CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

DC Digest: August 22-28

Back to school season is in full swing! With many students returning to school, this week also marks the next to last week of the August congressional recess, as Congress will not return to Washington until after Labor Day. The biggest news in Washington last week was the announcement of executive actions on student debt by President Biden, which you can read more about below. It is not yet clear how this administrative action will impact congressional activity once they return in September. In the meantime, here are some news and notes:

• Biden Administration Announces Executive Actions on Student Debt: Last week, President Biden announced his Administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt for individual borrowers making less than $125,000 per year who previously received a Pell grant, and up to $10,000 of federal loan debt for other borrowers making less than $125,000 a year. He also announced a final extension of the student loan repayment, interest and collections pause that was first put into place in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more about the plan here.

• Department of Education Releases 2022 Back-to-School Checklist: The Department of Education has released a back-to-school checklist for parents, highlighting uses of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding for student support, school improvement and more.

• Department of Labor Announces Grants to Expand Job Opportunities for Women in Apprenticeships and Nontraditional Occupations: The Department of Labor has announced the award of $3.4 million in funding to help recruit, train and retain more women in quality pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship programs and nontraditional occupations. Administered by the department’s Women’s Bureau and Employment and Training Administration, the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grants will support organizations in Arizona, Illinois, New York, Virginia and Washington. Learn more about the grants here.

• Department of Labor Awards Grants to Fund Registered Apprenticeship Hubs: The Department of Labor has announced the award of $50 million in Apprenticeship Building America grant funding for registered apprenticeship hubs, which are organizations that help employers design, develop and deliver programs in new and fast-growing industries and occupations. The department is awarding the grants to nine organizations in California, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. Read more about the apprenticeship hub grants here. 

Research Roundup: Teacher Certifications and Shortages

Alternative Teacher Certification: The Center for American Progress recently published an analysis of alternative teacher certification programs sponsored by organizations other than institutions of higher education (IHEs). Researchers examined the types of sponsors, states in which these programs operate and how enrollment varies by demographics to reveal the following findings:

• Regional education service agencies (50%), non-profit organizations (23%) and for-profit programs (14%) were the largest operators in the non-IHE alternative sector in 2018-19.
• Despite only being 14% of the non-IHE alternative sector, for-profit programs enrolled 70% of students in non-IHE alternative programs, a nearly 280% increase since 2010.
• Between 2010-11 and 2018-19, enrollment in non-IHE alternative certification programs grew by 76%, while IHE-based programs experienced an overall decline. Despite enrollment increases in the non-IHE sector, completion rates dropped by 19%.
• From 2010-11 to 2018-19, non-IHE alternative programs enrolled a higher percentage of students of color than IHE-based programs.

Teacher Shortages: Recently, Brown University released a report and an accompanying interactive map that provides national- and state-level estimates from 2014-22 on the K-12 teacher shortage. Researchers examined news reports, U.S. Department of Education data and publicly available information on teacher vacancies and certifications to uncover the following:

• An estimated 36,504 full-time teacher positions are unfilled; however, this number may be as high as 52,800. Overall, vacancies amount to almost 2% of positions nationwide.
• About 163,650 positions are filled by teachers who are teaching a subject different than their area of preparation or have an alternative, temporary or emergency certification.
• Mississippi had the highest relative vacancies with 68 vacancies per 10,000 students while Missouri had the lowest with less than one vacancy per 10,000 students. (Thirteen states did not have credible data related to teacher shortages).

General Education Data: In May, the National Center for Education Statistics released its annual Condition of Education report, which summarizes the latest data available on P-12 and postsecondary education in the United States. The following are some of the report’s main findings:

• P-12 public school enrollment decreased from 50.8 million in fall 2019 to 49.4 million in fall 2020, a 3% drop, which is the largest single-year decline since 1943.
• In 2017-18, there were 3.5 million full-time and part-time public school teachers. About 8% of these teachers held a provisional, probationary or emergency teaching certificate, and 2% held no certification.
• Between fall 2009 to fall 2020, postsecondary undergraduate enrollment declined by 9%, which was driven by a 35% drop at two-year institutions. In fall 2020, 31% of undergraduate students (4.9 million) were enrolled in a two-year institution.
• The number of associate degrees earned increased by 20% from 2010 to 2020. The most popular fields of study included business, health professions and STEM.

