On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held the fourth hearing on the topic of Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization since November—this time the focus was on postsecondary accountability. The committee considered a number of proposals to improve accountability measures and reform data collection and reporting systems. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) highlighted a bipartisan bill he has cosponsored with Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called the College Transparency Act (S. 1121). The measure would establish a postsecondary student data system to provide more accurate and complete data on student outcomes—repealing the existing ban on a federal student-level record system. ACTE supports the College Transparency Act.

Over in the House, a separate hearing was held on the topic of “Protecting Privacy, Promoting Policy: Evidence-Based Policymaking and the Future of Education.” While not solely focused on HEA, many similar themes were raised, including the College Transparency Act, sponsored in the House by several Education and the Workforce Committee members. Even more broadly, the question of what data was needed to ensure parents and students could make informed choices about their educational options was discussed in depth. Unfortunately, there was no clear consensus on how to balance the need for data for research, program improvement and consumer information with the need for student privacy, and there continue to be disagreements among stakeholders and Members of Congress about achieving this balance. We expect these issues to continue to be hot topics in both the House and Senate as HEA and other federal education legislation move forward.

As we previously reported, the House education committee approved an HEA reauthorization bill in December. During Tuesday’s hearing, Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) indicated that HELP would begin working on its reauthorization bill in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, President Trump delivered his first State of the Union address. In it, he addressed a wide range of issues, including immigration, foreign policy, tax reform and the economy. However, the president only mentioned education policy once, specifically referring to CTE by saying “let’s invest in workforce development and job training. Let’s open great vocational schools so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential.” The line led to a standing ovation from both Democrats and Republicans in the House Chamber.

The nod to career education is laudatory, but falls short of capturing the full breadth of today’s CTE ecosystem. Not only does CTE reach far beyond the “vocational education” that once characterized the system, but CTE programs do more than just teach students “a craft.” Today’s CTE is part of a well-rounded education that imparts a wide range of academic, technical and employability skills and prepares students for lifelong learning and diverse career opportunities across the economy. There are already many high-quality CTE programs and schools around the country, though they do need additional support to further improve their programs and ensure every student has the opportunity to access them. On the heels of his call for “open[ing] great vocational schools,” President Trump should redouble the nation’s investment in CTE through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in his budget, which is set to be released in mid-February. The president’s budget last year proposed cutting the Perkins CTE basic state grant by 15 percent.

The president also spoke about the need to “rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.” He called on Democrats and Republicans to work together to modernize infrastructure and spur at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investments, funded by federal, state and local governments, and through private sector investments. While infrastructure investments have been discussed by the Administration and Congress at numerous times over the last year, often absent from this discussion is how to prepare the necessary workforce to meet infrastructure needs. Infrastructure – from roads and bridges to sewage, telecom, electric grids, and more – requires people to plan, design, build and maintain the projects. A 2016 analysis predicts a shortage of at least a million workers in the construction industry alone by 2020. Any discussion about an infrastructure package must include a workforce development component to ensure America has the skilled talent pipeline to meet its infrastructure workforce demand.

Shortly after the State of the Union, as is tradition, Democrats held a response. This year, Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) gave the response from a CTE high school. At the beginning of his remarks, Rep. Kennedy gave a shout-out to CTE students in attendance, saying, “[f]rom textiles to robots, [Fall, River Massachusetts is a proud American city] that knows how to make great things. The students with us this evening in the auto-tech program at Diman Regional Technical School carry on that rich legacy.” Unfortunately, Rep. Kennedy’s response, like the President’s address, didn’t elaborate further on CTE or the critical role it plays in the American economy.

ACTE will continue working with the Trump Administration and Congress to increase investments in CTE and build on the many high-quality programs all across the country.

Recently, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). As we previously reported, the House education committee approved an HEA reauthorization bill in December—the measure will likely be considered on the House floor in the coming weeks. The HELP committee has yet to introduce a reauthorization bill of its own, but it is considered a top priority for committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) for 2018.

