Congress took recess this week for the 4th of July holiday but will be back next week in full swing. The House plans to mark up the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill on Wednesday (7/10). Meanwhile, the Administration has announced several new funding opportunities, and the Supreme Court has announced some changes to how the Department of Education can conduct its work. Keep reading for more! 

• Supreme Court Decision Weakens Agencies’ Power: The Supreme Court overruled Chevron Deference in the cases of Loper Enterprises v Raimondo and Relentless v Department of Commerce, which previously upheld that established courts must defer to federal agencies when it comes to interpreting certain laws. This shifts power from regulatory agencies to the judiciary. This may impact education in areas where the Department of Education had issued rules or regulations that some states disagreed with, such as Title IX.  

• Rules Banning Transcript holds, Expanding Overtime Now in Effect: Secretary Su issued a statement to mark the Department of Labor’s new rule that expands overtime taking effect. Read more about the rule on the CTE Policy Watch Blog. 

• New Title IX Rule Now Blocked in 14 States: The Biden Administration’s new Title IX rule is now blocked in Alaska, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming in addition to the previous ten states that had blocked it (Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia). Read more about the Title IX rule on the CTE Policy Watch Blog. 

• Biden Administration Announces $504 Million for 12 Tech Hubs Across America: The Biden Administration, through the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), announced approximately $504 million in funding to implement grants to 12 Tech Hubs to increase production of critical technologies, create jobs in innovative industries and accelerate the growth of industries of the future in regions across the United States. Workforce development is a key part of the Tech Hub project.  

• Department of Labor Awards $47M in Grants to Provide Jobs, Training, Supportive Services in Communities Affected by Violence, Poverty: The Department of Labor announced the award of nearly $47 million in grants to 14 organizations to help overcome structural barriers and improve access to employment opportunities. 

• Department of Labor Awards $65M + in Grants to Help Justice-Involved People Get Job Training: The Department of Labor announced more than $56 million in grants to help reduce recidivism and assist people in re-entering their communities after being incarcerated.  

• Department of Education Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Presidential Scholars Program: The Department of Education celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Presidential Scholars program by honoring this year’s scholars, including 20 CTE students. 

On June 27, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bill on a party-line vote. In some good news for CTE, the bill proposes a $10 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant. However, the bill proposes significant cuts to or complete eliminations of several critical education and workforce programs, such as WIOA Youth and Adult programs, federal work-study, Registered Apprenticeship, ESSA Title I and II and more. 

Proposed cuts to education and workforce development programs jeopardize CTE by limiting access to broader career pathways and resources. These programs work hand-in-hand to develop a skilled workforce – CTE cannot be successful without the support of the entire system.  

As the bill moves forward in the House and the Senate continues work on its version of this bill, it is critical that Members of Congress understand the impact of these proposed cuts, and that you lend your voice in support of funding for the entire education and workforce development system.  

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to tell your Members of Congress to oppose cuts to education and workforce programs in the FY 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill!   

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

This week, the Senate took recess as the House explored the use of AI in education and ways to bridge the cyber workforce gap. Meanwhile, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bill was released and is set to be marked up on July 10. Keep reading for more updates and stay tuned for more information! 

• Appropriators Release FY 2025 Education Funding Bill: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies released their FY 2025 appropriations bill earlier this week. While the bill proposes a $10 million increase for the Perkins Basic State Grant, it proposes deep cuts to many education and job training programs. Read more on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.  
• House Education and Workforce Committee’s AI in Education Showcase: The House Education and Workforce Committee hosted a showcase on AI in Education, in which technology companies shared information about their AI services for educational purposes. CTE Caucus Co-Chair, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, delivered remarks on the importance of AI innovation in CTE and hands-on learning.  
• House Committee on Homeland Security Hosts Hearing on Cyber Workforce Gap: On Wednesday, the House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing, “Finding 500,000: Addressing America’s Cyber Workforce Gap.” The hearing primarily discussed the various methods in which new employees could enter the cyber workforce, and how to professionally train existing staff to strengthen their cyber skills. Read more on the CTE Policy Watch Blog. 
• Rep. Michael Rulli joins House Education and Workforce Committee: The Committee on Education and the Workforce welcomed U.S. Representative Michael Rulli (R-OH) as the newest member of the Committee. Rep. Rulli was recently  elected in a special election to serve Ohio’s Sixth Congressional District.  
• Title IX Regulations Update: In April, the Biden Administration released its final version of updated regulations related to the implementation of Title IX. These new regulations introduce several new stipulations aimed at extending protections to LGBTQIA+ students and enhancing protections for pregnant or parenting students. They will to go into effect Aug. 1 in most states, barring legal challenges. Read more about the latest updates on the CTE Policy Watch Blog. 
• Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Funding Opportunity: The EPA’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization announced a new funding opportunity for the Brownfields Job Training program to recruit, train, and retain a local skilled workforce.    
• Department of Labor Announces Training Grants from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): The U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of more than $12.7M in training grants from its Occupational Safety and Health Administration to support initiatives designed to create safer workplaces and, in turn, advance the department’s Good Jobs efforts. 

