CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress: Support the Senate’s FY 2025 Education Funding Bill!

Prior to August recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on a bipartisan basis, which contains a $35 million increase over FY 2024 for the Perkins Basic State Grant program, and an overall increase of $1 billion for education programs. These  increases will provide significantly more resources for education and workforce development programs than the House version of the bill released earlier this summer  

The appropriations process will resume in September when both chambers return from the August recess. We want to let Members of Congress know that we support the higher funding levels in the Senate bill! Congress still has significant work to do to complete the FY 2025 appropriations process, and your advocacy is critical in emphasizing that the Senate bill is preferable. 

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support the Senate’s $35 million increase for Perkins and overall higher funding levels!    

Send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. You can also call or email directly any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your Member of Congress.   

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Oppose Cuts to Education and Workforce Programs in FY 2025!

On June 27, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bill on a party-line vote. In some good news for CTE, the bill proposes a $10 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant. However, the bill proposes significant cuts to or complete eliminations of several critical education and workforce programs, such as WIOA Youth and Adult programs, federal work-study, Registered Apprenticeship, ESSA Title I and II and more. 

Proposed cuts to education and workforce development programs jeopardize CTE by limiting access to broader career pathways and resources. These programs work hand-in-hand to develop a skilled workforce – CTE cannot be successful without the support of the entire system.  

As the bill moves forward in the House and the Senate continues work on its version of this bill, it is critical that Members of Congress understand the impact of these proposed cuts, and that you lend your voice in support of funding for the entire education and workforce development system.  

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to tell your Members of Congress to oppose cuts to education and workforce programs in the FY 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill!   

Send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center or contact any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS. An operator at the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 can also connect you to your Member of Congress.  

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Senators to Support CTE Funding in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), longtime CTE advocate, is currently circulating an important “Dear Colleague” letter addressed to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. The letter requests robust funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. Committee members view these letters as a critical part of the process because they show the breadth of support for a specific program. Now more than ever, it’s imperative the letter amasses strong backing in the Senate to show support for Perkins funding and CTE at the federal level.

CLICK HERE to ask your Senators to sign the letter and support strong CTE funding in the FY 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill!

ACTION ALERT: Support Funding for CTE in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025

The co-chairs of the House CTE Caucus, Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), are circulating an important “Dear Colleague” letter addressed to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. The letter requests robust funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. It is critical that the letter garners strong backing in the House to show support for Perkins funding in this year’s challenging federal fiscal climate. The deadline for sign-ons is April 17, 2024!

CLICK HERE to ask your Representative to sign the letter and support strong CTE funding in the FY 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill! 

Note: Senators will have a similar letter opportunity soon, but this one is just for House members! 

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Representatives: Cosponsor the 2024 House CTE Month Resolution!

The co-chairs of the House CTE Caucus, Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), are once again leading the House’s annual CTE Month resolution marking February as CTE Month. These representatives are currently circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter asking their colleagues to cosponsor the resolution.  

CLICK HERE to ask your Representative to cosponsor this year’s CTE Month resolution. 

The resolution raises awareness about the many benefits associated with high-quality CTE programs. By requesting support for the resolution, you are continuing to elevate the benefits of CTE to policymakers at a critical time for CTE advocacy. Please contact your representative today! If you have a direct contact in your representative’s office, we urge you to call or email them directly. 

*If you haven’t responded to last week’s alert and asked your Senators to sign on to the similar Senate CTE Month resolution, please click here to reach out to them as well!

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Senators: Cosponsor the 2024 Senate CTE Month Resolution!

The co-chairs of the Senate CTE Caucus, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), are once again leading the Senate’s annual CTE Month resolution marking February as CTE Month. These senators are currently circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter asking their colleagues to cosponsor the resolution.  

The following other Senators have already signed on: 

• Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) 
• Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) 
• Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) 
• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) 
• Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) 
• Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) 
• Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) 
• Sen. Angus King (I-ME) 
• Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)  
• Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) 

If either of your Senators has not signed on, CLICK HERE to ask them to cosponsor this year’s CTE Month resolution. 