State Report Cards: The Data Quality Campaign released its annual analysis of state school report cards for the 2020-21 school year to identify what school data is accessible, or may be missing, for students and their families. At the time of the study, 43 states had submitted their 2020-21 report cards. The following are some of the analysis’ key findings:

• Twenty-eight states disaggregated data by all federally required student groups.
• Many states did not include data on the 2020-21 school year. For instance, 16 states did not include 2021 assessment data, 25 states did not include 2021 graduation rates and 26 states did not include 2021 chronic absenteeism data.
• About 25 states included some form of language translation for their state report card; however, only seven states had high-quality translations.

Biden Administration Announces Executive Actions on Student Debt

Earlier today, President Biden announced his Administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt for individual borrowers making less than $125,000 per year who previously received a Pell grant, and up to $10,000 of federal loan forgiveness for other borrowers making less than $125,000 a year. He also announced a final extension of the student loan repayment, interest and collections pause that was first put into place in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Specifically, the Biden Administration’s plan calls for:

• Borrowers with annual income during the pandemic of $125,000 (for individuals) or under $250,000 (for married couples or heads of households) will be eligible for up to $10,000 in relief. 
• Borrowers with annual income during the pandemic of under $125,000 (for individuals) or under $250,000 (for married couples or heads of households) who received a Pell Grant in college will be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation. 
• The pause on student loan repayment, interest and collections will be extended through December 31, 2022, with all student loan payments resuming in January 2023.

Additionally, the Department of Education will propose new regulations that will:

• Create a new income-driven repayment plan that will reduce future monthly payments from 10% to 5% of discretionary income. 
• Raise the amount of income that is considered nondiscretionary income and protected from repayment. 
• Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of the current 20 years under most income-driven repayment plans, for borrowers with original loan balances of $12,000 or less.
• Cover the borrower’s unpaid monthly interest, so that a borrower’s loan balance will not grow so long as they are making their required monthly payment.

The proposed regulations will be published in the coming days on the Federal Register, and the public will be invited to comment on the draft rule for 30 days. The Department of Education plans to release more details in the coming days on how borrowers can obtain the relief outlined above. You can read more about the plan from the White House and the Department of Education.

New Resource: High-Quality CTE Element Fact Sheets

Recently, ACTE published a new series of High-Quality CTE Element Fact Sheets. Each fact sheet describes one of the 12 elements and their criteria from the ACTE Quality CTE Program of Study Framework^TM, which is an evidence-based framework that defines high-quality CTE through more than 90 criteria organized under 12 elements.

Since Framework criteria are designed to be mutually exclusive across all elements to ensure that programs are not doubly rewarded or punished for criteria that they have not implemented, each fact sheet in this series also outlines how criteria from one element can add relevance to an assessment of progress on other elements.

You can find the High-Quality CTE Element Fact Sheets under the “Publications” tab here and other helpful tools and publications related to the Framework here.

DC Digest: August 15-21

Congress is still adjourned for the August recess and will not return to Washington until after Labor Day. Washington is very quiet, but early last week President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), legislation that contains climate change, tax and health care provisions. Many Members of Congress are still holding constituent events during the next few weeks, and you can visit this blog post to learn more about capitalizing on those opportunities. In the meantime, here are some news and notes:

• Department of Education Announces $8 Million in New Grants to Help Colleges Strengthen and Diversify the Teacher Workforce: The Department of Education has announced $8 million in grant funding through the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence (Hawkins) program, which supports comprehensive, high-quality teacher preparation programs at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). The Hawkins Program will focus on key aspects of a high-quality teacher preparation pipeline, including evidence-based, comprehensive teacher preparation programs that provide extensive clinical experience. Read more about the grant funding here.

• Department of Labor Announces Programs that will Support Justice40 Initiative: The Department of Labor has announced the addition of four programs administered by the Department’s Employment and Training Administration to the Justice40 Initiative: Reentry Employment Opportunities, YouthBuild, Job Corps and the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities program. The Justice40 initiative aims to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of climate, clean energy, training and workforce development, and other federal investments to disadvantaged communities. Read more about the Justice40 initiative here.

