Last week in Washington, both chambers of Congress were in session and largely focused on negotiating gun safety legislation, security for Supreme Court justices and employees and hearings on the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. However, several CTE-related items did see movement as well, including the confirmation of Dr. Amy Loyd as OCTAE Assistant Secretary and the passage of a bill to support CTE graduates in starting and being hired by small businesses. Both chambers will remain in session this week. Negotiations on the America COMPETES Act/USICA are also continuing. ACTE is closely monitoring them and will provide important updates as they come. In the meantime, here are some news and notes:
- Amy Loyd Confirmed as OCTAE Assistant Secretary: On June 8, the U.S. Senate voted 57-42 to confirm Dr. Amy Loyd as Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education in the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Loyd was nominated to this position in August of 2021 by President Biden, after serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary within the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE). With the confirmation vote, Dr. Loyd can now officially assume leadership of OCTAE, which oversees the Perkins Act and other federal CTE-related initiatives. Read more about Dr. Loyd’s confirmation here.
- Ask Members of Congress to Support CTE Provisions in the America COMPETES Act/USICA Conference Negotiations: If you reside in Arizona, New York, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Washington or California, your Members of Congress are in a key position to impact the conference negotiations, making it crucial that CTE advocates in these states weigh in now with these Members of Congress as the negotiations move to the final stages. Read more about the advocacy effort here.
- Secretary Cardona Discusses Funding & Career-Connected Learning Strategy: On June 7, Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona gave testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education regarding the fiscal year (FY) 2023 education budget request. In the hearing, Sen. Braun (R-IN) and Sen. Baldwin (D-WI) both inquired about the Department’s plans for CTE, including the need for more emphasis on high school CTE and the historic federal underinvestment in CTE programs. Read more here.
- Secretary Cardona Speech to Support the Teaching Profession: On June 9, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona gave a speech to elevate the teaching profession, in which the secretary mentioned CTE teachers as an area of need. You can watch the full speech here.
- Bill to Support CTE Graduates and Small Businesses Passes House: On June 9, the Supporting Small Business and Career and Technical Education Act, introduced by Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX), passed the House by a vote of 399 to 18. This bill directs Small Business Development Centers and Women's Business Centers to assist small businesses with hiring graduates from CTE programs. ACTE has endorsed this legislation.
- FY23 Appropriations Update: The House Appropriations Committee’s Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee announced plans to begin the Labor-HHS-Education Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill markup on June 23, followed by the full committee markup on June 30. These dates are subject to change according to the committee’s schedule. ACTE will be closely monitoring the markups and will provide important updates and advocacy alerts as needed.
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