This week, Acting Secretary of Education John King appeared in multiple congressional hearings to discuss the Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget request, implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and his own formal confirmation to the top job at the U.S. Department of Education—a position he has filled on a temporary basis since December.
He began with an appearance before the House Education and the Workforce Committee to outline the department’s education priorities in the President Obama’s final budget request to Congress. As we previously reported, the budget proposes to level fund the Perkins Basic State Grant program at $1.118 billion. The Administration has requested an additional $75 million for Perkins; however, the additional funds would support the proposed American Technical Training Fund (ATTF) that would provide competitive grants to support short-term or accelerated job training programs in high-demand fields. However, Chairman John Kline (R-MN) questioned the Administration’s decision to include so many new grant programs in the budget request while continuing to underfund existing programs. Kline argued that such programs are “untested” and would contribute to “chronic underfunding” across education, citing proposed funding for a number of new efforts, including the America’s College Promise initiative that would provide two years of free community college.
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), co-chair of the House CTE Caucus, echoed the chairman’s concerns, but specifically questioned the wisdom of the funding ATTF without an increase in the Perkins Basic State Grant. He noted the department’s estimate that the ATTF would provide for only 5-25 new grant awards as proposed for FY 2017, despite the growing need to expand access to CTE across the country. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) also expressed concerns about funding for ATTF, particularly the challenges faced by low-income communities in pursuing competitive grants.
On Thursday, King started the day back at the Education and the Workforce Committee, this time for a hearing on ESSA implementation. As we have reported, ESSA includes some key CTE provisions to promote activities that integrate academic and CTE content in the classroom—including specialized professional development opportunities, expanded college and career guidance programs, improved availability of CTE student performance information, and recognition of CTE as a core component of a well-rounded education. He broadly discussed the department’s efforts to roll out the new law and resources for states and school districts in the coming months and years—including a new FAQ document was published on ESSA transition on Friday.
Later that day, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee considered King’s nomination to serve as secretary of education for the final year of the Obama Administration. King highlighted his experience as New York commissioner of education in expanding CTE for his state. He also urged reauthorization of the Perkins Act this year. “Just as No Child Left Behind was overdue for a rewrite, so too is the Perkins Act,” said King. “Let’s make 2016 the year we transform career and technical education for the 21st century by driving innovation and quality.” The committee will vote on the nomination later this month before it is taken up by the full Senate.
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