Framing Parents' Attitudes Toward CTE: The CTE Research Network recently published a report that analyzes the perceptions and opinions of CTE held by the general public and parents’ support of CTE policies. Researchers discovered that CTE enjoys widespread support by the public and that it may see even more support when framed as a workforce development pathway. 

The following are findings from the survey: 

• Parents who value individualism and who are especially sensitive to labor market trends are more positively inclined to support CTE when it is presented as an in-demand jobs preparation pathway. 
• Respondents identified that around 32-35% of school hours should be spent on CTE. 
• Black and Hispanic/Latino parents both value CTE more highly than parents from other demographics in regard to time that should be spent on CTE and tax dollars that should be spent on CTE-related programs.  
• Higher levels of education are associated with a greater willingness to pay more tax dollars to support CTE programs. 

Researchers note that perceptions of CTE vary widely among demographics, so programming and marketing should be designed with the needs of the particular community in mind.   

Condition of Career Readiness in The United States: The Coalition for Career Development Center recently published a national snapshot of students’ college and career readiness outcomes. Findings and insights from the report are below: 

• 60% of high school graduates enter either a two- or four-year postsecondary institution in the fall.  
• 75% of students attending a postsecondary institution full-time continued their education into their second year. 
• 47% of students attending a postsecondary institution part-time continued their education into their second year. 
• Participating in personalized career and academic plans as early as middle school positively impacts future earnings. 

On October 25, the House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs held the hearing titled, “The Power of Apprenticeships: Faster, Better Paths to Prosperous Jobs and Less Waste in Higher Education.” This hearing discussed ways to draw more youth into exploring career options through CTE, apprenticeships and other work-based learning models.  

Those testifying were: 

• Paul Winfree, President and CEO of the Economic Policy Innovation Center 
• Erin Davis Valdez, Policy Director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation 
• Casey Sacks, President of Bridge Valley Community and Technical College (and former Deputy Assistant Secretary at OCTAE) 
• Tony Ewing, President of Advanced Fixtures, Inc. 
• Apryle Gladney, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources at Washington University in St. Louis 

Sacks testified that one of the key strengths of community colleges is their ability to create tailored educational pathways for students. These pathways are designed in close collaboration with local industries, ensuring that the curriculum remains current and relevant. Sacks also noted the push among many community colleges and other workforce advocates to expand Pell Grant eligibility to cover short-term workforce education programs. And while she stated that the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) already provides vouchers known as individual training accounts (ITAs) that would cover those programs, she emphasized how challenging those ITAs are to use. “ITAs pay for what essentially short-term Pell would be, but it’s a lot more burdensome,” she said. 

On apprenticeships, Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) asked Sacks how states could remodel their funding structures to better accommodate pre-apprenticeships. She stated that WIOA state plans are grounded in federal compliance when they should be focused on the needs of local communities and employers. 

A recording of the hearing can be found here. 

On October 25, the House of Representatives selected a new speaker who has vowed to resume consideration of the House’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education appropriations bill. Government funding runs out on November 17, and Congress has much work to do to complete the FY 2024 Appropriations process. 

Before the August recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and approved its FY 2024 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill on a bipartisan basis, which contains a $40 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program and provides significantly more resources to education and workforce development programs than the House version of the bill does. As negotiations on how to move these bills forward resume, we must continue to emphasize to Members of Congress that we support the Senate bill and its higher funding levels! Wrapping up the FY 2024 appropriations process will be quite contentious, and your advocacy is critical to elevate the message that the Senate bill is preferable.  

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support the Senate’s $40 million increase for Perkins and overall higher funding levels!     

You can 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.    

On October 25, the House elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be the 56th Speaker of the House of Representatives, capping off a contentious three-week period where the House did not have a speaker.  

Johnson, first elected in 2016, has served as chair of the Republican Study Committee, vice chair of the House Republican Conference, and on the Judiciary and Armed Services committees. Prior to joining Congress, Johnson was a partner at a law firm in Louisiana. He earned both his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctorate from Louisiana State University. He has not worked much in the education or workforce development areas and is likely to focus primarily on other issues. However, he was a member of the House CTE Caucus, indicating at least some interest in CTE.  

Johnson faces many legislative priorities as Speaker with one of the first being government funding. The continuing resolution keeping the government open is set to expire on November 17. In a blueprint for the new few months that he circulated earlier this week, Johnson said another stopgap funding measure until January or April may be needed so that lawmakers can continue working on passing regular appropriations bills. He also suggested bringing the House FY 24 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, which contains steep cuts to education and workforce programs, to the floor for a vote the week of November 13. Now is the time to redouble efforts to oppose this House bill and advocate for the higher funding levels proposed by the Senate.   

