This week, the House Appropriations Committee provided additional details on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 education funding bill. The bill proposes to increase funding for the Perkins Basic State Grant by $102 million above the current level—bringing the total to nearly $1.3 billion. ACTE recently called on Congress to increase the state grant program to $1.3 billion in FY 2019. If enacted into law, this much-needed investment in Perkins will help to restore a decade of declining federal support for CTE. Additionally, Perkins National Programs would be increased by approximately $13 million in the House bill. These additional National Programs funds would be earmarked for a new grant competition that would focus on supporting CTE in STEM fields. The measure was approved by the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations subcommittee earlier this month. The full committee was scheduled to take up the bill this week, but that markup hearing was postponed and will likely not take place until July.
The House bill proposes to fund the Department of Education overall at $71 billion—an increase of $43 million over the current year funding level. The ESSA Title IV Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, which can be used to support secondary school career exploration activities and college and career guidance programs, would see an increase of $100 million. However, ESSA Title II funds to support effective educators, as well as Title I grants for low-income students would both be frozen at current levels. The bill recommends maintaining the Pell Grant maximum award at $6,095. The three state formula grants under Title I of WIOA would be frozen at current levels, as would the adult education grant program. The bill would provide an additional $5 million in funding, for a total of $150 million, to support apprenticeship opportunities.
Additionally, the Senate will unveil its education funding bill this week, so it’s important to keep the positive momentum in Perkins funding going forward. Please take a few minutes to join this effort by contacting your Members of Congress using our CTE Action Center!
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