• Department of Labor Announces ApprenticeshipUSA Branding Effort and Public Conversations: The Department’s Office of Apprenticeship has created the “ApprenticeshipUSA” brand to establish an identity and shared understanding of the national registered apprenticeship system. In addition, the Department has begun a national online public dialogue on registered apprenticeships, which will remain open through September 5, 2022.

• Department of Education Announces Application Opportunity for CTE Research Network Grant Lead: The CTE Research Network, authorized under Perkins National Programs and operated through the National Center for Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), conducts research on CTE through projects funded by other IES grant competitions. This competition is for a new network lead beginning in FY2023.  Applications are due February 23, 2023.

DC Digest: August 8-14

Last week in Washington, lawmakers departed for the annual August congressional recess, but the House briefly returned on Friday, August 12, to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains primarily health care and climate change provisions. After House passage of the bill, both chambers will remain in recess until after the Labor Day holiday. Many Members of Congress will be holding constituent events during the next few weeks, check out this blog post to learn more about capitalizing on those opportunities! In the meantime, here are some news and notes:

• August Recess Legislative Wrap-Up: There was a flurry of activity as Congress prepared to adjourn for it the annual August congressional recess. Read more about key federal legislation from the last several weeks here.

• Department of Education Announces College Completion Grants: The Department of Education has announced $5 million in grant funds to support a new College Completion Fund for Postsecondary Student Success. The funding will support grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to encourage postsecondary retention, transfer and completion. Read more about the grants here.

• Department of Education Hosts Raise the B.A.R. Summit: On August 11, the Department of Education held the “Raise the B.A.R.: Bold + Action + Results in College Excellence & Equity Summit.” The event featured higher education leaders from colleges, systems and organizations across the country. CTE was briefly mentioned as a solution to the national educator shortage – Secretary Miguel Cardona noted Tennessee’s Grow-Your-Own teacher apprenticeship model as an example of an effective solution.

• CDC Releases Updated COVID-19 Recommendations for Schools: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released updated guidance for schools to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as the 2022-23 school year arrives. Read the full guidance here.

• Members of Congress Introduce Student Apprenticeship Act of 2022: Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced H.R. 8567 and S. 4658, respectively, legislation that would establish and support postsecondary student apprenticeship programs.
  
  
• Tina Smith (D-MN) Introduces Addressing Teacher Shortages Act of 2022: Sen. Smith introduced S. 4694, legislation that would establish an “Addressing Teacher Shortages Program,” through which the Secretary of Education shall award competitive grants to support teacher recruitment and retention efforts and schools in underserved communities. Read the full text of the bill here.

Urge Your Members of Congress to Support CTE During August Recess

Traditionally, the August congressional recess period is a time when Members of Congress return to their states and districts to hold events and visit with constituents. These events provide an opportunity to get acquainted with your federal representatives, learn what policies and proposals they support and advocate for CTE. ACTE has compiled this guide to attending events with your policymakers during the August recess. 

Upcoming events with your policymakers can be found in several locations. Websites such as Town Hall Project provide lists of congressional events, meetings and town halls as they are scheduled and publicized. Alternatively, you can contact your federal policymakers’ offices via phone and ask when the next scheduled town hall meeting – either in-person, virtual, or telephone town hall – will be held. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has never been easier for policymakers to hold telephone town halls and virtual events. If the response is “none,” or something similar, express your disappointment and your hope that the policymaker will soon hold events to hear from their constituents and members of the CTE community. 

If your policymaker has not scheduled any upcoming constituent events or meetings, you can create your own event, invite the policymaker to attend and keep up pressure on them to act in ways that support CTE. A site visit to your school and a tour of your programs will provide a first-hand look for policymakers at the positive impacts of CTE on their states, districts and local communities. You can also use the recess time to schedule a meeting with your policymaker while they are back home in their district or state office. 

For more CTE advocacy resources, please visit ACTE's advocacy resources page. If you have any questions about advocating for CTE with federal policymakers, please contact Jori Houck, ACTE Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, at [email protected].

