On Tuesday, September 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5587, the Strengthening CTE for the 21st Century Act, by a vote of 405 to 5! ACTE and Advance CTE applauded the bill’s passage in a joint statement on the bill:
The passage of H.R. 5587 is an important step toward reauthorizing the primary federal legislative investment in Career Technical Education (CTE). The bill would afford states and local secondary and postsecondary recipients the flexibility to build upon their existing efforts to deliver high-quality CTE programs while also promoting innovation and program alignment, all within a framework of streamlined administrative requirements and a more intentional focus on local needs. The legislation will ultimately help fuel the talent pipeline and prepare workers for the high-skill, high-wage, high-demand careers of the 21st century.
Read our full press statement here, and the press statement from the House Education and the Workforce Committee here. The bill approved by the House reflected only minor changes to the Committee-passed bill from earlier this summer. A new summary will be available in the coming days.
Attention now turns to Senate activity, where the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee continues to work toward its own bipartisan Perkins reauthorization bill. We will keep you updated on any activity around that bill.
A big thank you goes out to all the ACTE advocates that have been involved in the Perkins reauthorization process and have encouraged your Members of Congress to make CTE a priority! We hope to keep up the momentum and continue moving forward.