The focus on Career Technical Education (CTE) remains strong this week as attention shifts from last week’s “Workforce Week” events to action on Capitol Hill. More below on a vote on H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (which would reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins)), the Executive Order on apprenticeship and new resources from Advance CTE and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE).
H.R. 2353 Vote on Thursday
Following unanimous approval from the House Education and the Workforce Committee on May 17, we anticipate that H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (which would reauthorize Perkins, find our summary here) will come to a vote this Thursday, June 22. Once the vote occurs, we will share the final vote count. We will also analyze the bill and share out any technical changes that were made between the Committee mark up and floor vote as soon as possible. Timing and consideration of the bill in the Senate are not known at this time.
President Trump Signs Executive Order
On June 15, President Trump signed the “Expanding Apprenticeship in America” Executive Order (EO). Key components of the EO include:

• “Establishing Industry-Recognized Apprenticeships”: Directs the Secretary of Labor to consult with the Secretaries of Education and Commerce to “consider proposing regulations… that promote the development of apprenticeship programs by third parties. These third parties may include trade and industry groups, companies, non-profit organizations, unions, and joint labor-management organizations.”
• “Promoting Apprenticeship Programs at Colleges and Universities. The Secretary of Education shall, consistent with applicable law, support the efforts of community colleges and 2 year and 4 year institutions of higher education to incorporate apprenticeship programs into their courses of study.”
• “Establishment of the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion: The mission of the Task Force shall be to identify strategies and proposals to promote apprenticeships, especially in sectors where apprenticeship programs are insufficient.”
• “Improving the Effectiveness of Workforce Development Programs”
  • “The head of each agency shall submit a list of programs, if any, administered by their agency that are designed to promote skills development and workplace readiness” and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget “shall consider the information provided… in developing the President’s Fiscal Year 2019 Budget.”
  • “The head of each agency administering one or more job training programs shall order… an empirically rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of such programs, unless such an analysis has been recently conducted.”

The EO provides broad contours and policy direction. Advance CTE will watch for more information and provide updates when details are available, which are particularly important given the lack of details in the EO. Of particular note is the direction to OMB, given the rationale used to justify the 15% proposed cut in the President’s budget. To learn more about the flawed justification and Advance CTE’s response to it, read this opinion piece written by Advance CTE and ACTE.
New Resources on Apprenticeship
To learn more about the connections between apprenticeships and secondary CTE, check out the resources from Advance CTE and the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) here, including two new videos.
Kathryn Zekus, Senior Associate, Federal Policy