During the hearing, the HELP committee members explored a number of proposed higher education reform ideas. Of particular interest for postsecondary CTE, a proposal to allow students to use financial aid for short-term education and training programs under 600 clock hours in length. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH), co-chairs of the Senate CTE Caucus, reintroduced the Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act, which would expand Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in short-term education programs that lead to a recognized postsecondary credential and are least 150 clock hours of instruction time over a period of 8 weeks. The JOBS Act would also ensure that programs are providing real value to students through quality control provisions, such as those embedded in career pathways.

Policymaker Perspectives:
A Discussion with Representative Bobby Scott

Policymaker Perspectives is a discussion series between ACTE and federal policymakers. It is intended to allow CTE professionals to hear directly from policymakers about their priorities and the work taking place in Washington to strengthen the CTE ecosystem.

Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) was first elected to represent Virginia’s Third Congressional District in 1992. Prior to his election, he served in both chambers of the Virginia Legislature and practiced law. Rep. Scott is the first African-American elected to Congress from Virginia post-Reconstruction, and is the first voting member of Congress with Filipino ancestry. He attended Harvard College and Boston College Law School, and served in the Massachusetts National Guard and United States Army Reserve.

In 2014, Rep. Scott was elected to serve as the Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. As the top Democrat on the committee, he plays a crucial role in setting the nation’s education and workforce development policy. He was one of four primary negotiators of the Every Student Succeeds Act, has fought for affordable higher education, and has prioritized reforms to assist at-risk youth and juvenile offenders.

The Congressman was raised in Newport News as the son of a surgeon and educator. He has continued to live there since graduating from law school. ACTE recently spoke with Representative Scott as part of our Policymaker Perspectives discussion series.

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ACTE: The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was important to the CTE community because it prioritized alignment of academics and CTE, emphasized students’ access to career exploration and recognized CTE as an important part of a well-rounded education. The law largely took effect at the beginning of this school year. What are your thoughts on its implementation thus far?

Representative Scott: When Congress came together to draft ESSA, it was important to recognize improvements in the delivery of high quality CTE and its important role in expanding educational opportunity, especially for low-income and at-risk students. That’s why I, along with Senator Murray, fought to ensure that the law pushed states to better align CTE with general education academic standards. When students have access to quality CTE programs, they’re more engaged, less likely to drop out of school, and graduate college- and career-ready. ESSA turned a lot of decision-making on how to improve student outcomes and struggling schools over to state, and especially local, school leaders. But with flexibility comes responsibility – states and districts can make good decisions and not-so-good decisions. It will be up to teachers, parents, students, and communities to hold those decision-makers accountable for meeting the needs of all students. I am hopeful that states and districts will use this new-found flexibility to employ innovative approaches to improve educational equity, including through expanding opportunities for vulnerable students to benefit from excellent CTE programs.

ACTE: Late last year the Committee on Education and the Workforce passed a Higher Education Act reauthorization bill called the PROSPER Act. You and every Democrat on the committee opposed the bill. What are your priorities for a higher education bill? How can the higher education landscape better reflect today’s CTE system?

Representative Scott: Committee Democrats believe quality higher education must be accessible and affordable. It must empower America’s working families to succeed in our economy. By forcing students to borrow more, pay more, and pay more to borrow more, the PROSPER Act (H.R. 4508) makes college more expensive for millions of students. H.R. 4508 also waters down accountability standards while removing student protections from fraud and abuse. It puts corporate profits before students, asking families and students to pay more for a lower quality education.

On access: Higher education is out of reach for too many students. Many families have never sent a member to college and think that higher education is unattainable, unnecessary, or too expensive even though studies and projections tell us that some form of higher education will be necessary to succeed in the 21^st century economy. CTE and the partnerships created between K-12 schools and community colleges should play an important role in increasing access, whether through dual enrollment programs, early college, pathways to four-year degrees, better marketing of opportunities, or demonstrated career success of graduates. Access, however, should not come at the cost of quality and the promotion of for-profit programs that cost more than community colleges even though their graduates have worse outcomes. H.R. 4508 would create an unregulated apprenticeship program ripe for abuse by for-profit colleges that already have a track record of fraudulent behavior. Committee Democrats are supportive of creating high-quality apprenticeship programs, but those programs should have protections for students and be administered by the Department of Labor, not legislated through the Higher Education Act, which is administered by the Department of Education.

