Meeting with the Honorable Mark Sanford

On March 14, 2017, I met with a legislative assistant at the Honorable Mark Sanford’s office on Capitol Hill. Cameron Morabito welcomed our advocacy team. Cameron appeared to be 21 years old and he expressed how much he enjoyed working on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant.

During the visit we discussed the importance of career and technical education to students. Cameron shared his perception of CTE courses and by stating that many CTE students were not seeking a college degree. As a CTE advocate my team shared detailed statistics on the value of career and technical programs in the state of South Carolina. We presented an infographic and highlighted that CTE concentrator graduation rate is 98.08%. We also stated that many of our CTE students are enrolled in dual credit programs. This allows our students to transfer college credits and save on the overall cost of tuition.

Cameron made it known that he was unaware of many of the facts that were presented during the meeting. The concern of Perkins funds being cut to help fund roads was a major issue that we addressed and asked for support in order to keep those funds. We informed Cameron that there has been a bill presented to cut Perkins funds to increase the funding for roads. The purpose of Perkins funding to CTE educators and education overall is to help provide equipment for CTE students, provide funding for CTSOs and work-based learning experiences for all students.

This was my first visit on Capitol Hill and to the Honorable Mark Sanford’s office. Although it was a cold and snowy day, I enjoyed every moment of the meeting with the legislative assistant. It made me realize the value of advocacy and creating awareness of issues that legislators may not know much about. They welcome us and understand that we have a voice.  Legislators are open to being made aware of issues that affect education and CTE. An invitation for Mark Sanford to join the CTE Caucus was extended. This first meeting fueled my passion as an advocate for CTE.

Monica Brisbon
2017 ACTE Region II Fellow
Carolina Forest High School
Myrtle Beach, SC