SkillsUSA Celebrates 60 Years on Capitol Hill
On May 8th, Advance CTE partner SkillsUSA, one of the oldest Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs), celebrated 60 remarkable years of supporting Career Technical Education (CTE) learners. Advance CTE has been a proud partner of CTSOs, such as SkillsUSA, and I was fortunate to attend with Stacy Whitehouse, our associate director of communications and organizational representative for the NCC-CTSO, to connect with learners and industry partners.
The event on Capitol Hill celebrated SkillsUSA learners with a ‘Signing Day’ ceremony, signaling their intent to continue their high-quality training with the support of an employer-sponsored scholarship. House CTE Caucus Chair Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) collaborated with Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) to introduce a bipartisan resolution recognizing the 60 years of success learners have experienced through participating in the CTSO. Read the resolution here. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) Nick Moore joined the event, delivering congratulatory remarks to the learners and articulating the administration’s priority in aligning education and workforce systems.
Chelle Travis, the executive director of SkillsUSA, shared the following on the resolution:
“This resolution is a powerful recognition of the lasting impact our students, educators, and industry partners have made in closing the skills gap and driving innovation across the American economy.”
Title IV-A Coalition Well-Rounded Education Advocacy Day
On May 15, I joined Title IV-A Coalition members for an advocacy day on the Hill, meeting with congressional staffers from both sides of the aisle and both chambers of Congress. This coalition comprises organizational members advocating for strengthened funding and implementation of the Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant program under Title IV-A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
The Title IV-A program is intended to improve students’ academic achievement through increased state and local education agencies’ capacities to do the following: (1) provide access to a well-rounded education, (2) improve school conditions for learning, and (3) improve the use of technology to support academic achievement and digital literacy. Advance CTE is a proud member of this coalition and has elevated the importance of these ESSA funds for the ‘well-rounded’ bucket detailed in the law, which can be used to support CTE and earlier career advisement, including career exploration initiatives.
The proposed budget for the Department of Education (ED) released in late May 2025 aims to eliminate 18 existing K-12 programs, including Title IV-A, and consolidate them into a single block grant – an aspect of the budget request that Advance CTE strongly opposes. Read the Title IV-A statement on the budget here.
Resource: Committee for Education Funding Fact Sheet
Earlier in May, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition dedicated to increasing federal investments in education, released a fact sheet on the growing importance of federal investment in education. The resource highlights the societal benefits of education funding, including that a larger and sustained federal education investment would lead to a more educated workforce, economic growth, increased innovation, and greater access to educational opportunities by filling gaps where state and local governments may not be able to fund their education systems sufficiently. Put simply, education pays off in return for an investment that yields benefits to our whole economy.
The CEF fact sheet was developed in response to President Trump’s ‘skinny’ budget proposal, which was publicized at the beginning of the month and is an example of the collaborative effort that education policy and advocacy groups are making to continue pushing for increased federal investment in public education. Advance CTE is proud to serve in a leadership capacity for CEF this year.
View from the Hill
At the end of May, the Trump administration released a more detailed fiscal year 2026 (FY26) budget proposal, building on its earlier “skinny” request from the beginning of the month. The plan recommends maintaining level funding for Perkins V’s state grants and a slight reduction to national activities while consolidating or eliminating numerous other education and workforce programs – ultimately reducing overall federal investment in these areas.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer are scheduled to testify before the House Education & Workforce Committee in the first week of June, following earlier budget hearings held in May before House and Senate appropriators.
Meanwhile, bipartisan support for Perkins V continues to grow:
A House letter led by Reps. Thompson and Bonamici gained 78 signatures (a 10% increase from last year), and Sen. Blumenthal led 40 Senators on a letter urging increased investment in CTE in FY26.
Beyond appropriations, House Republicans advanced a major budget reconciliation bill before Memorial Day, proposing $349 billion in education cuts over the next decade—primarily to postsecondary student aid. The Senate is preparing to develop a revised proposal, which is widely expected to diverge from the House-passed reconciliation bill advanced by lawmakers last month.
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