With the federal government reopened, activity in Congress and the Administration has ramped up significantly. Congress has returned to work on FY 2026 appropriations bills, and ACTE is advocating for an increase in Perkins funding as well as continued investment for other education and workforce programs (see the Action Alert below). The House also held a hearing on the impact and importance of CTE across the nation. In other news this week, the Department of Education (ED) announced that it was moving the administration of funding for various programs to different federal agencies. Read more updates below. 

• ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Support Education Funding in the FY 2026 Appropriations Bill: With the government reopened, Congress has turned their attention to finishing FY 2026 appropriations bills, including education and CTE funding. While the Senate bill maintains level funding for Perkins grants, the House bill provides a $25 million increase but makes steep cuts across other education and workforce programs. It is essential that Congress provides more CTE funding while also maintaining sustained investment and support for other important education and workforce programs. CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support education and workforce development funding in FY 2026! 
• Appropriations Leaders Meet on FY 2026 Plans: For the first time since the government shutdown, top House and Senate appropriations leaders met this week to discuss next steps in the FY 2026 funding process. While no final decisions emerged from the meeting, there are some reports that the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill could be part of the next legislative package.  
• ED Announces New Partnerships to Move Agency Functions: On Nov. 18, ED announced six new interagency agreements that would shift the administration of funding for various programs to other federal agencies. Among these include moving Office of Elementary and Secondary Education programs to the Department of Labor (DOL) and moving Indian Education programs to the Department of the Interior. These IAAs are aligned with the Administration’s goal of dismantling ED and mimic the IAA implemented earlier this year that moved Perkins and adult ed funding to the DOL. Read more on the blog here. 
• House Holds Hearing on CTE: On Nov. 19, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education held a CTE hearing titled “From Classroom to Career: Strengthening Skills through CTE.” The witnesses highlighted the impact of CTE in their fields while Republicans and Democrats largely focused on different issues. Read more on the blog here. 
• ED Releases 2023-24 Perkins Data: Last week, the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education released 2023-24 CTE enrollment and performance data. ACTE has begun preliminary analysis of this data, and you can read some of our findings on the blog here.
• House Holds Hearing on Future of College: On Nov. 18, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing titled, “The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs.” The hearing focused on lowering costs, increasing flexibility and aligning postsecondary programs with workforce needs. You can watch the hearing and read testimony here.  
• ED Makes Additional Appointments: On Nov. 14, ED appointed Richard Lucas to serve as the Acting Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid. Lucas previously served as Chief Financial Officer for the office. Additionally, ED appointed former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant to sit on the National Assessment Governing Board on Nov. 17. 
• IES Releases Guides on CCR, Educator Data: This week, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) released two guides on how state and local education agencies can collect and utilize college and career readiness data as well as educator workforce data. We encourage state and local data practitioners to share these resources with their networks. 
• Secretary McMahon Holds Postsecondary Roundtable: On Nov. 19, Secretary McMahon hosted a roundtable with postsecondary leaders on reforming colleges and universities across the nation. Discussion points included increasing public confidence in postsecondary education and improving degree outcomes. The roundtable also discussed the funding compact circulated earlier this year. 
• EdWeek Releases Report on CTE and AI: This week, Education Week released a report examining the intersection of CTE and AI in the classroom and workplace. ACTE worked extensively with EdWeek as the report was being developed. Read more on the blog here. 
• President Trump Signs EO on Foster Youth: On Nov. 13, President Trump signed an Executive Order that seeks to improve the nation’s foster care system. Among the priorities listed in the EO include connecting foster youth with short-term credentials and occupational training. Youth who are in or have aged out of the foster care system are a “special population” group under Perkins.  
• National Orgs Announce Career-connected Learning Awards: Building Hope and American Student Assistance have partnered together to create the Future Forward Schools Prize & Fellowship Program. The program will recognize promising career-connected learning (CCL) programs by awarding $50,000 to five schools with a CCL program along with a year-long fellowship for school leaders. The application opens Dec. 3, and eligible applicants include public, private and charter middle and high schools that have a CCL program, serve a student population with at least 50% of students from under-resourced or underrepresented backgrounds and have existed for at least two years. Learn more here. 
• House and Senate Announce 2026 Calendars: Both the House and Senate calendars are now available for 2026! You can use these calendars to identify when Members of Congress will be in DC for congressional responsibilities and when they may be available for events or meetings in their states and districts. Notably, both chambers are in session during NPS this year! 

