Silver Spring, MD – Advance CTE applauds Congress’ recognition of the importance of Career Technical Education (CTE) as evident in their Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 omnibus appropriations bill, which increases the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) Basic State Grants by $75 million, bringing this total investment to nearly $1.2 billion. This funding level is in stark contrast to the Trump Administration’s FY18 budget proposal, which recommended a 15 percent cut to Perkins Basic State Grants.
“We appreciate Congress’ efforts to increase the federal investment in CTE,” said Kimberly Green, Executive Director of Advance CTE. “This is a step in the right direction, and while long overdue, is very welcome. This is the first significant increase in CTE funding in nearly thirty years, and reflects Congress’ understanding of the critical role CTE plays in helping our nation’s learners and employers close the skills gap.”
Advance CTE also celebrates Congress’ desire to invest additional resources in other important education and workforce programs that contribute to building a skilled workforce, such as the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and apprenticeship grants. Additionally, an increase in the maximum award for Pell Grants will help ensure more learners have access to a high-quality education.
Because it takes systems and programs working together to fully support learner success, we look forward to working with states to coordinate these additional investments with Perkins to create a robust set of opportunities and supports for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce.
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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.
