This week in Washington, Congress was focused on moving several pending nominations and moving forward with the FY 24 appropriations process. The House Appropriations Committee held markups of several appropriations bills and approved overall committee allocations, while Senate appropriations leaders have begun preparing a few bills for full committee markup next week. However, no information has been provided on the timing of either the subcommittee or full committee markup of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bills in either chamber. In the meantime, here are the most important things to note:

• Ask Your Representative: Support Perkins in FY 2024 Appropriations: The official topline funding level for the House’s FY 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill is $147.1B, which could result in an almost 30% cut to the bill. The impact on Perkins funding and CTE programs could be significant. As the House starts to consider their appropriations bills, we need to generate support for CTE to ensure the highest possible level of funding for Perkins within these tight caps. ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to ask your representative to support robust funding for Perkins CTE in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill!

• College Transparency Act Reintroduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): On June 14, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, reintroduced 1972, the College Transparency Act (CTA), legislation that would reform postsecondary data reporting ensure students have better information on student success and outcomes as they compare higher education options. ACTE has been a long-time supporter of the CTA. You can view a fact sheet on the CTA here.

• Department of Education and Civic Nation Launch Campaign for Access to Affordable High-Speed Internet: The Department of Education and Civic Nation have launched Online for All, a digital equity campaign working to close the digital divide by focusing on internet access, affordability and equity for students and families. Learn more about the campaign and how you can obtain affordable internet access here.

• House Education and Workforce Committee Holds Hearing on Postsecondary Education: On June 14, the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing entitled “Postsecondary Innovation: Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Opportunities.” The hearing primarily focused on higher education issues. You can watch the full hearing here.

• Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Holds Hearing on Infrastructure Implementation: On June 15, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing with testimony from Administrator Shailen Bhatt of the Federal Highway Administration. The hearing addressed the I-95 bridge collapse, road safety, project grant applications and electric vehicles.

• OCTAE to Host Webinar on Integrated Education and Training in Corrections: The Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) and ADVANCE Integrated Education and Training (IET) will host a live webinar on Connecting Jail-Based IET Programs to Career Pathways on July 11, 2023, from 3:30 – 4:30 pm ET. Register at this link.

Credit for Prior Learning Messaging Toolkit: Advance CTE recently published a messaging toolkit focused on communicating about credit for prior learning (CPL) to increase the participation of adult learners pursuing career pathways and CTE programs of study for in-demand fields. This publication serves as a resource for postsecondary institutions and systems to develop messages and dissemination strategies to support CPL policy and increase use of CPL. Research shows that 49% of adult learners who earn CPL go on to complete their credential or degree, while only 27% with no CPL do so. Earning CPL also boosts completion rates for underrepresented learners with African American and Latino students and Pell Grant recipients with CPL earning credentials at more than twice the rate of their peers without CPL. Sample messages recommended by the toolkit for communicating with leaders, learners and postsecondary faculty and staff explain CPL and its benefits, demystify the application process and correct myths about CPL. This toolkit is a companion to Advance CTE’s Embedding Credit for Prior Learning in Career Pathways Policy Benchmark Tool.    

Integrating Microcredentials into Undergraduate Experiences: Workcred and the University of Texas System recently released a report on re-imagining the undergraduate experience by integrating microcredentials. This report describes microcredentials, factors to consider when building or selecting a microcredential, and the relationship between microcredentials and badges, among other things. Researchers note that when developing a microcredential program, the following points are crucial to provide maximum utility for students seeking to better their career outcomes through these types of programs:

• Microcredentials should be developed to provide career-focused skills that prepare and connect students to professional opportunities like internships or directed study programs.
• Understanding the differences between credit and non-credit-bearing microcredentials is crucial as they lead to different outcomes for different populations.
• Undergraduates, graduates, incumbent workers and continuing education students can all benefit from microcredentials, but a program should be designed with only one population in mind.