Last week, the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) released 2023-24 enrollment and performance data for secondary and postsecondary CTE participants and concentrators. 

Several high-level takeaways from the data include the following: 

• In 2023-24, there were about 8.6 million secondary CTE participants — a 10.3% increase from 2022-23, which had 7.8 million secondary CTE participants. Texas is the primary contributor, adding over 690,000 secondary CTE participants. 
  • This total includes 3.8 million secondary CTE concentrators in 2023-24, compared to almost 3.5 million in 2022-23. 

• In 2023-24, there were about 3.3 million postsecondary CTE participants, largely unchanged from the prior year. 
  • This total includes 1.8 million postsecondary CTE concentrators in 2023-24, again very similar to the numbers reported for 2022-23. 

• The nationwide four-year graduation rate for secondary CTE concentrators was 97.3%, a small increase from 2022-23’s graduation rate of 96.6%. 
• The nationwide placement rate for postsecondary CTE concentrators – the percentage of individuals who, after program completion, were employed or were participating in further education, advanced training, military service or a service program — was 81.5%, slightly higher than 2022-23’s placement rate of 81.3%. 

Disaggregating enrollment data yields some additional findings: 

• For secondary CTE concentrators, the top three Career Clusters were Health Science; Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources; and Business Management & Administration. 
• For postsecondary CTE concentrators, the top three Career Clusters were Health Science, Business Management & Administration and Information Technology. 
• About 49.8% of secondary CTE concentrators come from economically disadvantaged families compared to 41.8% for postsecondary CTE concentrators. 
• About 10.8% of secondary CTE concentrators are students with disabilities (SWDs) compared to 4.7% for postsecondary CTE concentrators.  

States also reported data on secondary program quality indicators: 

• Almost 434,000 secondary CTE concentrators attained a recognized postsecondary credential across 22 states and territories. 
• About 134,000 secondary CTE concentrators earned postsecondary credits in their CTE program area across 11 states and territories. 
• About 236,000 secondary CTE concentrators participated in work-based learning across 29 states and territories. 

In addition to enrollment and performance data, national and state fiscal information are provided. In FY25, over $1.4 billion in Basic State Grants were awarded. Secondary recipients received over $693 million in grants; postsecondary recipients received over $429 million.  

Please be aware that this data may be subject to change, if corrections are needed. ACTE is analyzing the 2023-24 data and will share more findings on this blog. In the meantime, we encourage you to explore state CTE enrollment and performance data as well as national enrollment and performance data with the Perkins Data Explorer, and to reach out to ACTE’s Research and Policy Coordinator Jesus Galvan with any questions. 

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.

Today, the Department of Education (ED) announced a series of Inter-Agency Agreements to shift the administration of funding for programs within six offices to four new agencies:

• The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education programs and the Office of Postsecondary Education institution-based programs are moving to the Department of Labor
• The administration of Indian Education programs is moving to the Department of the Interior
• The administration of International Education and Foreign Language programs is moving to the Department of State
• Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) and Foreign Medical Accreditation are moving to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

In making the announcement, officials suggested that these moves would eliminate red tape, provide more parental empowerment, promote school choice and better align with workforce needs. However, advocates for many of these programs have expressed significant concerns, much like the CTE community did when the original Inter-agency Agreement was signed to move CTE and adult ed to the Department of Labor, which was the model for these new arrangements.

ED indicated that additional IAAs may follow as they evaluate the remaining programs left at the Department of Education. It is not yet clear what the timelines are for these shifts. ACTE will continue to evaluate the developments and provide updates on the potential impacts. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org), if you have any questions

With the government open again, lawmakers are resuming work on Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bills, including education funding. Both the House and Senate have released their FY 2026 funding bills for the Department of Education (ED).The Senate bill provides level funding for Perkins State CTE grants and the House bill provides a $25 million increase. However, there are significant concerns about the House bill because it includes steep cuts to other education and workforce programs that support CTE learners, educators and schools.

