On March 31, the House Committee on Small Business’s Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Workforce Development Subcommittee held a hearing titled, “Skill, Upskill, and Reskill: Analyzing New Investments in Workforce Development” featuring witnesses from across the workforce development and business spectrum. Each Member of Congress in attendance and the witnesses emphasized the need to expand skills training to fill workforce gaps through CTE.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) noted in his opening statement that small businesses are having difficulty finding workers with the skills needed to do the jobs that they are applying for, despite record numbers of open jobs, a sentiment echoed by Ranking Member Young Kim (R-CA). Rep. Crow noted that the nation’s workforce development system has been historically underfunded.
Ranking Member Kim also discussed expanding apprenticeship opportunities and referenced bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) to use Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Womens’ Business Centers (WBCs) to assist small businesses in hiring CTE program graduates. ACTE has endorsed this legislation.
Several of the witnesses also highlighted the need to invest in CTE. Dr. Mordecai Brownlee of Aurora (CO) Community College said, “Our workforce programs, while innovative and responsive, are expensive to operate. For example, programs in healthcare and advanced manufacturing are in great demand but are also among the most expensive programs to offer. To maintain our roles as leading providers of workforce training and maintain affordability for students, it is critical that we make meaningful investments in career and technical education infrastructure at community colleges. Dedicated community college job-training programs, like those originally included in the Build Back Better Act, would fund these critical efforts.”
Brownlee also added that initiatives like the JOBS Act to expand Pell Grants to short-term training programs would help support workforce development efforts at Aurora.
Joseph Kane of the Brookings Institution noted that, “[there] is a lack of awareness among Americans that these [careers in infrastructure] even exist. Many infrastructure jobs, along with the relevant educational and training pathways to access them, lack visibility among students and prospective workers. Students and prospective workers may still struggle to gain knowledge and experience for a host of reasons: a lack of employer engagement, rigid licensing requirements, underfunded career and technical education programs and limited supportive and wrap-around services, such as childcare.”
Kane seconded Dr. Brownlee’s support for short-term Pell expansion.
Diane Benck of West Side Tractor in Illinois also called for greater federal investments in CTE. “Lawmakers should pursue policies that invest in career and technical education programs and incentivize students to pursue vocational education. The Perkins Act is critical to the funding of technical education programs across the nation and developing the career and technical skills of secondary and postsecondary students. Unfortunately, Perkins Act funding hasn’t kept pace with the demand or the nation’s needs.” Like each of the witnesses, Benck also emphasized the need to expand Pell Grants to short-term programs.
You can watch the full hearing at the link above.
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