ACTE is launching a revamp of our popular Sector Sheet series that describes CTE’s role in growing the workforce for vital industry sectors. Today, we’ve published the first of these updates, CTE: Developing the Energy Workforce. The Sector Sheet series is published with support from ACTE’s long-time partner Pearson.

The revised Sector Sheets will 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 Energy Sector Sheet shares how CTE supports America’s energy needs by preparing learners to enter this critical workforce, which employs 7.8 million people and is growing faster than the total U.S. workforce. It describes key energy occupations and their related earnings as well as how CTE prepares learners for energy careers through courses, education and industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations, and more.

As we move forward with this revision, 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.

On March 29, South Dakota state CTE director and Advance CTE president Laura Scheibe testified before the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing titled “Addressing the Challenges of Rural America.” Additional witnesses were present from the Department of Education, National Rural Health Association, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

Scheibe fielded questions from committee members and detailed South Dakota’s efforts to support secondary and postsecondary CTE students through a variety of methods, including Student Support Counselors who assist first-generation students with transportation, affordable housing and navigating postsecondary education. In addition, she illuminated the importance of Perkins funding and flexible distribution of Perkins funds.

“This federal investment means our students learn on modern, industry-grade equipment so they come out workforce ready,” Scheibe noted. “Additionally, our state's Reserve Fund, a flexible portion of Perkins, is a critical tool that allows us to further expand activities benefiting our rural communities. At the secondary level, this funding supports innovation and equipment not otherwise possible for small districts.”

In her opening statement, Scheibe highlighted that CTE is no longer a choice between training and four-year university degrees. “Rather, CTE is a ‘yes, and’” said Scheibe. “[CTE] is a pathway along a continuum that can meet learners where they are – both literally and figuratively – with stackable credentials that have workplace and personal value.”

Scheibe left lawmakers with a reminder that CTE is addressing employer and industry needs nationwide. “CTE is achieving real success for learners across the country, and the federal investment is vital to that success,” said Scheibe.

You can watch the full hearing here.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently hosted workforce development advocates and professionals from around the United States at the Youth Employment Works Summit to discuss its new youth and young adult employment initiative that prioritizes these workers in developing the workforce of the nation. The initiative is called the Youth Employment Works Strategy and its goals are the following:

• Deliver accessible supportive services and workforce development opportunities for youth and young workers.
• Improve partnerships between the private and public sectors to increase investment in high-quality pathways for young people and develop a strong basis for the future workforce.
• Offer guaranteed paid work-based learning opportunities to ALL young people.

The summit featured guests from organizations like the United Federation of Teachers, New America, Jobs for America’s Graduates and professionals from the Department of Commerce and the Department of Transportation. The summit was intentionally diverse in the types of guests featured to demonstrate that better developing the nation’s workforce around young people is a collective effort that will require individuals from all walks of life.

The summit held multiple panels on topics such as worker and educational diversity, public-private sector partnerships, cross-agency collaboration and reimagining the secondary-level school experience for students throughout the nation. Panelists like Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, emphasized the importance of making CTE more accessible to all students in the country and putting less emphasis on building curricula around the traditional four-year degree path. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only about one-third of 18-24-year-olds enrolled in a four-year institution in 2020, with more than 60% of young people choosing a different pathway after high school. Weingarten also called for increasing career pathways access to all students around the nation.

The event was closed with remarks from U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, who reiterated the importance of the new initiative, the calls to action of all the panelists, as well as the importance of ensuring all learners around the country have access to CTE and work-based learning opportunities across state lines.

This week in Washington, lawmakers were focused on pressing national security, technology and military issues, conducting congressional oversight, debt limit conversations and holding the first of several hearings on the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process. Both chambers are set to be in session next week for the duration of the week, and they are expected to continue holding fiscal year 2024 appropriations hearings.