Research Roundup: Postsecondary Student Success and Completion

Analyzing Pathways Data: The Strategic Data Project at Harvard University published a CTE Diagnostic toolkit which provides guidance and examples to postsecondary leaders about analyzing student progress and success in various CTE pathways. The toolkit offers proposed questions, sample data visualizations and summaries of analyses to conduct. It is structured around four topics: student completion, student progress, “gateway” courses (courses that prevent students from completing pathways), and credit accumulation. Additionally, it is accompanied by a technical guide that provides more detailed information about how to execute the examples featured in the toolkit.

Improving Pathways Programs: According to research featured in a brief by MDRC, community college career pathways programs can significantly increase credential completion and employment in targeted industries but may not improve earnings. Taking these findings into account, the brief offers several evidence-based strategies, as well as examples, that community colleges can employ to boost student success and economic mobility in career pathways programs. Some highlighted practices include integrating private sector training approaches, targeting family-supporting careers, providing comprehensive supports, and connecting students with employers and work-based learning experiences.

Measuring Beyond Completion: Recently, Strada Education Network released a report that integrates postsecondary student completion data with earnings and personal fulfillment data to provide insight into how postsecondary completion impacts students beyond graduation. Researchers used public data and data from Strada’s own surveys of postsecondary completers to reveal the following:

• About 58% of adults with an associate degree or higher earn at least 20% more than the median for a high school graduate and reported higher personal fulfillment through their education and training.
• Occupation is a strong predictor of earnings and personal fulfillment outcomes. For instance, completers employed in STEM, business and health care experience better outcomes compared to completers in service occupations.
• Higher levels of postsecondary attainment are associated with better economic and personal fulfillment outcomes; however, these results vary by race and gender.

Pell Grant Access and Completion: The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) released an analysis that provides information about Pell Grant recipient enrollments and completion rates at community colleges. Researchers gathered data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and Pell Grant Volume reports and shared the following findings:

• About 2 million Pell Grant recipients attend community colleges, representing one third of all Pell Grant recipients.
• In 2020-21, 25% of all community college students received a Pell Grant. This statistic has been declining since the Great Recession, especially in recent years, largely due to decreased enrollment among low-income students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In 2020-21, the three-year Pell completion rate was 25%, which is more than double the rate from the early 2000s.

Wraparound Supports: A brief by the Hunt Institute describes how wraparound supports are critical to ensuring that an increasingly diverse postsecondary population has the necessary resources to complete a postsecondary education. The brief outlines common barriers students may face when navigating, financing and prioritizing postsecondary education and accessing socioemotional health services. Additionally, the brief provides examples of innovative state- and local-level practices to address each barrier.

August Recess Legislative Wrap-Up

There was a flurry of activity as Congress prepared to adjourn for it the annual August congressional recess. On August 7, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark piece of legislation focused on health care, the environment and tax policy. After a deal was struck between Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the bill was passed through a complex procedure called budget reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority of the Senate to pass. It passed along party lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie, 51-50. It is expected that the House will pass the bill without changes on August 12, sending it to President Biden for his signature in time for Members of Congress to depart Washington D.C. until September.  

While this bill was greatly scaled down from the earlier proposals of the Build Back Better Act, it represents the largest investment combating climate change in U. S. history and the most significant changes to health care since the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Unfortunately, the workforce and education provisions of Build Back Better were stripped from the Inflation Reduction Act in order to receive the support of all 50 Democrats in the Senate. Instead, the bill will use taxes on corporations and the wealthy to target spending to improving domestic energy security, provide rebates for the purchase of electric vehicles, extend ACA subsidies, allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and more. The bill will also use this new revenue to reduce the federal deficit by an estimated $306 billion.  

On August 9, President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at providing substantial investments for domestic microchip production and innovation, cybersecurity and other science-related provisions. The bill attempts to boost competitiveness with China in key emerging technology sectors while improving national security. Many of the education and workforce provisions contained in this bill’s predecessors, the America COMPETES Act and United States Innovation and Competition Act, were not included in the final bill. However, the bill did authorize funding for some programs that could be relevant to CTE through the National Science Foundation. ACTE will provide further updates as new information is revealed about these funding opportunities.  

Lastly, House Republicans introduced a proposal to reform federal student loan programs, called the Responsible Education Assistance through Loan (REAL) Reforms Act. Importantly, the bill proposes an alternative short-term Pell expansion to the JOBS Act. Among several differences, this version would require programs to prove that graduates attain a growth in earnings exceeding the total cost of the program within two years. It is not expected move this calendar year; however, this may be a critical starting point for negotiations should Republicans control the House next year.  