CTE is a Hidden Weak Spot in Many High School’s Teacher Workforces: The Brookings Institution has published a report that analyzes the CTE teacher shortage across the U.S. with insights about the factors that are perpetuating the problem, the ways in which schools are struggling to fill these positions, policy recommendations and more. Researchers discovered that administrators are having difficulties filling CTE teacher positions 57% of the time compared to only 39% of the time for openings in academic subjects.

Top findings include:

• CTE teachers with professional teaching licenses were less likely to leave teaching than occupationally licensed CTE teachers. Occupationally licensed CTE teachers were 25% likelier to leave the field than non-CTE teachers.
• Occupationally licensed CTE instructors who do leave the profession earn about 20% more upon exit than other teachers (potentially contributing to their higher exit rates).
• Health science teacher exits (a specific area of focus for the study) often do not get fully re-staffed, leading to net losses of student participation, course sections and staff the following school year.

Some College, No Credential Student Outcomes: The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has released the annual Some College, No Credential (SCNC) report, which explores the educational trajectories of U.S. adults who left postsecondary education without ever receiving an award or credential. The report found that the SCNC population at the end of July 2022 was 42 million with more than 37 million of these individuals being under the age of 65.

Top findings include:

• Between January 2021 and July 2022, there were fewer stopouts compared to the similar prior period (-0.7%). Particularly, public two-year institutions experienced larger decreases (-4.1%), which could be contributed to overall pandemic-related enrollment declines.
• In 2022-23 SCNC re-enrollees primarily chose associate degrees (51.9%), 28.2% bachelor’s degrees and 13.3% undergraduate certificates.
• Of the 864,00 learners who re-enrolled in 2021-22, over 39,000 earned a credential during that year, 467,000 persevered into 2022-23 and 80,000 earned a credential in their second year of re-enrollment.
• In 2022-23, of nearly 41,900 re-enrollees that earned credentials, 48.7% earned an undergraduate certificate, 29.4% earned an associate degree, and 19.7% a bachelor’s degree.

How States Can Use Data to Incentivize Student Postsecondary and Workforce Success: American Student Assistance and the Education Strategy Group have published a report that examines how can states use data to demonstrate the value of public education and support the long-term success of students through reporting, accountability and incentive systems. Researchers highlighted striking differences in the value of postsecondary credentials with entry-level graduates in liberal arts majors earning 24% less than STEM majors and 29% less than health-related graduates.

Top finings and recent state developments below:

• 35 states publicly report both postsecondary success and workforce outcomes but only few report metrics related to return on investment and/or postsecondary value.
• 29 states use outcomes-based funding (OBF) mechanisms with only six incorporating workforce outcomes and 22 including two- and four-year institutions.
• 11 states plus D.C report only on college success outcomes but no state reports only on workforce outcomes.
• Seven states have funding incentives incorporating college and career readiness metrics or postsecondary outcomes with five of these only including the former.
• 41 states include one or more college and career readiness metrics into federal or state accountability systems, eight incorporate both college career readiness and postsecondary outcomes and 33 plus D.C include only the former.

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing, “Finding 500,000: Addressing America’s Cyber Workforce Gap.” Witnesses included Eric Hysen, chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); Leslie Beavers, principal deputy chief information officer at the Department of Defense (DOD); Rodney Peterson, director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education within the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); and Seeyew Mo, assistant national cyber director at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD). 

The hearing primarily discussed the various methods in which new employees could enter the cyber workforce, and how to professionally train existing staff to strengthen their cyber skills. Several members of the Committee discussed the benefits of job-training programs that help potential employees without four-year degrees to enter the cyber workforce, specifically in government agencies such as DHS or DOD. Chairman Garbarino, filling in for Chairman Green, emphasized that the need for cyber talent is greatest within government agencies.  