As lawmakers resume work and the appropriations process moves forward, it is essential that Congress provides both increased support for CTE and sustained investments to education and workforce programs across the continuum to ensure all learners have the opportunity and resources needed to build skills for lifelong career success.

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support education and workforce development funding in FY 2026!

Send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. You can also call or email directly any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and an operator will connect you to your Member of Congress.

In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July 2025, Congress created a new federal school voucher-type mechanism, formally known as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). Under the law, individuals can receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). These SGOs then issue scholarships/vouchers that families can use for private school tuition, tutoring, transportation, textbooks, special-needs services and other expenses, including for public school students.

To be eligible for the scholarships, families must be in states whose governors choose to opt-in and have household incomes up to about 300% of the area median income, which in many places covers a large majority of families. States must voluntarily opt in (via the governor or designated authority) and must submit approved SGOs to the federal government.

This new program is relatively complex from an implementation standpoint, and many details need to be ironed out. The next steps in the implementation process include:

• States must decide whether to opt in: Governors must indicate by January 1, 2027 whether the state will participate in the program. States that opt in will submit a list of approved SGOs and develop state‐level rules in line with the federal framework.
• Federal regulations must be issued: The law gives the Department of Treasury responsibility to issue regulations that flesh out how the tax-credits will work, how SGOs will operate, how eligibility will be verified and how private schools will be regulated. It is currently unclear when these regulations will be released, especially given the recent government shutdown.
• States and SGOs will establish program infrastructure: States must put in place approval processes for SGOs, set standards for voucher eligibility, decide how the funds flow, and determine whether to restrict uses.
• Schools, families, and SGOs will need to prepare for the rollout: States that opt in will need to reach out to families, develop application processes for income eligibility (up to 300% of AMI), disclose what services and schools qualify and ensure forms and accountability systems are in place, such financial tracking and verification.

A number of groups have already begun weighing in on how they think the program should be set up, and many states leaders are already involved in conversations about whether they will participate. It is important to be involved in these conversations in your state to weigh in on how participation in the program might impact public school funding, including for CTE programs.

Today, on Nov. 17, Education Week released a special report on the intersection of CTE and AI in the classroom and workplace. ACTE worked extensively with EdWeek as they developed the report, providing expertise to reporters and making interview recommendations. The report consists of the following articles: 

• How AI is Changing CTE – This Q&A between EdWeek and ACTE’s Associate Deputy Executive Director Michael Connet focuses on how AI and technology are being implemented in CTE programs to create opportunities for students and solve problems.  

• ‘What Are You Doing on AI?’ How This District Added it to Career Education – This article describes how Ignite—a career pathway program in Bentonville, AR, public schools—incorporates AI into its curriculum. Students in the program have used AI tools to enhance their graphic design coursework, create a meal-planning app for expectant mothers with gestational diabetes and pitch a new product to Walmart customers.  

• Classroom View: How AI is Influencing Teacher Approaches to CTE – Pulling from the experiences of six CTE teachers, this article examines how CTE teachers are utilizing AI in the classroom to support their work and expand opportunities for students. While AI tools have been useful for CTE teachers (particularly newcomers), keeping up with advances in the field can be difficult. ACTE Board member Lavyne Rada is featured in this article.  

• Businesses Want Employees With AI Skills. Are K-12 CTE Programs Keeping Up? – As demand for AI-related skills rises among employers, this article investigates how K-12 CTE programs across the nation are beginning to implement AI tools in their curriculum. Some states began shortly after the AI boom: for example, leaders in South Carolina began developing an AI CTE pathway in 2022. The pathway, which will last for four years, introduces students to basic AI concepts before developing more comprehensive problem-solving and application skills. Most schools and districts are in the early stages of adoption, integrating AI into computer science and other related fields. 

The report also contains the results of a nationwide survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center. The survey, which questioned 472 CTE teachers and administrators, found that nearly one-third expect their school or district to introduce CTE programs in the digital technology, IT, AI and cybersecurity fields.