This week, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) reintroduced the Jumpstarting Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act.  

This bipartisan legislation would expand Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in high-quality, short-term workforce training programs between 150-600 clock hours over a period of at least 8 weeks.  

Additionally, the JOBS Act would ensure students are receiving high-quality postsecondary credentials by requiring that credentials: 

• Meet standards under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), such as meaningful career counseling and aligning programs to in-demand career pathways or registered apprenticeship programs and appear on the WIOA Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL) 

• Align with the Perkins definition of a “program of study” 

• Are recognized by employers, industry, or sector partnerships 

• Align with the skill needs of industries in the state or local economy 

• Are evaluated by an accrediting agency and approved by the state workforce board in addition to the U.S. Department of Education 

In total, JOBS is currently co-sponsored by 35 Senators with 22 Democrats,12 Republicans, and 1 independent.  

This is a longtime priority for the CTE community, and ACTE has been a strong supporter for the bill for many years. We will continue to advocate for this bill throughout this Congress and work with the bill’s lead sponsors to continue to build support.  

This week began on a hectic note following the Trump Administration’s memos regarding pausing funding for federal grants, loans and other assistance programs. Despite the original memo being rescinded, the situation is still very fluid and uncertain. Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, the Senate held several hearings for Trump’s cabinet nominees and will continue this work into the next week as well. The House and Senate CTE Caucuses are also preparing for CTE Month by introducing CTE Month Resolutions in the House and Senate. Keep reading for more details and stay tuned for updates! 

• ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the 2025 House and Senate CTE Month Resolutions: The House and CTE Caucuses have introduced resolutions to designate February as CTE Month. CLICK HERE  to ask your Members of Congress to cosponsor this year’s CTE Month resolution. 

• Update on OMB Pause for Federal Grants: Earlier this week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced a temporary pause of agency grant, loan and other financial assistance programs. Later in the week, this pause was rescinded, potentially allowing for federal funds to be disbursed for now. It’s unclear what next steps will be or how programs will be impacted in the immediate aftermath. ACTE will continue to share updates as we learn more! 

• Department of Education to Enforce 2020 Title IX Rule: The Department of Education sent a letter to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education advising educators and administrators that the 2020 Title IX rules will be enforced, following the Biden Administration’s attempt to rewrite the Title IX regulations last year. 

• House Education and Workforce Committee to Hold Hearing Next Week: Next Wednesday, the House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing, “The State of American Education.” ACTE will share any relevant information from the hearing, and you can follow along with the livestream.  

• White House and Congress Focus on School Choice: Leadership in the House Education and Workforce Committee have introduced a resolution to recognize this week as National School Choice Week. This follows President Trump’s announcement of an executive order (EO)he plans to sign next week to designate discretionary money toward school choice programs, and reintroduction of a bill in Congress to provide tax credits for voucher-like scholarships. Read more about these activities on the blog.  

• White House Issues EO on “Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”: This week the White House issued another EO related to K-12 teaching, directing agency heads to provide an “Ending Indoctrination Strategy” and promoting patriotic education.  

• Department of Labor Publishes New Apprenticeship Toolkit: The Department of Labor updated and shared, “The Apprenticeship Training Toolkit,” with training materials and information for launching and expanding successful apprenticeship programs.  

• Department of Labor Shares Toolkit for Workforce Development Boards: The LEAD Center, funded by the Department of Labor, developed and published a toolkit to help workforce development boards with partnerships.  

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) setting out school choice as a major priority for the Trump Administration and the Department of Education. The school choice executive order calls for the Education Department to prepare guidance for states within 60 days on how they can tap into existing federal funding streams to bolster K-12 education choice programs. The Secretary of Education is also directed to include “education freedom” as a priority in competitive grant competitions, and other agencies are directed to review their programs for opportunities to use funding for choice options, including private, faith-based or public charter schools.  

Additionally, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Tim Scott (R-SC) along with Reps. Burgess Owens (R-UT) and Adrian Smith (R-NE) reintroduced The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). The bill would provide up to $10 billion in annual tax credits to individuals or businesses who donate to scholarship granting organizations. It is meant to incentivize charitable donations to school choice programs.  