The National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy, unveiled in 2023, was a key topic of discussion during the hearing. The Administration recently released a report on that strategy’s implementation, “National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy: Initial Stages of Implementation.” 

Both the Committee and several witnesses acknowledged this strategy's comprehensive approach to addressing both immediate and long-term cyber workforce needs. A key component to this strategy is collaboration with stakeholders to develop a skills-based approach to recruitment and development in cyber roles, which was discussed at length in the hearing. The ecosystem of stakeholders that work to uplift the cyber workforce includes employers, trade associations, government, economic and workforce development entities and educators. These connections help to foster accessible learning opportunities.  

Another opportunity and example of how these stakeholders collaborate discussed in both the hearing and Strategy is the option to attend a “Cyber Clinic.” Cyber Clinics support communities and small governments with cyber risk assessment and planning assistance, recruiting over 200 students to learn while they work.  

Seeyew Mo also shared his experiences with different programs he had seen across the country to promote cyber skills and jobs including CTE curriculum focused on skills like pattern recognition and problem solving, which are foundational to more specialized programs. Those skills are a foundation for other technical skills – this creates space for hands-on learning and certification done through CTE curriculum. CTE teaches cyber skills at the middle school and high school level. Leslie Beavers also discussed skills-training in community colleges, and the effort to start this training as early as K-12 to adequately prepare students to enter the cyber workforce.  

Resources and opportunities mentioned in the hearing were: 

• Cyber Apprenticeship Opportunities 
• Secretary’s Honors Program 
• DOD Cybersecurity Internship Opportunities 
• Cyber Academic Engagement Office 
• Cyber Defense Workforce Framework 
• National Cyber Workforce Education Strategy 

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies released their Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bill earlier this week. The bill proposes deep cuts to many education and job training programs.  

The bill would cut spending for the agencies within its jurisdiction by 11 percent or $24.6 billion. Specifically, the bill would cut the Department of Education by 14 percent or $11 billion and the Department of Labor by 23 percent or $3 billion. There are also recissions to some current funding streams.  

In good news for CTE, the bill proposes a $10 million increase for the Perkins Basic State Grant. However, while we appreciate the legislation’s recognition of increasing current Perkins funding levels, we are extremely concerned about proposed cuts to other major education and workforce development programs elsewhere in the legislation. 

Below are just a few of the funding cuts or program eliminations included in the bill that are most relevant: 

Department of Education: 

• 25% cut for Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title I Grants for local education agencies 

• 50% reduction to the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and Federal Work Study Programs 

• Elimination of funding for Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (ESSA Title II)  

Department of Labor: 

• 57 percent grant for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Grants 

• 25 percent cut to the Employment and Training Administration 

• $135 million decrease to Registered Apprenticeship program 

• Elimination of funding for WIOA Youth Job Training 

A few programs will keep their funding at the same level as FY 2024 or also have small increases like Perkins. The maximum Pell grant will remain at $7,395, and the Department of Labor Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant program will stay at $65 million. A small increase was proposed for ESSA Title IV and for IDEA state grants.  

On Thursday, the subcommittee advanced the bill and will be considered by the full committee on July 10. Be on the lookout for an Action Alert next week to get involved and let Congress know that these massive cuts will have a negative impact on the broader education and workforce system, including CTE programs. You can view the full text of the bill here. 

Today ACTE published CTE: Developing the Education & Training Workforce and CTE: Developing the Hospitality & Tourism Workforce as part of our revamped series of Sector Sheets describing CTE’s role in growing the workforce for vital industry sectors. The Sector Sheet series is published with support from ACTE’s long-time partner Pearson.

The Education & Training Sector Sheet describes how CTE supports this workforce, which employs more than 8 million people nationwide supporting preschool through adult learners, while the Hospitality & Tourism Sector Sheet describes CTE’s role in preparing individuals to work in travel and tourism, hotels and lodging, and restaurant fields.

The Sector Sheets share information on occupations, earnings and credentials that enable individuals to succeed in these sectors. And demonstrate the importance of CTE in developing these workforces by describing how CTE prepares learners through courses, industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations and more.

Both the newer and older Sector Sheets are available on the ACTE Sector Sheet webpage for download and use. We encourage you to share these tools with students, families, counselors, policymakers and others to spread the message about CTE and its benefits for learners and the workforce.