U.S. Senator Tim Kaine addressed the first class of 20 Career and Technical Education (CTE) Presidential Scholars, who were recognized for their outstanding scholarship and accomplishment in CTE fields. In 2014, Kaine, founding co-chair of the Senate CTE Caucus, led a successful bipartisan effort to expand the Presidential Scholars program to include fields in CTE.
“For too long, CTE has been stigmatized as a second-class educational field, but today’s CTE Presidential Scholars demonstrate the current renaissance of interest in career and technical fields,”said Kaine. “I applaud the Administration for highlighting the inspiring work of some of our country’s brightest students – in both CTE and other academic fields. America’s future success depends on how well we invest in the education of our next generation of leaders, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress on ways to increase access to CTE programs nationwide.”
In addition to successfully urging the Obama Administration to recognize CTE as a Presidential Scholars field, Kaine authored various CTE-related provisions that were included in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the bipartisan rewrite of No Child Left Behind. Some of the provisions added CTE as a core academic subject and called for integrating CTE into school curriculums and teacher professional development.
This year, 161 Presidential Scholars, including three Virginians, were also recognized for their outstanding work and achievements in various educational fields. Created in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program has honored almost 7,000 of the nation’s top-performing students with the prestigious award given to honorees during the annual ceremony in D.C. In 2015, the program was again extended to recognize students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.
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