well, with girls generally having higher completion rates across clusters compared to boys. Girls and boys had similar concentration and completion rates for some clusters, such as Agriculture and Law and Public Services. 

On January 19, lawmakers in both the House and Senate released compromised language on a four-bill minibus funding the remaining agencies in the federal government for fiscal year (FY) 2026. This minibus includes the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies funding bill.

The bill funds the Department of Education (ED) at approximately $78.79 billion, which represents a $32 million increase over FY 25 enacted levels. The bill proposes level funding for most programs, including the Perkins State Grant, which would be funded at approximately $1.4 billion. This is a big victory for education and workforce development programs that were targeted for deep cuts by the Administration and in the House bill.

With regard to the inter-agency agreements (IAA) shifting the administration of funds from ED to other agencies, the proposal includes language that could be interpreted as limiting the scope of IAAs. The bill states that the Administration is prohibited from transferring funds to other federal agencies unless specifically authorized by an appropriations law. However, it is unclear how this language will ultimately be applied.

The House is expected to take up the minibus this week with the Senate following next week when they return to session. ACTE will keep you up to date on the latest developments. If you have any questions, please contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org).

On January 15, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing entitled: “Plugged Out: Examining the Impact of Technology on America’s Youth.” The witnesses included:

• Dr. Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University
• Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, Director, LME Global
• Ms. Emily Cherkin, Author and Founder of The Screentime Consultant
• Dr. Jenny Radesky, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School

The hearing focused on America’s youth and excessive screen time. It also called attention to the need for social media bans on publicly distributed laptops in schools in order to prohibit the distraction of entertainment in the learning environment.

There were concerns raised about student wellbeing as mental health concerns have risen rapidly since the introduction of the smartphone. The expert witnesses pointed to the research that many adolescents are struggling with anxiety, depression, and loneliness because of the addictive nature of social media algorithms. Senators also raised questions about youth exposure to inappropriate content and parasocial relationships with chat bots.

Dr. Jenny Radesky explained that “Our research has found tablets and apps commonly have designs that can lead to exposure to inappropriate or violent content, which is associated with worse outcomes. Popular apps also commonly have designs that encourage prolonged viewing, which create more family conflict and difficulty transitioning away from technology.” Participants in the hearing described social media to be a distraction at school and at home for all children. The hearing also highlighted the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA), bipartisan legislation from Sen. Schatz (D-HI) and Sen. Cruz (R-TX) that would prohibit kids ages 13 and under from having social media accounts and prohibit social media companies from recommending content using algorithms to users under the age of 17, among other restrictions.

While there was discussion of limiting laptops in schools altogether, the main focus of the conversation was around restriction of non-school related entertainment because of the argument that students need exposure to technology to be prepared for the workforce. Sen. Lujan (D-NM) asked about the impacts of limiting technology, inquiring about the potential risks for both urban and rural schools that could occur “if federal funding for connectivity is eliminated.” Dr. Radesky replied that schools and programs that utilize computer software and AI for career and technical Training would suffer if laptop programs halted.

In conclusion, there was general consensus and support for limiting social media because of the harm that unregulated content creates for developing brain. The witnesses recommended putting pressure on large technology companies to increase their data privacy settings and supported the passage of the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) in the Senate.

On January 14, the House Committee on Education and Workforce held a hearing entitled: “Building an AI-Ready America.” The witnesses included:

• Chaya Nayak: Head of Certifications and Jobs Platform, OpenAI
• Mr. Adeel Khan: Founder & CEO, MagicSchool AI
• Ms. Alexandra Reeve Givens: President & CEO, Center for Democracy & Technology
• Mr. Kevin Frazier: AI Innovation & Law Fellow, University of Texas Law School

The hearing focused on the benefits and drawbacks of AI in both education and the workforce in an effort for policymakers to “meet the moment” of the rapid technological changes of this generation. The ultimate goal of the hearing was for legislators to learn how AI can properly prepare students for future careers, while at the same time considering necessary guardrails in order to protect students and maintain their critical thinking skills.

Throughout the hearing, legislators showed concern with how AI should be taught in school so that students can develop skills that will be required in future jobs. Ms. Nayak addressed the reality that there is a gap in the capability of students with exposure to AI versus students without it. She emphasized that employers are looking for applicants who know how to utilize AI as a tool rather than a shortcut. Further, there was discussion of the fact that teachers are the best avenue to instruct students about ethical use of artificial intelligence in academic and professional work.

In his testimony, Mr. Khan explained that “Teaching responsible AI is a critical part of preparing students for the world they’re growing into. Teachers need support to understand where AI is helpful, where it can fail, and how to supervise its use effectively.”