In addition, this week over 400 CTE professionals were gathered in Arlington, Virginia for ACTE’s 2023 National Policy Seminar (NPS) to learn how to engage in effective CTE advocacy and gain valuable advocacy tips, visit federal policymakers on Capitol Hill, learn about key developments in federal CTE policy and take in cutting-edge innovations in CTE delivery methods. A huge thank you to everyone who attended this year’s conference – your advocacy makes a difference!

Here are some additional news and notes that took place during this busy week!

• ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Senator: Support Robust Funding for Perkins in FY 2024: Each year, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) lead a “Dear Colleague” letter to be sent to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting robust funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) in the FY 2024 Labor, Health, and Human Services appropriations bill. We need your help again to secure an increase for Perkins that ensures CTE can continue to meet urgent workforce needs and serve as a critical part of the country’s economic growth. CLICK HERE to ask your senator to sign the “Dear Colleague” letter!

• ED Launches “Your Place in Space” Challenge: On March 21, the U.S. Department of Education launched the “Your Place in Space Challenge,” which urges high school students to imagine and pursue innovative careers across the space industry. Read more about the challenge here.

• House Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Public Witness Hearing: On March 24, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education held its Members’ Day and public witness hearing for the fiscal year 2024 appropriations cycle. ACTE and Advance CTE submitted joint written testimony to promote Perkins funding. You can view the recording of the hearing here.

• Williams and Gluesenkamp Perez; Sens. Marshall and Coons Introduce Supporting Small Business CTE Bill: On March 24, Reps. Roger Williams (R-TX) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), along with Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Chris Coons (D-DE), introduced the Supporting Small Business Career and Technical Education Act (H.R. 1730 and S. 936). The bill will amend the Small Business Act to direct Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) to increase their services to assist small businesses in hiring graduates from CTE programs. The bill also supports CTE graduates by directing SBDCs and WBCs to assist them in starting a small business. ACTE has endorsed the bill and you can read more about it here.

• Department of Education Announces Public Hearings on Higher Education Rulemaking: The Department of Education has announced that it will hold virtual public hearings on April 11, 12 and 13 to receive stakeholder feedback on potential issues for future rulemaking sessions. Learn more about the sessions here.

• Several States Receive Extensions for Spending COVID Relief Funds: A total of seven states and DC have received an extension to spend down their ESSER I funds, originally provided by the original COVID relief bill, the CARES Act, and five more states have received extensions to their Governor’s Emergency Education Relief fund from that bill as well. You can read more about the extensions and see if your state is included here.  

• Meet Candice Mott, ACTE’s New IAED Manager: Candice Mott will be joining ACTE as the new part-time Inclusion, Access, Equity, and Diversity (IAED) Manager for ACTE. She brings over 16 years of experience in CTE and education, and she will lead certain facets of ACTE’s IAED programming, including the IAED Advisory Group and opportunities to implement new and related IAED initiatives. Read more about Candice here.

The following research roundup will look at five reports by four different publishers that recently sought to analyze some of the most important issues surrounding community colleges and other institutions offering postsecondary CTE. The reports come from New America, the RAND Corporation, Columbia University’s Community College Research Center and Work Shift.

Getting Non-Degree Workforce Programs Right at Community Colleges: New America has released a multiple-part series that focuses on how to plan, deliver and use data to improve non-degree workforce programs at the community college level. The series was produced by the think tank’s Center on Education & Labor as part of the New Models for Career Preparation project, which aims to create stories and research for building a better understanding of non-degree workforce education with the ultimate goal of unlocking the full potential of non-degree workforce training. Researchers looked at literature to “synthesize, develop and pressure-test” a framework for non-degree programs at colleges. This work is based on five criteria for quality non-degree workforce programs:

• The program leads to quality jobs with strong labor market outcomes.
• The program advances equity and diversity in occupationally segregated jobs.
• The program opens doors to advanced credentials or degrees.
• The program is affordable.
• The program has strong completion rates.