“Parents want to see their child succeed. Giving them the ability to make decisions over their child’s education puts that child’s needs first,” said Dr. Cassidy. “More freedom empowers parents and allows American children to thrive in school.” It is believed that lawmakers will push to include this bill in the upcoming budget reconciliation proposal.  

ACTE does not support legislation that would divert resources from public education, and is working in coalition with other education organizations to protect funding for public schools. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org). 

Conditions For Sustainable and Equitable Pathways Systems: Advance CTE has published a resource analyzing progress made by Launch, a national initiative led by five organizations working to ensure all students have access to high-quality and equitable college and career pathways. The partnership identified a framework of five levers critical to driving change and highlights examples from states. 

• Policy: Effective policies take a systemic approach, encompassing multiple systems and incorporating best practices and data. For example, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future establishes clear goals ensuring students are prepared for successful careers, such as benchmarks for how many students graduate with an industry-recognized credential.
• Funding: Funding must provide states with the resources they need to build successful pathways to meet labor market demand. For instance, Delaware passed legislation that aligns federal, state, institutional and private funding streams to support Delaware Pathways. 
• Partnerships: Partnerships between systems and institutions must not only be built but also sustained and improved over time. Massachusetts’ Connecting Activities program is an example of establishing strong relationships between employers, schools and the state’s workforce boards to develop career training opportunities for students. 
• Data: State data systems should span education and workforce to identify outcomes and facilitate collaboration. For instance, created in 2021, the Virginia Office of Education Economics informs education and workforce policy by providing robust data alongside key partners across the state. 
• Equity: College and career pathways must be accessible, flexible and made available to all students. For example, Indiana supports credit for prior learning (CPL) by providing a searchable database for CPL options across the state. 

Current Term Enrollment Estimates – Fall 2024: The National Student Clearinghouse recently released fall 2024 postsecondary enrollment data. Important takeaways include: 

• Total postsecondary enrollment grew by 4.5% from last fall. For the second year in a row, double-digit growth occurred at public two-year institutions with a high vocational program focus, increasing 13.6%.  
• Freshman enrollment growth was the strongest at community colleges, increasing 7.1%.  
• Enrollment for dual enrollment students increased by 10.2% from last fall. In addition, enrollment of students aged 25 and above grew faster than students aged 18-20 and 21-24. 
• For the fourth consecutive year, undergraduate certificate enrollment grew, increasing by 9.9%. In addition, associate degree program enrollment increased by 6.3%. 
• Among major fields at two-year institutions, growth was highest for construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, precision production, and health professionals and related clinical sciences.  

This data highlights the growing relevance of postsecondary CTE as more students seek programs that prepare them for high-demand, high-paying careers. 

The Speed of Skill Change: Lightcast published a report comparing job postings between 2021 to 2024 to identify changes in required skills. Skills for the average job have changed by one-third, while one in four jobs has experienced a 75% change in skills. 

The report also details three key industries that are creating major skills disruptions for jobs: 

• AI: The demand for AI skills has exploded in recent years, with generative AI postings up 15,625% from 2021 to 2024. 
• Green/sustainability skills: Increased action from the federal government, such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the emergence of green energy to power AI and other data centers has bolstered the need for workers with green skills. 
• Cybersecurity: The cybersecurity workforce has been expanding significantly since 2013 and is in demand across a wide range of sectors. 

Finally, the report includes workforce planning tips for organizations seeking to understand more about each of these industries. 

A Case for Equity in Experimental Learning: An article by Madhumita Banerjee and Kaila Bingen in the December 2024 edition of Experimental Learning and Teaching in Higher Education explored whether an alternative course could serve as a substitute for internships for students who might not have access to them. The researchers studied a specific course at a small, public four-year Midwestern university that serves a disproportionately high percentage of disadvantaged students.  

The course, a standard three-credit college course, was developed in response to the university prioritizing building career success for students after finding that very few students ever complete an internship. The curriculum focuses on career development and preparation for students’ futures, including building resumes, developing interview experience, and increasing students’ confidence to apply for a professional position, graduate school or pursue any other pathway they choose. 

Statistical analysis revealed that students taking this course achieved significant improvement in all eight career competencies measured in the study (career and self-development, critical thinking, professionalism, leadership, communication, teamwork, technology, and equity and inclusion). Leadership emerged as the most improved competency, followed by both critical thinking and career and self-development. 