This week the attention of Capitol Hill continued to be largely focused on the election of the new House Speaker, with a number of developments throughout the week but no real progress. The Senate was also back in session but activity on appropriations continues to be at a standstill there as well, with no agreement on how to move forward on appropriations bills. In other news, the White House unveiled a request of over $100 billion in supplemental security aid for fiscal year 2024 aimed at supporting Israel and Ukraine, and addressing other defense and border security needs. Read more news and notes below:

• Representative Jim Jordan Loses Republican Vote for House Speaker a Third Time: After losing a third public vote, House Republicans met in a session behind closed doors and voted against electing Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) as the party’s nominee for Speaker of the House. This development leaves the party with no immediate option for speaker, and the process will have to begin again next week.

• Department of Education Announces Funding For Fostering Diverse Schools Demonstration Grant Program: ED has announced an award of approximately $14 million to assist local- and state-driven efforts to create more diverse school communities through the Fostering Diverse Schools Demonstration Program, which will aim to build a more inclusive school environment and support districts working to enrich educational experiences, opportunities and school conditions for all students.

• OCTAE to Host Webinar Series on High-Quality Correctional Educational Programs: The Office of Career and Technical Education (OCTAE) is inviting CTE shareholders and members of the public to attend its recently announced webinar series titled Pipeline to Pell, focusing on advancing state and local implementation of inclusive, supportive, comprehensive, and high-quality correctional education programs that meet the diverse needs of students. The series will provide participants with information, best practices and resources for expanding high-quality CTE programs to incarcerated students. You can register for the initial two webinars in the series here and here.

• Department of Education Announces Funding Initiative to Preserve Native Languages, Increase Native Teacher Retention, and Support Tribal Educational Agencies: ED has announced a round of funding that totals more than $11 million aimed at strengthening and supporting the Native American teacher pipeline and the vitality of Native American languages and schools. The funding will be awarded to the new Native American Language Resource Centers (NALRC) program with the goal of ensuring that Tribal Educational Agencies can coordinate grant resources alongside state and local partners.

• Department of Education Releases Updated Perkins Data: The Office of Career and Technical Education has released an update to its Perkins Data Explorer with school year 2021-22 enrollment and performance data. Read more about it on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.

MDRC recently published a report that explores the resurgence and popularity of CTE as a path to providing learners with in-demand skills and preparation for today’s labor market. It also tackles challenges and opportunities that would enable CTE to scale up and systematize its most effective elements and models.

The report makes the case for CTE as a solution to the skills gap crisis due to its nature as a hands-on learning model and demonstrated positive association with learner workforce and postsecondary outcomes. Researchers note that career-related certificates and associate degrees lead to higher employment rates and increased wages, yet access to high-quality CTE and early postsecondary programs remains limited, which further exacerbates inequality and makes credential attainment for underrepresented populations more difficult.

To combat these challenges and help CTE fulfill its potential for all learners, researchers made some of the following recommendations:

• Tie education and training to booming economic sectors by building regional capacity to align CTE and workforce needs.
• Ensure that evidence-based program models remain faithful to their purpose by scaling practices while adapting to diverse labor markets and contexts.
• Disseminate CTE research to help inform policymakers and practitioners about emerging trends and practices.
• Expand data collection capacities to build the knowledge base and help practitioners understand the variation in outcomes for specific student populations.

In particular, researchers recommend that leaders prioritize ensuring equitable access to programs for underrepresented learners as they seek to entrench CTE in the fabric of the American education and workforce system.

The Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education has released an update to its Perkins Data Explorer with school year 2021-22 enrollment and performance data. CTE practitioners and researchers can use this data to better understand CTE student outcomes nationwide and in their states.

Notable findings and figures are listed below:

• School year 2021-22 recorded more than 11.5 million CTE participants across secondary and postsecondary education.
• School year 2021-22 recorded more than 4.6 million secondary and postsecondary CTE concentrators nationwide.
• In school year 2021-22, secondary CTE concentrators achieved a 96% four-year graduation rate.
• In school year 2021-22, Health Science was the most popular Career Cluster.

To learn more, access the Perkins Data Explorer tool and a national summary of the data from 2021-22. A lengthier and more in-depth post digging deeper into data points from the release will be published on the CTE Policy Watch Blog in the coming days.