The resolution raises awareness about the many benefits associated with high-quality CTE programs. By requesting support for the resolution, you are continuing to elevate the benefits of CTE to policymakers at a critical time for CTE advocacy. Please contact your senators today! If you have a direct contact in your senator’s office, we urge you to call or email them directly. The deadline for Senate cosponsors to sign on is Monday, February 5, 2024. 

Note: More details about a House CTE Month Resolution will be available soon – this resolution is just for senators! 

Shutdown Averted! Remind Your Members of Congress to Support Investments in CTE!

Last weekend, Congress temporarily averted a government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution (CR) to keep federal programs operating at current funding levels until November 17. However,  there is still much more work to be done to complete the FY 24 appropriations process, and Congress has just over six weeks to complete this work or face another potential shutdown  

Before the August recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on a bipartisan basis, which contains a $40 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program and provides significantly more resources to education and workforce development programs than the House version of the bill does. As negotiations on how to move these bills forward continue, we must continue to emphasize to Members of Congress that we support the Senate bill and its higher funding levels! Wrapping up the FY 24 appropriations process will be quite contentious, and your advocacy is critical to elevate the message that the Senate bill is preferable.    

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support the Senate’s $40 million increase for Perkins and overall higher funding levels!     

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. You can also call or email directly any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your Member of Congress.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Support the Senate’s FY 2024 Education Funding Bill!

On July 27, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill on a bi-partisan basis, which contains a $40 million increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program, and provides significantly more resources to education and workforce development programs than the House version of the bill does.

The appropriations process will continue once Congress returns in September, and we want to let Members of Congress know that we support the Senate bill and its higher funding levels! Your advocacy will be critical throughout August to share this message!

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to urge your Members of Congress to support the Senate’s $40 million increase for Perkins and overall higher funding levels! 

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. You can also call or email directly any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your Member of Congress.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Oppose Cuts to Education and Workforce Programs in FY 2024!

On July 14, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bill on a party-line vote. In some good news for CTE, the Perkins Basic State Grant is level funded in this bill. However, the bill reduces overall education funding, including rescissions to some funding that would become available to programs this fall and significant cuts to or complete eliminations of dozens of education and workforce programs, such as WIOA Youth and Adult programs, federal work-study, ESSA Title I and II and more.

The proposed cuts to major education and workforce development programs are deeply concerning, and will harm the ability of CTE programs to support learners and provide access to broader career and postsecondary opportunities. Education and workforce programs work hand-in-hand to develop a skilled workforce – CTE programs cannot be successful without the support of the entire system.

As the bill moves forward in the House and the Senate begins work on its bill as well, it is critical that Members of Congress understand the impact of these proposed cuts, and that you lend your voice in support of funding for the entire education and workforce development system.

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to tell your Members of Congress about the impact of proposed cuts to education and workforce programs in the FY 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill! 

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. You can also call or email directly any personal contacts that you have in your Members’ offices, such as from a meeting at NPS, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your Member of Congress.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Representative: Support Perkins in FY 2024 Appropriations!

Earlier this week, House leaders announced that instead of allocating the amount of funding agreed to in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 for FY 2024 appropriations bills, which would have essentially provided level funding to domestic programs, they would write appropriations bills to the lower FY 2022 level requested by the most conservative House members.

While we are still awaiting the official topline funding level for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, early reports estimate that the bill could be cut by almost 30%. The impact on Perkins funding and CTE programs could be significant. As the House starts to consider their appropriations bills, we need to generate as much support for CTE as possible to ensure the highest possible level of funding for Perkins within these tight caps.

ACTION NEEDED: CLICK HERE to ask your representative to support robust funding for Perkins CTE in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill!

You can send a message directly using the ACTE Action Center. Additionally, if you have a direct contact in your representative’s office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS earlier this month or at another time, we urge you to call or email directly. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested House office. Please contact your representative today!