On July 26, the Department of Education (ED) hosted the National Summit on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education to discuss strategies and resources to expand access to postsecondary education opportunities following the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.

At the event, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced a $45 million postsecondary student success grant competition focused on evidence-based strategies that help underrepresented students access and successfully complete postsecondary education programs. Applications are due September 25, and technical assistance webinars will be hosted by ED’s Office of Postsecondary Education on August 15 and 31.

The postsecondary student success grant competition is targeted toward Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges or Universities (TCCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and other institutions with high enrollment of high-need students, including community colleges.

The Secretary and other panelists also discussed additional strategies for supporting postsecondary success and equal access, including underrepresented student recruitment, making K-12 connections, improving transfer, expanding need-based financial aid and more. Secretary Cardona also highlighted the expansion of CTE and dual credit programs as additional ways to support students seeking rewarding career opportunities. ED plans to share a comprehensive resource list later in the fall.

On Wednesday July 26th the Senate CTE Caucus organized a briefing at the Capitol with the National FFA Organization highlighting agricultural education. Senator Todd Young of Indiana, the Republican Co-Chair of the Senate CTE Caucus, delivered remarks along with several FFA leaders and students. 

The National FFA Organization seeks to support youth in developing leadership skills and pursuing personal and career successes through agricultural education, and it is made up of over 850,000 members. The briefing was held in conjunction with the 2023 FFA State Officer Summit, which brought many FFA student leaders to Washington, DC, to receive training and opportunities to advocate for agriculture education issues. 

As part of this visit, FFA State Officers from Indiana, Virginia and Wisconsin met with congressional offices and presented their personal FFA experiences at the briefing. Kelcey Weston, president of the Virginia FFA, shared how the educational and leadership opportunities she has experienced as a part of FFA built her confidence and expanded her abilities. Additionally, FFA leaders presented how their organization provides programming and activities that supplement classroom and experiential learning to create a holistic approach to agricultural education. 

In his remarks, Senator Young noted the prevalence of agriculture in his state of Indiana, which creates both demand and opportunity for agricultural CTE programs. With Indiana consisting of more than 200 FFA chapters, he emphasized the importance of developing leadership and workforce skills that will serve students in their personal careers while simultaneously benefiting employers. Senator Young encouraged the students to continue pursuing these experiences that will support them in the future as he stated: “CTE unlocks all kinds of opportunities for students.”

Today ACTE has released CTE: Developing the Information Technology Workforce, the third 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 streamlined text and additional graphics to make these advocacy tools even more effective.

This Sector Sheet describes how CTE supports the critical information technology workforce, which employs more than 9 million people nationwide and contributes approximately 8.8% to the U.S. economy. It also shares information on occupations, earnings and credentials that give readers guidance for how to enter and progress within fields such as network architecture and administration, software and web services, and cybersecurity and data science. Finally, the Information Technology Sector Sheet demonstrates the importance of CTE in developing the workforce by describing how CTE prepares learners through courses, industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations and more.

As we move forward with the revamped Sector Sheets, both the newer and older Sector Sheets will be 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.

Seeking to address strains on the teacher workforce, legislation newly adopted in ten states aims to make it easier for teachers to move to a new state. The Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact eliminates additional training and testing requirements for teachers seeking to obtain a teaching license in a different state. With the adoption of the compact, if a teacher holds a bachelor’s degree, has completed a state-approved teacher licensure program and holds a full teaching license, they are eligible to receive an equivalent license from another participating state. 

The compact notes CTE teachers as an exception to these requirements. CTE teachers are not subjected to the bachelor’s degree requirement since they can often obtain their original licenses without holding this degree. However, the participating states reserve the power to select which program or subject areas to apply this agreement, and the inclusion of CTE licenses will be decided on a state-by-state basis. 

In the last few months, ten states have adopted the compact which ratifies the agreement. These include Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. Additionally, legislation is currently pending in California, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The status of the legislation can be tracked here. 

The Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact receives funding from the Department of Defense which partnered with the Council of State Governments and the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) to develop the agreement. The Department of Defense launched this initiative originally to assist military spouses who face obstacles to maintaining a teaching profession as they frequently move between states, but it has a much more far-reaching impact. In the midst of a national teacher shortage, the compact eliminates barriers for military spouses and all other educators seeking to work in another state.

As more states consider this legislation, the agreement will likely continue to expand. Updated information and further details can be found here.

This week, Congress was primarily focused on continuing the FY 2024 appropriations process. The House and Senate considered several additional FY 2024 appropriations bills at the Committee level, and the House scheduled several appropriations bills to be placed on the floor next week as the Senate continued work on the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Next week, both the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees plan to consider their Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, which you can read more about below.