Paving The Path to Debt-Free College: The Institute for College Access & Success recently published a report on expenses, funding and barriers to access to the postsecondary education system in the United States, as well as what current and persistent problems within the system mean for the future of students. Researchers highlighted community colleges and CTE-focused education as important parts of the vision of postsecondary education as a public good that is accessible to all. The publication also delves into funding for educational institutions defined as Regional Comprehensive Universities (RCUs), Rural Serving Institutions (RSIs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) as compared to flagship and research institutions. Researchers find that most undergraduate students (86%) are enrolled in either an RSI, RCU or MSI while only 14% are enrolled at selective flagships and research institutions. Despite this statistic, flagship and research institutions receive an endowment per FTE student of over $260,000 in comparison to just under $19,000 for RSIs, RCUs and MSIs. RSIs, RCUs and MSIs also have higher average institutional expenses per FTE student than research institutions and flagships, compounding this inequity.

The researchers call for achieving a more affordable college experience for all by such considerations as directly delivering funds to campuses and using allocation metrics that align with the unique institutional characteristics of RSIs, RCUs and MSIs.

Earlier this week, House leaders announced that instead of allocating the amount of funding agreed to in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 for FY 2024 appropriations bills, which would have essentially provided level funding to domestic programs, they would write appropriations bills to the lower FY 2022 level requested by the most conservative House members.

While we are still awaiting the official topline funding level for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, early reports estimate that the bill could be cut by almost 30%. The impact on Perkins funding and CTE programs could be significant. As the House starts to consider their appropriations bills, we need to generate as much support for CTE as possible to ensure the highest possible level of funding for Perkins within these tight caps.

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to ask your representative to support robust funding for Perkins CTE in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill!

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. Additionally, if you have a direct contact in your representative’s office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS earlier this month or at another time, we urge you to call or email directly. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested House office. Please contact your representative today!

Today ACTE has released CTE: Developing the Construction and Architecture Workforce, the second in 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. 

These revised Sector Sheets include job opportunities in each sector and descriptions of how CTE prepares learners for the workforce in each sector, all in a new format featuring more streamlined text and additional graphics to make these advocacy tools even more effective.

The Construction and Architecture Sector Sheet describes occupations, earnings and credentials that can help individuals enter and progress in careers in residential and commercial construction, infrastructure construction, and architecture and engineering. It also shares how CTE prepares learners for construction and architecture careers through courses, education and industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations, and more. The data demonstrates the importance of CTE to developing this workforce, which currently employs around 7.9 million people and needs more than 700,000 new workers annually to fulfill the country’s building needs.

As we move forward with the revamped Sector Sheets, both the newer and older Sector Sheets will remain available on the ACTE Sector Sheet webpage for download and use. We encourage you to share these tools with students, counselors, policymakers and others to spread the message about CTE and its benefits for students and the workforce.

Following last week’s deal to lift the federal debt limit, Congress is beginning to shift focus back to FY 2024 appropriations bills. The House Appropriations Committee is expected to begin markups next week of several appropriations bills that were marked up by subcommittees prior to completion of the debt limit deal, and Senate leaders have announced they hope to start markups later this month. In the meantime, here are a few news and notes:

• Acting Secretary of Labor Testifies to House Education and Workforce Committee: On June 7, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Department of Labor FY 2024 policies and priorities. During the hearing, there was substantial discussion of the opportunities available to support workforce development through registered apprenticeships, secondary and postsecondary CTE programs and more. Read more about the hearing here.

• Appropriations Update: We are still awaiting the topline funding level for the FY 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill following the signing of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 into law last week. The schedules for the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations bill release and markup in the House have not been announced. There are ongoing discussions between some Republicans and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) about whether to draft appropriations bills at a level that accounts for the spending caps in the debt limit bill or a lower amount.

• Department of Education Raise the Bar/Full-Service Community Schools Grants: The Department of Education has released a Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for the FY 2023 Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) grant program that supports academic acceleration and provides academic and whole child supports to build and strengthen connections between schools, parents, families and their surrounding communities. Learn more about the grant opportunity here.