The House and Senate CTE Caucuses are once again leading the annual CTE Month Resolutions to mark February as CTE Month. House CTE Caucus co-chairs, Reps. Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), have introduced the resolution in the House. Senate CTE Caucus co-chairs Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced the resolution in the Senate.  

CLICK HERE to ask your Members of Congress to cosponsor this year’s CTE Month resolution. 

These resolutions recognize February 2025 as CTE Month. CTE Month is a critical time in raising awareness of the role that CTE plays in connecting learners to high-wage, in-demand career opportunities that are vital to building a 21st-century workforce and strengthening the American economy.  

Strong support for the CTE Month Resolution will help to ensure that CTE is a priority for the 119th Congress . Using ACTE’s Action Center, you can identify your Members of Congress and send a message to their office to ask them to co-sponsor the Resolution. If you have direct contacts in your Members’ offices, we urge you to call or email them directly.  

House members have the entire month of February to cosponsor the Resolution. Representatives can sign on as a cosponsor of the House CTE Month Resolution by contacting: 

• Brian Arata (brian.arata@mail.house.gov) in Rep. Thompson’s office 

• Allie Pearce (allie.pearce@mail.house.gov) in Rep. Bonamici’s office 

The deadline for the Senate Resolution is January 31. Senators can sign on as a cosponsor of the Senate CTE Month Resolution by contacting: 

• Rebecca Howard (rebecca_howard@kaine.senate.gov) in Sen. Kaine’s office 

Update #2: Early afternoon on January 29, the Office of Management and Budget issued a new memo rescinding the previous one. This may allow most federal funds to be disbursed for now, although next steps remain uncertain. 

Update #1: On the evening of Janary 28, after this blog was published, a federal judge issued a temporary halt to implementation of the pause, through Feb. 3, pending further hearings. It is unclear at this time what impact the court order will have on the process. 

Last night, the Trump Administration announced a temporary pause of agency grant, loan and other financial assistance programs. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo ordering all agency heads to pause all federal assistance programs. The order takes effect at 5pm today.  

By February 10, agencies are to report all “programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated” and in the meantime, “to the extent permissible under applicable law” stop all obligations or disbursements of federal funds, including new and existing awards and “other relevant agency actions that may be implicated by the executive orders.” OMB can make exemptions, and this order does not apply to assistance provided directly to individuals. 

Federal agencies are additionally ordered to withdraw previously published award solicitations and “cancel awards already awarded that are in conflict with Administrative priorities” to the extent allowed by law.   

This pause should not affect most K-12 formula grant programs like Perkins in the short term, as most funding from education-related formula grants for this school year has already been distributed by the Department of Education (for example, FY 2024 Perkins funds became available to states on July 1 and October 1 of last year). Other programs that are funded on a different schedule or where more regular payments are made from the federal government could be impacted.   

The memo also notes that the pause does not apply to programs providing benefits directly to individuals. While there has been mixed information throughout the day, the latest information we have makes is that Pell grants will continue to be distributed without delay, at least for now. This interpretation could change again though, as official guidance has not been released from the Department of Education.  

The order has already seen several legal challenges. The timeline of when these challenges will be argued in court is not yet known.  

We know this is a challenging situation for those that rely on federal funding. There are many uncertainties, and information and interpretations have been rapidly changing throughout the day. We will continue to keep you updated on how this could impact the field as we learn more and more guidance is issued. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org).   

In the meantime, the best way to address any funding pause you or your institutions may be experiencing is to contact your Members of Congress with specific examples and ask them to intervene.  

Today, ACTE released two updated fact sheets – “What is CTE?” and “CTE Works!” – to equip CTE advocates with essential information and resources.

• The “What is CTE?” fact sheet offers a general overview of CTE’s benefits for students, businesses and communities to grab the
  attention of anyone new to CTE, including students and families, industry leaders, policymakers and the media.  
• The “CTE Works!” fact sheet highlights research that details the positive impact of CTE on student academic achievement, earnings and employment outcomes; employer talent shortages; and state economies. 

We encourage you to share these resources with students and families, CTE teachers and administrators, education policymakers, workforce leaders, the media and other stakeholders interested in learning more about CTE and advocating for it. Spanish language versions of these fact sheets will be available soon.