With the August congressional recess beginning on July 28, Congress is in a full sprint to complete as much work on their appropriations bills as possible. There are many CTE-related updates below and many moving parts, so check them out to keep informed:

• ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Oppose Cuts to Education and Workforce Programs in FY 2024: On July 14, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations billon a party-line vote. The bill reduces overall education funding, including rescissions to some funding that would become available to programs this fall and significant cuts to or complete eliminations of dozens of education and workforce programs, such as WIOA Youth and Adult programs, federal work-study, ESSA Title I and II and more. Learn more about the impact of the proposed cuts and how you can help!

• ACTE Sends FY 2024 Appropriations Letter: On July 21, ACTE and our partners at Advance CTE sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee regarding the impact of the proposed cuts to education and workforce programs in the FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.

• Policymaker Perspectives: Rep. Suzanne Bonamici: ACTE is re-launching our Policymaker Perspectives discussion series! In this first Policymaker Perspectives of 2023, ACTE’s Public Policy Department heard from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), co-chair of the House CTE Caucus.

• Senate HELP Committee Plans to Consider JOBS Act, Workforce Bills: On July 27, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee plans to consider several bills focused on CTE and workforce development, including S.161, the JOBS Act of 2023. ACTE has endorsed this legislation.

• Senate CTE Caucus Co-chair Introduces PELL Act: On July 20, Senate CTE Caucus co-chair Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), along with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), introduced S. 2442, the Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning (PELL) Act. The bill creates a Workforce Pell Grant to expand Pell Grant eligibility to high-quality, short-term job training programs. This is the companion bill to the House’s H.R. 496, but is a competitor to the bi-partisan JOBS Act.

• Bobby Scott (D-VA) Reintroduces Direct CARE Workforce Act: On July 20, House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) and Rep. Susie Lee (NV-03) reintroduced H.R. 4720, the Direct Creation, Advancement, and Retention of Employment (CARE) Opportunity Act of 2023. The legislation invests more than $1.8 billion over five years in training and increasing opportunities for direct care workers, including funding to recruit, retain and advance the direct care workforce pipeline and for local and regional innovation to address workforce shortages and needs in this high-demand field.

• Roger Williams (R-TX) Reintroduces Student Debt Alternative and CTE Awareness Act: On July 20, Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) reintroduced H.R. 4819, the Student Debt Alternative and CTE Awareness Act. The bill will require the Department of Education (ED) to publish information on the Office of Federal Student Aid website regarding CTE programs and Perkins funding. Additionally, the FAFSA application must include a one-page summary about CTE programs and requires applicants to sign an acknowledgment box before starting their FAFSA application.

• IES Announces FY 2024 Research Grant Competitions: On July 20, the National Center for Education Research and the National Center for Special Education Research released funding announcements for three FY 2024 grant competitions: education research grants, special education research grants and research training programs in special education. The application deadline is September 21, 2023.

• Department of Labor Awards Funding to Help States Expand Access to Registered Apprenticeships: The Department of Labor announced the award of over $65 million in grants to 45 states to increase their ability to serve, improve and strategically expand their Registered Apprenticeship programs and pre-apprenticeships.

• Department of Labor Awards Funding for Registered Apprenticeships in Education, Clean Energy and More: The Department of Labor announced the award of nearly $17 million in funding contracts to seven organizations to promote Registered Apprenticeships in industries such as education and the care economy, clean energy, cybersecurity, hospitality and transportation.

• Registration Remains Open for Final Family Engagement Learning Virtual Session: On July 25 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET, this session will explore how family engagement supports college and career pathways success.

• OCTAE Assistant Secretary Column on Second Chance Pell: ED’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) Assistant Secretary Amy Loyd and the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Justice Programs Amy Solomon co-authored a column in Newsweek to discuss the expansion of Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals that began on July 1.

• First Lady and Secretary of Education Visit Georgia CTE Programs: On July 18, First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited the Investing in America Workforce Hub in Augusta, Georgia, to discuss ways the community is working to expand pathways to good-paying jobs in fields like advanced manufacturing. You can view pictures from the event here, as well as a recap of the visit here.

• ED Opens Applications for Performance Partnership Pilots: ED issued a Federal Register notice inviting applications for selection as a performance partnership pilot for FY 2023 under the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3) authority.

On July 14, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bill on a party-line vote. In some good news for CTE, the Perkins Basic State Grant is level funded in this bill. However, the bill reduces overall education funding, including rescissions to some funding that would become available to programs this fall and significant cuts to or complete eliminations of dozens of education and workforce programs, such as WIOA Youth and Adult programs, federal work-study, ESSA Title I and II and more.

