As we reported last week, Congress approved a budget agreement, known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, that will restore most of the sequestration cuts for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. Congress must now begin the task of setting funding levels for individual programs like Perkins before the current funding bill expires on January 15. It will be up to the appropriations committees in the House and Senate to determine which individual programs get funding restored within the overall total increase available. The Bipartisan Budget Act has helped to alleviate some of the harmful sequester cuts, but there is still more work to be done to ensure that Congress acts to restore funding for CTE specifically.
Today, ACTE and the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations subcommittee, which have jurisdiction over funding for education and workforce development programs, urging them to restore funding for Perkins to the pre-sequestration level as part of the FY 2014 appropriations bill.
“The erosion of Perkins has hurt high schools, CTE centers, community and technical colleges, employers and millions of CTE students nationwide,” wrote ACTE Deputy Executive Director Steve DeWitt and NASDCTEc Executive Director Kim Green. “We cannot cut our way to a 21st century workforce! Instead, Perkins funding must be restored to meet the needs of CTE programs around the country and ensure students are fully prepared for their future academic and career goals.” The full text of the letter is available here.
ACTE and NASDCTEc will continue to work closely with congressional appropriators to ensure that Perkins funding is restored. Please help us in our efforts by taking a few minutes to contact your Members of Congress and let them know that it is time to make investing in CTE a top priority!
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