Last week in Washington, the focus was still on negotiating a funding package in order to avert a government shutdown as Congress heads out of town for the holidays. In addition to appropriations work, Congress passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and President Biden later signed the bill into law. Other focuses last week included statehood for Puerto Rico, immigration and tax provisions.
The 118th Congress will begin right after the new year, on January 3. In the meantime, here are some updates from Washington:
- FY23 Appropriations Update: On December 15, Congress passed a one-week extension of government funding until December 23, which is the new deadline for completing an omnibus funding package for FY23. The next steps for lawmakers and appropriations staff members will be to introduce legislative text of the omnibus agreement, which is expected on December 19, followed by formal Senate and House approval of the package by the December 23 deadline.
- Introducing Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, New Co-Chair of House CTE Caucus: On December 16, Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) announced that Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) will become the new co-chair of the bipartisan House CTE Caucus! She will be taking the place of Rep. Langevin, who is retiring after 22 years in Congress, 11 of which he spent leading the caucus. Read press releases from ACTE and Rep. Langevin here. Learn more about the Congressional CTE Caucus here.
- A Deep Dive into Perkins V Enrollment and Performance Data: In October, the U.S. Department of Education released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-21 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V. The dataset includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on Perkins accountability indicators, including the secondary program quality indicators new under Perkins V. Read more here.
- Election Watch: Teacher Shortage Legislation in the 118th Congress: This year, amid growing concern over teacher shortages across the country, Congress increased its focus on the educator pipeline through hearings and legislation. However, with personnel changes in the House and Senate and new education committee leaders, the 118th Congress will offer a different political dynamic that will impact how the federal government may respond to national teacher shortages. Read more here.
- OCTAE Releases Perkins Secondary Program Quality Guide: OCTAE has released a comprehensive resource guide titled “Collecting and Analyzing Data for the Secondary Program Quality Indicators in the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006” to support state secondary and postsecondary education agency administrators and data analysts in addressing the accountability provisions within Perkins V. ACTE Senior Director of Public Policy Alisha Hyslop contributed to the guide, and you can view it here.
Comments