The witnesses believed strongly that education around AI will increase productivity in the economy if the next generation has the skillset demanded by employers. Some representatives argued that it is crucial that people are not left behind in this age of advancement and education around AI is an essential step in avoiding job displacement.

Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson raised a question about CTE, specifically asking how AI is being used in CTE programs. Mr. Khan responded “in a really powerful way,” highlighting that teachers coming from industry can use AI to build lesson plans in an efficient manner which creates curriculum resources that did not exist before.

A recording of this hearing can be found at https://www.youtube.com/live/RM0aq5ynUiQ.

ACTE continues to work closely alongside lawmakers as the deadline for Congress to approve appropriations bills approaches. The Senate advanced funding legislation that rejects most of the Trump Administration’s requests to cut funding from the National Science Foundation and other scientific research initiatives. Negotiations surrounding funding for the Education (ED) and Labor Departments (DOL) continued this week. In other news, ACTE has been coordinating activities for CTE Month and preparing to introduce a resolution to Congress. Read more updates below. 

• ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress: Support Education Funding in the FY 2026 Appropriations Bill! Congress returned to session this month and has until January 30 to finalize FY 2026 appropriation bills before the current continuing resolution expires. Lawmakers are still negotiating education and workforce funding, with the Senate proposing level funding for Perkins while the House recommends a $25 million increase but makes significant funding cuts in other programs. CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support education and workforce development funding as they finalize FY 2026 appropriations bills!  
• Updated CTE Advocacy Resources: This week, ACTE published updated versions of our “What is CTE?” and “CTE Works!” fact sheets, providing CTE advocates and practitioners with essential information for their work. Read more on the blog here. 
• ED Rulemaking Committee Reaches Consensus on a New Accountability Framework: Last week, the AHEAD Committee at ED reached consensus on a number of different issues related to postsecondary education under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Among the major decisions regulators made was approving a new accountability framework for postsecondary programs, including changes to existing gainful employment regulations. Under the framework, programs that fail to demonstrate their graduates earn more than a high school graduate for two out of three years will be ineligible to receive Federal Direct Loans. If failing programs make up half of an institution’s students or Title IV funding, students at the institution will lose access to Pell Grants as well. 
• National Postsecondary Enrollment Data Released: This week, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released national fall 2025 postsecondary enrollment data. Total postsecondary enrollment slightly increased compared to the previous fall, with higher growth occurring in certificate and two-year vocational and technical programs. 
• Workforce Development Top Priority for States in 2026: A report from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association found that economic and workforce development is the top policy issue state higher education agencies are focusing on in 2026. States are working on a number of initiatives to better align their education and workforce systems, from preparing for Workforce Pell to collaborating with industry partners. 
• ED Announces Next Steps in Postsecondary IAA: On Jan. 15, ED announced the next steps it will take to implement its interagency agreement (IAA) between the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) and the DOL. On the week of Jan 20, OPE staff in the Higher Education Programs (HEP) Division will be detailed to work at the DOL, and HEP grantees will transition to the DOL’s grant management system. This follows ED’s move last year to transition several OCTAE staff members and management of Perkins funding to the DOL.  
• House Education Committee Holds Hearing on AI: On Jan 14, the House Education & Workforce Committee held a hearing on AI’s impact on education and the workforce. Testimony during the hearing focused on various topics, including credentials of value and workforce development programs that incorporate AI tools. Listen to the hearing here and read more on the blog. 
• House Science Committee Holds Additional AI Hearing: Also on Jan 14, the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a hearing on the AI Action Plan. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios testified on the administration’s AI strategy plan and  emphasized the need for a unified national framework to support innovation and avoid a patchwork of state regulations. 
• New Democrat Coalition Releases Workforce & Ed Agenda: On Jan 9, the New Democrat Coalition—the largest Democratic Caucus in the House—released their workforce and education agenda, focusing on ensuring students have access to public education and graduate high school college and career ready. Noteworthy priorities include expanding Registered Apprenticeship programs and utilizing emerging technologies to teach students career-ready skills. Read more here. 
• ED, Interior and DOL Invite Tribal Consultation on IAAs: On Jan. 9, ED announced that it sent a letter inviting tribal leaders to provide feedback to ED on the interagency agreements (IAA) between ED, Department of Interior (DOI) and DOL, affecting Native American education programs. The consultation will be led by ED’s Office of Indian Education.
• Senate Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Impact of Technology: On January 15, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing entitled, “Plugged Out: Examining the Impact of Technology on America’s Youth.” A significant portion of the hearing was focused on educational technology, and you can read more on the blog!