Today, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos again appeared on Capitol Hill to defend President Trump’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget request for education—this time before the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. As we reported, the budget proposes drastic cuts in federal support for education, including a $168 million cut to the Perkins Basic State Grant. As Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) noted at the outset of the hearing, the deep cuts have made this a difficult budget request for DeVos to defend, and it was unlikely that Congress would adopt the president’s funding proposals.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) specifically highlighted the cut to Perkins as “troubling,” particularly given the Administration’s continued assertions of support for CTE. Shelby noted that Perkins Basic State Grant program, “provides resources to sates and local institutions so they can determine how career and technical education programs best fit their communities, their workforce and their needs.” The condemnation for the president’s proposed cut to CTE was bipartisan. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), who both singed a letter in support of increased funding for Perkins, also mentioned the cut during their remarks.
The president’s budget proposes to put an additional $20 million in the Perkins National Programs to establish a new grant that would support only certain CTE programs in STEM fields that are able to compete for funds. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), co-chair of the Senate CTE Caucus, noted that a 15 percent cut to the Perkins Basic State Grant and the proposal to eliminate funding for the Title IV grants under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), both of which can be used to support CTE and STEM-related education initiatives, would hardly be offset by $20 million in funding for a competitive grant that would only benefit a few programs. In fact, the department’s own estimates indicate that only five secondary/postsecondary consortia would receive funding under the STEM grant proposal.
ACTE has strongly rejected the president’s budget, and will work with Congress to ensure strong funding for CTE. Please take a few minutes to let your Members of Congress know about the importance of investing in CTE through Perkins.
Thanks!
Posted by: Denny | 07/17/2017 at 09:44 AM