Community Colleges Can Increase Credential Stacking by Introducing New Programs Within Established Technical Pathways: In a recent study conducted by the RAND Corporation, researchers analyzed stackable credentials in community colleges, their cost, their return on investment, as well as their value for students, government and local economies. The report analyzed the effects of the introduction of new certificate or associate degree programs in the Ohio community college system from 2004-05 to 2016-17. Researchers found that students who had just completed a credential program were more likely to re-enroll and earn more credentials within two years if their college had an additional program within their field of study. Additionally, researchers were able to confirm that further short-term enrollment did not significantly decrease student participation in employment or transfer to four-year university programs, showing that stackable credentials fit naturally within these students’ career and education pathways.

High-demand Jobs, High-cost Education: A recent Work Shift article by education reporter Lilah Burke looked at how community colleges around the country are innovating in the face of a major nationwide struggle to afford the necessary facilities and instructors for high-demand fields like microelectronics and biotech. Postsecondary institutions like community colleges are struggling to compete with the resources available to research universities in the field of experiential learning, which is needed to train the ever-rising number of operators or technicians needed in growth areas like semiconductor manufacturing. However, these institutions are finding creative ways around these challenges. The report looks at how four community colleges in Ohio, Texas, Arizona and North Carolina are succeeding in providing experiential learning to their students through incubators, partnerships with industry and government, and creative funding mechanisms from philanthropies and grants.

How Can Community Colleges Afford to Offer Dual-enrollment College Courses to High School Students at a Discount?: A recent report released by Columbia University’s Community College Research Center looked at the issue of high-cost dual-enrollment programs for community colleges. Researchers determined that in most parts of the country, colleges receive less funding per dual-enrollment student than they do for regular, non-dual-enrollment students, meaning that these programs are a financial burden for these institutions. The main purpose of the study was to explore how community colleges could continue to provide broad access to high-quality, sustainable dual-enrollment programs. Researchers analyzed the economics of dual enrollment from the perspective of three different community colleges to demonstrate the conditions under which dual enrollment can be made affordable and efficient.

Each year, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) lead a “Dear Colleague” letter to be sent to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting robust funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) in the FY 2024 Labor, Health, and Human Services appropriations bill. Committee members view these “Dear Colleague” letters as a critical part of the process because they show the breadth of support for a specific program, making this letter’s success critical. These senators have begun circulating the letter to their Senate colleagues to obtain additional senators to sign on. An accompanying letter from the House of Representatives is expected to begin circulating shortly, and we will share it when it becomes available.

The president’s original budget request for FY 24 did not suggest as large an increase for the Perkins Basic State Grant as we had hoped, but only represents a starting point in what will be months of negotiation in Congress. Your advocacy these past few years has been critical to securing vital, yearly increases in Perkins funding; we need your help again to secure an increase for Perkins that ensures CTE can continue to meet urgent workforce needs and serve as a critical part of the country’s economic growth.

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to ask your senator to sign the “Dear Colleague” letter supporting robust funding for Perkins CTE in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill! The deadline for sign-ons is COB on Friday, April 7, 2023.

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. Additionally, if you have a direct contact in your senator's office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS earlier this week 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 Senate office. Please contact your senator today!

On March 21, the U.S. Department of Education launched the “Your Place in Space Challenge,” which urges high school students to imagine and pursue innovative careers across the space industry. This is the first in the Department of Education’s #CTEMomentum challenge series. This annual series will help prepare students for in-demand careers and boost access to innovative CTE programs. 

High schools are invited to submit designs for a product or service that will contribute to space missions and exploration. Student teams may pursue designs of their choice or find inspiration from one of four suggested areas of exploration: space debris, the International Space Station, space travel and the environment.  

Submissions are due by 6:00 p.m. ET on October 30, 2023. Ten winners will be announced in early 2024. 

You can learn more about the Your Place in Space Challenge here.