Looking forward to the remainder of the year, Congress will be fairly preoccupied with midterm elections until early November, when the fate of the control of the 118th Congress is determined. In September, it is expected that they will pass a continuing resolution, or an extension of the current federal budget, to give them more time to negotiate fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations bills without risking a government shutdown. While the House and Senate respectively proposed $45million and $60 million increases to the Perkins Basic State Grant, it is unlikely that they will release any updated or negotiated bills until at least mid-November.  

While this will likely be the last congressional update until elected officials return to Washington D.C. after Labor Day, ACTE will be monitoring other developments from the White House and federal agencies to keep you abreast of anything impacting the CTE community. Should you have any questions, please contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Zach Curtis ([email protected]).  

DC Digest: July 25-August 7

Congress has left Washington for the annual August congressional recess, following Senate completion of a rare weekend session to negotiate and advance a budget reconciliation package with climate change and health care proposals. Lawmakers also focused on passing veterans’ health care legislation and final passage of the CHIPS Act during the past two weeks. The House may return from recess as soon as August 12 to vote on the Senate’s budget reconciliation package, but both chambers will then be in recess until after Labor Day. For now, Members of Congress are focused on holding events in their states and districts, which provides an excellent opportunity for you to engage with your representatives about supporting CTE! As we await the return of lawmakers to Washington, here are some news and notes:

• Bobby Scott Tours Virginia Workforce Development Program: On August 3, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) toured the Peninsula Workforce Development Center on the campus of Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC) to meet with employers and job seekers and announce the award of $11 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Good Jobs Challenge. Read more about the visit here.
  
  
• President Biden Signs CHIPS Act into Law: On August 2, President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act) into law, allocating $280 billion in funding and tax incentives to boost domestic production and innovation in the semiconductor industry and broader science and technology-related industries. Read more about the bill here.

• Senate Releases FY23 Appropriations Bills: The Senate Committee on Appropriations has released its first drafts of its fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations proposals, including the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill. Although the bill gives a more modest increase to education funding overall than the House bill and the President’s request, it proposes a $60M increase for the Perkins Basic State Grant.

• House Education and Labor Committee Holds Child Nutrition Bill Markup: On July 27, the House Committee on Education and Labor advanced the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act on a 27-20 vote. The bill would reauthorize and update federal child nutrition programs by investing in school meal programs, modernizing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), addressing food insecurity during the summer, improving school meal capacity and sustainability and strengthening the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

• Department of Commerce Announces Good Jobs Challenge Winners: On August 3, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced grant awards to 32 workforce training partnerships across the country as part of the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge funded by the American Rescue Plan. The Good Jobs Challenge seeks to increase the supply of trained workers and help workers secure jobs in 15 key industries that are essential to U.S. supply chains, global competitiveness and regional development. You can read the complete list of award winners here.

• Nasser Paydar Confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education: On August 4, Dr. Nasser Paydar was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education at the Department of Education. Dr. Paydar is the former chancellor emeritus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Read more from Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona here.

• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Releases Data on Student Recovery: The Department of Education’s NCES has released new data about school responses to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2021-22 school year and supports available to students. Read more about the data here.

• Department of Education Hosts Career Pathways Summit: On August 4, the Department of Education held a webinar to discuss current dual enrollment state policy and practice, the future of dual enrollment and the role of federal policy.

• Secretary of Commerce Raimondo, Secretary of Labor Walsh Launch Job Quality Toolkit: The Department of Commerce has launched the Job Quality Toolkit, which provides strategies and actions to help small-and-medium-sized organizations recruit and retain a high-performing workforce. The Toolkit’s strategies are organized around eight drivers, or essential elements, of a good job: Recruitment & Hiring; Benefits; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility (DEIA); Empowerment & Representation; Job Security & Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Pay; and Skills & Career Advancement. Read more about the toolkit here.

• Department of Education Releases Draft Higher Ed Rules: On July 28, the Department of Education published draft regulations to implement several changes to federal financial aid programs, including the “90/10” rule and rules for prison education programs. The draft regulations can be viewed in the federal register and public comments are due on August 26, 2022.