On affordability: Due to state budget cuts, growth in college costs have outpaced inflation by approximately two percent each year over the last 20 years. On top of that, Federal student aid programs, such as the Pell Grant, have not kept up with the rising cost of college. In 1980, the Pell Grant covered 77 percent of the cost of attendance at a four-year public college. Now it’s 29 percent. The purchasing power of a Pell Grant doesn’t fare much better for a two-year degree or certificate. It used to cover 100 percent of costs, it now covers 62 percent. Instead of making financial aid more robust, H.R. 4508 eliminates important Federal financial aid programs and replaces them with one loan program that will push students to borrow more and pay more interest over the life of the loan. Committee Democrats support a reauthorization that helps CTE students attend a postsecondary institution so they can complete their program of study.

On completion: The face of the average American postsecondary student has changed. More students are taking classes part-time while working a job and providing for a family. Others are starting school at an older age and taking classes over a longer period of time. Some are completing industry-certified certificates while serving prison terms. Quality CTE programs provide great opportunities for all of these students. These programs are successful not just because of their excellent teaching and partnerships with local industry, but also because of the student supports they provide. These supports range from providing child care for student-parents to counseling programs for first-generation postsecondary students or students recovering from addiction. H.R. 4508 does not increase supports for these programs. In several cases, the bill actually removes funding for postsecondary institutions to provide these supports. Committee Democrats support reauthorization that increases investments for programs that help support students from all backgrounds complete their degree or industry-recognized credential.

Unfortunately, H.R. 4508 does not make quality degrees that lead to a good-paying job more affordable or accessible, which is why Committee Democrats were unified in opposition to the bill.

ACTE: You are a leading voice in Congress on criminal justice reform, particularly as it relates to juvenile justice issues. What role does CTE have to play as a resource for at-risk youth and juvenile offenders?

Representative Scott: For most of my time in Congress, I served on both the Education and the Workforce Committee and the Judiciary Committee, and when addressing students, I’d often say that the students will take advantage of the laws we pass on one committee or feel the effects of the laws we pass on the other committee. We know that many adult criminals start on the path to prison at an early age, falling into what has been termed the school-to-prison pipeline. While there are many factors that contributed to its creation, poverty, a struggling education system, and an unresponsive, punitive juvenile justice system are the most impactful ones.

I worked on a bipartisan basis to write and pass the bipartisan Juvenile Justice Reform Act (H.R. 1809) this year to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), which includes a version of my Youth PROMISE Act in the bill. This provision provides funding to dismantle the cradle to prison pipeline and create a cradle to college and career pipeline. Without access to engaging, meaningful programs designed to capture their curiosity and create a sense of belonging, students can easily fall prey to gangs and crime, searching for purpose and community. I continue to be an advocate of working with localities to create alternative pipelines of evidence-based programs designed to engage students at every age, get them on the right track, and keep them there until they are either in college or in the workforce. Evidence shows that continuums of programs like these will result in money saved and reduced crime. We are engaged with the Senate and hope to have a bill that includes a version of the Youth PROMISE Act on the President’s desk by the end of the year.

High-quality CTE programs also play a strong role in dismantling those pipelines. They can serve as school engagement programs that promote attendance and show real world application of theoretical academic concepts. The clear applicability of CTE courses helps students recognize career opportunities that may have otherwise seemed unobtainable or irrelevant. They can serve as re-entry programs giving juveniles leaving detention facilities a better chance to re-establish themselves in society and the education system. And most importantly, CTE programs can be tools to close the opportunity gap and provide students who may have become disconnected from school or the workforce a second chance.

