CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Comprehensive Analysis of State Perkins Plans

Last week, Advance CTE released The State of Career Technical Education: An Analysis of States’ Perkins V Priorities. The report takes an in-depth, national look at state Perkins V plans and trends across the country, including around key aspects of Perkins implementation, including program quality, access and equity, and accountability and funding decisions.

In the report, Advance CTE identified common facets of states’ Perkins V plans that are indicative of a comprehensive and cohesive state plan and that set up learners for lifelong success:

• a shared statewide vision
• ongoing and meaningful alignment and collaboration across the K-12, postsecondary and workforce systems
• a commitment to equity and learner supports  
• a commitment to quality programs 
• systems for attracting, retaining and developing CTE instructors
• the use of data-driven decisionmaking
• a strong system of supports to ensure fidelity of implementation

ACTE staff contributed to the research and analysis underlying the report, and we hope it will provide useful insights into how states are stepping up to tackle the implementation of Perkins V, and the work that remains to strengthen the CTE system across the country.

In addition to the comprehensive report, state-by-state breakdown of some of the information included can be found here: https://careertech.org/cte-your-state/.

DC Digest: October 26-November 1

Tomorrow is election day! If you have not voted yet, read about why voting is important to ACTE’s Public Policy team on the CTE Policy Watch blog. In the lead up to the election, most official activity on Capitol Hill has slowed, but one extremely significant piece of business remained. On Monday, the Senate confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett as the 115th justice to serve on the Supreme Court. Barrett’s confirmation vote in the Senate fell largely on party lines. Since the House and Senate were out of session last week, there are only a couple of other notes from DC last week:

• 2019 Nation’s Report Card Math and Reading Results: Results from the 2019 Nation’s Report Card for mathematics and reading assessment scores for grade 12 students show that 40% of students were below basic in math and 30% were below basic in reading. The performance of the most disadvantaged and lowest-performing students decreased as well. Read Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s statement on the results. 
• COVID-19 Stimulus Package Update: As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the United States, congressional efforts to pass an additional relief package have remained at a stand still. Negotiations have been put on hold in the lead up to the election, with no date in sight for resuming talks. Some lawmakers are hopeful that they will be able to pass a stimulus relief bill after the election when both chambers are back in session, but there is no official date set for resuming these talks. 
• Two Virtual Showcase Events: The Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education hosted two virtual showcases featuring Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wisconsin and Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida. These virtual showcases highlighted each college’s hybrid models of in-person and online instruction, as well as how the programs are handling COVID-19, and the range of degree, technical and training programs each institution has to offer during the pandemic. 

Vote on Tuesday, November 3!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3, is Election Day! Voters all across the country will head to the polls. At the federal level, control of the White House and both the House and Senate will be decided. The results of this election have implications when it comes to committee chairs, committee compositions, the legislative agenda and more.

To learn more about what's on your ballot, where to vote and voting times, visit Nonprofit VOTE!

Further, many voters will also cast ballots for governors, state legislative representatives, and on education-related ballot initiatives, among other critical state and local races. Be sure to make your voice heard!

As a reminder, ACTE is a nonpartisan organization that does not—and will not—support or oppose any candidate for public office. 

Why Voting is Important to Me

To me, participating in the electoral process is one of the most fundamental freedoms we as Americans are able to enjoy. Many people in countless countries around the world still do not enjoy the same freedom, nor did many Americans in centuries past (and even some still today). It is our duty to employ the power given to us by the U.S. Constitution to ensure our voice is heard, and to hold our representatives accountable to our collective principles for the future of this nation.

On Tuesday, all of us will be casting a ballot for the next President of the United States. More importantly, we will be casting ballots for “down-ballot” races, which, in my opinion, are more impactful than the one to determine who will live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave for the next four years.

We will be casting ballots for all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 in the U.S. Senate. These choices will not only determine which party is in control of each chamber, but they will determine the policy direction and priorities for the 117^th Congress. These men and women will have a significant impact on the future of CTE funding and the likely reauthorization of many critical pieces of legislation, including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), National Apprenticeship Act (NAA), Higher Education Act (HEA), among others.

Additionally, some states have Governors races, state legislatures races, local school board races, and state and local referendums all of which will impact you and your families daily lives. State and local elections decide whether a school gets built, or how much funding specific programs receive. It's the vote that shapes your direct community's short and long-term goals, and it’s one that you can have a direct impact in.

ACTE is a nonpartisan organization that does not support or oppose any candidate for public office.

Why Voting is Important to Me

This election cycle has been more chaotic than I've ever seen--often eliciting negativity, fear, and even exhaustion. However, having the ability to influence, albeit in a small way, the direction this country is moving toward is why I will always choose to have my opinions heard through voting. 

To me, this election is more than simply voting for a president. I believe the biggest impact that I can have as a citizen is voting on my local and state elected officials, and the amendments, resolutions and initiatives on the ballot that will most directly affect my life. My vote will allow me to have a say in what policies I think should be prioritized on the community, state and federal level. 

During my undergraduate experience, I volunteered for a local campaign by going door to door talking with people about the candidate. I also volunteered on my campus during the 2016 presidential election to make sure people were signed up to vote. Through my conversations during these two experiences, I found that all the people I talked with, no matter their beliefs, had valuable opinions that needed to be heard so that they could shape the policies they wanted to see in their communities and country. You, as a CTE expert, have knowledge and experience in CTE that no one else does, and your vote will have an impact. Please know who and what is on your ballot and vote because it matters.

