On May 17, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved its Perkins reauthorization bill, H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. The bill was approved by unanimous voice vote, and received many positive comments from Committee leaders and members from across the political spectrum.
Just a few small changes were made to the introduced version of the bill through amendments as it moved through the markup process. These included additional clarifications around the involvement of both secondary and postsecondary educators, the use of evidence-based practices, and the offering of dual and concurrent enrollment and articulation agreements. Two additional amendments were offered and withdrawn, including one to add ex-offenders to the definition of special populations, and another to reinstate the Secretary’s ability to sanction states after several years of continual low performance. The issue of sanctions is related to the broader issues of Secretarial authority that emerged during Perkins work last fall, and is expected to continue to be part of the conversation as the bill moves forward.
In her opening statement, Committee Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx expressed her support for CTE, "Career and technical education, or CTE, has helped countless men and women gain the knowledge, skills, and real-world experience they need to succeed in the workforce. These valuable programs — conceived and operated at the state and local level — can pave the way to fulfilling careers in a wide range of fields, including health care, manufacturing, computer science, engineering, and more." Rep. Foxx also spoke about CTE and Perkins reauthorization at length in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute on May 16. You can view her speech there at http://www.aei.org/events/remarks-and-discussion-with-chairwoman-virginia-foxx/.
You can view an archive video of the markup at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdxylgooZ-M, and other markup materials at http://edworkforce.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=401646.
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