• Department of Education School Infrastructure Grants: The Department of Education has announced applications for two new competitive grant programs focused on ensuring school facilities provide safe, healthy, sustainable and equitable learning environments: the Supporting America’s Schools Infrastructure (SASI) grant and the National Center on School Infrastructure (NCSI) grant. The former will award approximately $40 million to State Education Agencies (SEAs) and state entities to increase the capacity of the state to support high-need districts and schools in leveraging available federal, state, and local resources to improve school facilities and environments.  The latter will award roughly $2 million to a research agency, institution, or organization to establish a national center that will serve as a clearinghouse of resources and offer technical assistance to SASI grantees and other high-need districts seeking to leverage existing resources to improve facilities. Applications are due August 7. Learn more about the grants here.

• Department of Education Grant Opportunities to Address Educator Recruitment, Retention and Career Advancement: The Department of Education has announced more than $368 million in new grant opportunities through the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program and the Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Incentive program that advance investments in teacher recruitment and retention. These investments particularly prioritize promoting educator diversity and career advancement and leadership opportunities for effective educators tied to increased compensation. Learn more about the grant opportunity here.

On June 7, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Department of Labor FY 2024 policies and priorities. During the hearing, there was substantial discussion of the opportunities available to support workforce development through registered apprenticeships, secondary and postsecondary CTE programs and more.

Acting Secretary Su discussed the workforce needs that will be required to ensure successful implementation of federal investments such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Several members noted the impact of youth apprenticeship programs, including House CTE Caucus co-chair Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), who highlighted several youth apprenticeship programs in her district. Bonamici also called attention to the importance of industry partnerships that link employers with community colleges, particularly in the manufacturing and semiconductor fields.

Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) added that telecommunications training programs, such as those at Atlanta JATC Electrical Training Center, are preparing students to become technicians in these in-demand fields.

“It's clear that we need to be doing more to get Americans into these careers so that we can see the full benefit of our bipartisan investments through the infrastructure package and the CHIPS and the Science Act,” said McBath.

Continuing the messages echoed by Reps. Bonamici and McBath, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) asked how Congress can scale up investments and WIOA training programs, such as career counseling, American Job Centers and other employer programs, to better meet workforce needs, and how the Department and Congress can partner to boost and strengthen community college programs as part of the workforce development pipeline. Acting Secretary Su identified the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants program as one such example.

Su also highlighted the proposed Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness (SECTOR) program, which would support the development and expansion of partnerships between employers, education and training providers and community-based groups to focus on training the workforce in growing industries.

You can view the full hearing here.

This week in Washington, Congress was focused on final negotiations to complete a deal to raise the federal debt limit before a potential government default. The final bill passed the House on May 31 and the Senate on June 1. After President Biden signs the legislation today, the focus will shift to determining overall spending allocations for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies spending bill. We have recapped the core parts of the deal in greater depth below, but we will gain a clearer picture of funding levels for education and workforce development programs over the next few weeks. As we await more details, here are some news and notes:

• Deal Reached on Debt Limit: House Republicans and White House negotiators reached a deal last weekend on a legislative package that would suspend the debt ceiling until January 2025, set limits on federal spending in FY 2024 and 2025 for defense and non-defense programs, rescind some unspent COVID relief funding, change some Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) rules that would limit eligibility for some, and reallocate some of the Internal Revenue (IRS) funding provided in the Inflation Reduction Act. Learn more about R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, and its impact on CTE and workforce development programs here.

• Nominations Extended for Career Clusters Advisory Groups: Recently, nominations were opened for a set of 15 national advisory groups that will help to provide input into potential changes to the National Career Clusters Framework. The nominations have been extended until June 16. See more from Advance CTE here.

• Meet Rose Schoshinski, ACTE's New Public Policy Intern: Rose Schoshinski recently joined the ACTE team as an intern in the Public Policy Department. Learn more about Rose here.