ACTE is a nonpartisan organization that does not support or oppose any candidate for public office.

Share Your COVID-19 Innovations!

CTE educators have a long history of creativity in delivering high-quality CTE programs and career development experiences to learners, and the 2020-21 school year is no exception. Whether your school, institution or district is open fully with social distancing methods, using a blended approach or continuing with remote learning, ACTE wants to hear about the innovative ways you are coping with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CTE and career development.

Please fill out this short form to help ACTE learn more about how you are innovating during this challenging time. Examples are welcome from secondary, postsecondary and adult CTE programs as well as from career counseling and development activities. ACTE may publish your innovative practices on our website, in our blogs and/or in print.

Is your CTE program planning to transition between delivery models this school year, based on COVID-19 case counts in your area? If so, check out High-quality CTE: Planning for a COVID-19-impacted School Year, ACTE’s guide for helping CTE stakeholders identify the key considerations, guiding questions and emerging best practices that can shape planning across a variety of different scenarios.   

DC Digest: October 19-25

The second and final presidential debate took place on Thursday in Nashville, TN. Education played a minor role in the debate, with several mentions of reopening schools within the context of the coronavirus pandemic.. With the election right around the corner, make sure to keep up with ACTE’s Election Watch 2020 on the CTE Policy Watch blog. On the Hill on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the full Senate. The full Senate is scheduled to vote on Barrett’s nomination on Monday, October 26. Here are a few other notes from the federal education policy realm last week: 

• Additional Funding for the Earn-and-Learn Initiative: The Department of Education announced additional funding for the Federal Work Study (FWS) Experimental Sites Initiative, which launched in 2019 with participants announced earlier this year . This initiative, one of several Pell experiments underway, allows students to work more hours off-campus under the work-study program, and permits institutions to pay students for work-based learning such as apprenticeships, externships and clinical rotations, among other flexibilities
• Virtual Hill Briefing Featuring Principals Thoughts on COVID-19: On Thursday, the American Federation of School Administrators, the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals hosted a virtual Capitol Hill briefing to hear from principals on COVID-19 related challenges and the federal supports that would help schools and students during this time. 
• Senate COVID-19 Relief Proposal Fails Cloture Motion: The Senate failed to move forward the $500 billion COVID-19 relief package that was proposed on Wednesday by Senate Republicans. Among the major provisions, the proposal included more than $100 billion for schools, although these funds were largely conditioned on in-person reopening. Talks remain ongoing between congressional leaders and the White House to try and get another relief measure passed before the November 3 election.
• New Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide: The Department of Education’s Office of Technology released a Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide to help parents and guardians understand digital learning tools, particularly while students are learning from home. Some of the topics the guide covers include how to leverage the flexibilities and innovations that technology and digital tools provide, online safety, competency-based learning, federal laws concerning student privacy and safety, and more.  

Why Voting is Important to Me

I vote to honor those who came before me, and fought so valiantly for their franchise, and to help make a better life for those will come after me.

The presidential election grabs the most headlines, but the decisions that predominantly impact my children’s education options and shape the workforce they will enter are made by state and local officials and decided by bond issues and ballot referendums. While education has been a minor topic on the national stage this election, your ballot may feature school board member candidates and questions about using funds to construct new education facilities. How voters weigh in on these issues will shape local education curriculum and delivery and impact learner opportunities for the next several years.

You, as CTE educators and advocates, have important expertise on your local education and workforce systems to help you decide where you stand on these critical issues. Whether you cast your vote on Election Day, through early in-person voting or with a mail ballot, please vote—and remember to pay as much attention to down-ballot candidates and issues as you do to the top of the ticket.

ACTE is a nonpartisan organization that does not support or oppose any candidate for public office.

Tell Congress to Investment in Skills Training to Jump-Start the Economy

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the United States has lost 20.6 million jobs. That's nearly 15% of American workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely upended our daily lives - from the way we receive education to the way we work and socialize. It has fundamentally changed our entire economy. In order to get those 20.6 million Americans back to work in good-paying jobs and restore our economy, they will need skills training. Skills training is a critical part of the solution to our current economic crisis, and without dramatically increasing resources for skills training programs, we face the prospect of not only a growing skills gap, but a prolonged economic downturn.

Join us in signing a petition from our partners at Voices for Skills and tell Congress that skills training should be a critical piece of our country’s inclusive economic recovery plan in order to support individual’s real career aspirations, support employers' need for skilled workers, and kickstart our country’s economy.

About Voices for Skills

Voices for Skills, powered by the National Skills Coalition, is working people, students, teachers, and business leaders coming together to call for a national commitment to significantly increase our investment in skills training.

Tonight 9PM: Final Presidential Debate

The final presidential debate between President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden will take place tonight at 9 p.m. ET at Belmont University in Nashville. The debate is scheduled to be 90 minutes long with no commercial breaks and is going to be moderated by Kristen Welker (NBC). Like the previously held debate, it will be split into six 15-minute segments. The six topics are the fight against COVID-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security and leadership.

For more information about the debate or its format, please visit the Commission on Presidential Debates. To watch the debate on TV or stream online, please visit C-SPAN for live coverage.

Note: ACTE is a nonpartisan organization that does not—and will not—support or oppose any candidate for public office.