February 12, 2018 – Silver Spring, MD – ACTE and Advance CTE released the following statement in response to the President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019:
“This budget proposal continues the disappointing, decade-long trend of drastically underfunding the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins). This budget proposal, which provides level funding from the FY 2017 enacted level for the Perkins Basic State Grant program, represents a 13 percent reduction (nearly $170 million in nominal dollars) in annual Perkins funding to states since FY 2007.
“In his State of the Union address, President Trump expressed support for expanding Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. However, his budget proposal doesn’t reflect that commitment. Further, the President’s infrastructure proposal noted the challenges of the skills gap and the critical importance of a skilled workforce, yet his budget does not align with his comments. To truly support CTE students and ensure America has the skilled workforce critical to its economic competitiveness, a significant new investment is required.
“The President’s budget includes policy recommendations related to Perkins reauthorization, but nearly all of them are already allowed under current law. Instead, to advance a successful Perkins reauthorization the budget should provide the funding necessary to support new, innovative CTE programs and expand existing programs to meet labor market demand.
“The budget also includes an annual two percent cut to non-defense domestic programs beginning after 2019. Institutionalizing these cuts, as well as the President’s proposed program eliminations and cuts to many other education and workforce programs is harmful to the learners CTE serves.
“We look forward to working with Congress to increase funding for CTE programs and oppose harmful cuts to other education and workforce programs.”
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The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities.
Advance CTE: State Leaders Connecting Learning to Work is the longest-standing national non-profit that represents State Directors and state leaders responsible for secondary, postsecondary and adult Career Technical Education (CTE) across all 50 states and U.S. territories. Established in 1920, Advance CTE supports visionary state leadership, cultivates best practices and speaks with a collective voice on national policy to promote academic and technical excellence that ensures a career-ready workforce.