ACTE: The Committee on Education and the Workforce passed overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation in the past two sessions of Congress to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. Both times, you co-sponsored the legislation. Why is a strong CTE system important for your district and the nation?

Representative Scott: In several good-paying industries, thousands of jobs go unfilled because of a lack of skilled workers. For example, in my state of Virginia businesses are looking to fill 30,000 technology positions, 17,000 of which are in cybersecurity, but cannot find qualified applicants. The average starting salary for a cybersecurity job is $88,000. Strong CTE systems have the ability to prevent this mismatch and help individuals find employment in fulfilling jobs. Virginia is a leader in CTE, with more than half a million sixth through twelfth grade students participating in CTE across the Commonwealth. The state has expanded access to CTE programs that equip secondary school students with recognized postsecondary credentials through innovative programs, such as dual enrollment and registered apprenticeships. In my district, there are several Governor’s STEM academies and a joint health science academy between Newport News and York County. With continued collaboration and investments in these efforts, Virginia can create a future workforce qualified to fill ever-changing industry needs.

The Federal government needs to support state efforts, like the ones in Virginia, and ensure CTE systems promote equity and opportunity. The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21^st Century Act does that, which is why the House of Representatives passed the legislation unanimously. I encourage ACTE members to request the Senate to pass this legislation as well.

The bill received such strong support because it increases funding for state CTE systems while also pushing CTE programs to improve outcomes for students, employers, and communities. The legislation increases accountability for student outcomes; emphasizes collaboration between businesses, communities, and schools; ensures opportunity in CTE programs for underserved youth, and focuses on high-skill, high-wage careers. I am hopeful that this legislation will become law so students can benefit from high-quality CTE systems.

On January 23, ACTE and Advance CTE participated in a briefing on Capitol Hill hosted by the Senate CTE Caucus. The briefing, titled “Perkins CTE and How Reauthorization Can Improve Programs,” discussed the law, its funding formula, uses of funds, how states are making decisions and how reauthorization could improve programs. ACTE’s Public Policy Director, Alisha Hyslop, and Advance CTE’s Executive Director, Kimberly Green, presented to more than 70 attendees before taking questions.

The briefing comes after the House passed a bipartisan Perkins reauthorization bill last year. Senate leaders are now in discussions about introducing their own Perkins bill. ACTE has published a list of recommendations for Perkins reauthorization, which can be found here.

ACTE continues to work closely with the Senate CTE Caucus and Senators from both parties to reauthorize Perkins and restore funding cuts to the basic state grants.

Last year saw a significant expansion of state CTE policy, with 49 states and DC enacting 241 CTE-related laws, executive orders, boards of education actions and budget provisions, as documented in State Policies Impacting CTE: 2017 Year in Review from ACTE and Advance CTE.

The publication summarizes each state’s CTE policy activity and describes major themes and intersections with federal policy. The analysis identifies funding as the top policy category for 2017, with 44 states passing funding-related provisions. This was followed by data, reporting and/or accountability (42); industry-recognized credentials (39); dual/concurrent enrollment, articulation and early college (38); and industry partnerships/work-based learning (36). This is the fifth year that Advance CTE and ACTE have published this report.

To accompany the report, we are holding a webinar Wednesday, January 31 from 2:00-3:00pm ET that will unpack findings and examine how the CTE policy landscape has changed over the past few years. Participants will also hear from state leaders about policy developments in their states. We have limited seating left, so register now at https://advancecte.webex.com/advancecte/onstage/g.php?MTID=efcae420985fcfaec713830c35df97f82.

The three-day shutdown ended on Monday after Congress agreed on a short-term measure to fund the federal government until February 8. This is the fourth stopgap funding bill since the 2018 fiscal year began in earnest in October. Senate Democrats secured a commitment from the Republican majority to consider legislation on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which President Trump plans to end this spring, within the next three weeks. Lawmakers still need to agree on discretionary spending caps, and pass a full-year appropriations bill that funds government programs, including Perkins, at the new levels. Follow the latest CTE funding news on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.