U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and a co-chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, praised the Senate passage of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act.
The updated legislation was last reauthorized in 2006 and aims to increase access to high-quality career and technical education programs. The bill includes key priorities from three of Kaine’s bills: the Educating Tomorrow’s Workforce Act to raise the quality of CTE programs; the Middle School Technical Education Program (Middle STEP) Act, which would expose middle school students to CTE programs focused on career exploration; and the CTE Excellence and Equity Act to support re-designing the high school experience to include courses more relevant to the modern workforce to better prepare all students for future careers.
“Investing in job training programs is how we can ensure students from all ages and walks of life are prepared with the skills they need for successful careers. Again and again, I hear from manufacturers and business owners across Virginia that need more skilled workers to fill good, in-demand jobs. I’m thrilled the Senate has finally passed this legislation to expose students to more career possibilities at a younger age and help close the skills gap,” Kaine said.
Kaine, who grew up working in his father’s ironworking shop, has long pushed for increased access to career and technical education programs that prepare students for future careers. As Governor, Kaine prioritized career and technical education training to ensure that Virginia was competitive in the global economy by having a skilled workforce to fill the jobs available. In 2007, he spearheaded the creation of Governor’s Career and Technical Academies in Virginia — now Governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academies. In the Senate, Kaine and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) joined together in 2014 to form the bipartisan Senate CTE Caucus. Kaine knows that CTE is an important pathway for success, and he has long worked to create a better understanding of the critical role CTE and workforce training programs play in growing our economy.
Below is a list of Kaine’s priorities included in the bipartisan bill:
- Expands funding to the middle grades and promotes career exploration in middle schools.
- Improves the recruitment and retention of highly effective CTE teachers, school leaders, and counselors as well as supports the integration of professional development opportunities between academic teachers and CTE teachers.
- Strengthens the definition of what constitute rigorous CTE curriculum to align with local, regional, and state workforce demands.
- Allows states to use Perkins grant funding to establish CTE-focused academies like the Governor’s CTE Academies in Virginia established by then-Governor Kaine.
- Improves links between secondary schools and postsecondary education such as creating credit-transfer agreement opportunities to help students get a postsecondary-recognized credential or a credential for a job in a high-demand career field.
- Creates a fund to support state and local innovative strategies to improve and modernize CTE and align workforce skills with labor market needs.
- Strengthens career pathways by providing students with a range of work-based learning opportunities.
- Encourages school districts to form partnerships with local businesses, regional industries, institutions of higher education, and other community stakeholders to make sure they are preparing students well for future employment opportunities.
- · Requires states and school districts to ensure that traditionally underserved students and special populations receive the supports they need to access and succeed in CTE programs.
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