The proposed cuts to major education and workforce development programs are deeply concerning, and will harm the ability of CTE programs to support learners and provide access to broader career and postsecondary opportunities. Education and workforce programs work hand-in-hand to develop a skilled workforce – CTE programs cannot be successful without the support of the entire system.

As the bill moves forward in the House and the Senate begins work on its bill as well, 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 about the impact of proposed cuts to education and workforce programs in the FY 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill! 

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.

ACTE is re-launching our Policymaker Perspectives discussion series! In this first Policymaker Perspectives of 2023, ACTE’s Public Policy Department recently heard from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), who represents Oregon’s First Congressional District.

Rep. Bonamici joined the Congressional Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus as the lead Democratic co-chair in the House of Representatives at the start of the 118^th Congress in January 2023. She was first elected to the House in November 2011.

Rep. Bonamici attended Lane Community College and the University of Oregon. In Congress, she is a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. She is a committed advocate for policies that support our nation’s education and workforce development systems and works to advance legislation that supports CTE programs and the students they serve. Read on to learn more about the Congresswoman’s top CTE priorities!

ACTE: You attended Lane Community College in Lane County, Oregon. How did this experience shape your education and career path and your views and understanding of CTE today?

Rep. Bonamici: Community college changed my life. I would not be where I am today without the opportunities provided to me by Lane Community College. The two-year associate degree program I completed gave me confidence and provided an affordable higher education that opened doors and allowed me to pursue my passion of helping others.

Community colleges are a great starting point for many paths. I chose to continue my education at the University of Oregon, where I earned my undergraduate and law degrees. Many people receive the education and training they need to enter good-paying jobs directly after community college, including through the CTE programs they offer.

I was able to graduate from college with a manageable amount of debt using a combination of loans, grants, and work study. It is more difficult to do that today, but the affordability and value of a community college education continues to be significant. In my role as a senior member on the House Education Committee, I am committed to making opportunities like those I received through my community college education available to all, including by expanding and strengthening CTE programs.

ACTE: As a CTE Caucus co-chair, how will you work to advance legislation in support of high-quality CTE? What are some of your top policy priorities within CTE and workforce development?

Rep. Bonamici: I am always looking for ways to strengthen and expand CTE programs. The main source of federal funding for CTE is the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. I enthusiastically supported its reauthorization in 2018 and look forward to working with my friend and CTE Caucus Co-Chair Congressman GT Thompson on its update. I’m advocating for this bipartisan legislation to be responsive to the growing needs of CTE programs, students, and educators by supporting innovative programs, increasing access among historically underserved students, and fostering collaboration among schools, parents, colleges, and employers.

I am also eager to leverage the historic federal investments in workforce development we have made in recent years. Last Congress, I helped pass the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and CHIPS and Science Act, and I was glad to help create more pathways to good-paying, family-wage jobs in the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, I worked with my colleagues on the Education Committee to advance the bipartisan National Apprenticeship Act reauthorization and a comprehensive reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, both of which would provide training and career services to help workers find and keep good jobs. These bills passed the House but not the Senate, and I will keep working to get them across the finish line.

ACTE: You represent Oregon’s First Congressional District. Can you pinpoint some of the innovative approaches to CTE in your district? What lessons can we learn from them?

Rep. Bonamici: Oregon is leading the way in making CTE programs more accessible – CTE Programs of Study exist in nearly every Oregon high school and at all 17 community colleges, providing opportunities to more than 150,000 students each year.

Portland Community College in NW Oregon is a leader in preparing students for careers in different in-demand industries, including aviation, construction, agriculture, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing. Century High School, St Helens High School, and other schools in the district I represent engage their students in high-quality CTE programs that prepare them for good-paying jobs in a range of industries. St. Helens High School has eight different CTE programs, including auto repair and early childhood education. At Century High School I was able to meet with students participating in a semiconductor youth apprenticeship program that provides them hands-on experience with state-of-the-art equipment so they can learn the skills needed to land a high-quality, good-paying job in the semiconductor industry. Programs like these demonstrate the important role that industry and sector partnerships with K-12 schools and community colleges can play in building a diverse, skilled, and well-prepared workforce.

ACTE: How can members of the CTE community best work together with federal policymakers?

Rep. Bonamici: I encourage you all to tell your stories and share your experiences with Members of Congress and their staff. Stories are powerful – many people have spoken with me about how CTE programs have changed their lives. I have drawn from their powerful narratives and experiences to advocate for improving and expanding CTE programs. Talk about your successes with CTE programs and be candid about what you need from us. You can also express why it would be helpful to pass long-overdue reauthorizations of the National Apprenticeship Act and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and what priorities you hope to see included in an update of the Perkins Act. We can accomplish a lot by working together, and I am grateful for your tireless advocacy.