CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Vote on Tuesday, November 8!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8, is Election Day! Voters all across the country will head to the polls. At the federal level, control of 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. 

DC Digest: October 31-November 6

This is the last week of the congressional recess prior to the mid-term elections. Lawmakers will return for the final weeks of the 117th Congress around November 14. Priorities for Congress in the next few weeks include fiscal year 2023 appropriations bills, a vote on the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), tax credits, debt ceiling reform, marriage equality votes and pending nominees that have advanced out of committees. The 118th Congress will begin right after the new year, on January 3. Stay tuned during the coming weeks, as ACTE will share election results and resources relevant to CTE stakeholders. In the meantime, here are some updates from Washington.

• Election Watch: Reauthorization Bills Preview: The 118th Congress will have its work cut out for it next year, with several major reauthorizations overdue or on the horizon. Three of these reauthorizations fall under the purview of the education committees: the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), National Apprenticeship Act (NAA), and the Higher Education Act (HEA). On all these bills, the balance of power determined by this year’s midterm elections will have a significant impact on these major pieces of legislation. Read more about potential reauthorization bills here.
• Department of Education Releases Final Regulations to Improve Debt Relief Programs: The Department of Education has released final regulations that streamline and improve the rules for major targeted debt relief programs. The regulations expand eligibility, remove barriers to relief, and encourage automatic discharges for borrowers who are eligible for loan relief because their school closed, they have a total and permanent disability, or their loan was falsely certified. Read more about the regulations here.
• House CTE Caucus Chairs Introduce Bill to Support Cybersecurity Education: On October 31, Reps. Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA) and Jim Langevin (D-RI), co-chairs of the Congressional CTE Caucus, reintroduced the Cybersecurity Skills Integration Act to mark the end of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. This bipartisan legislation seeks to create a $10 million pilot program within the Department of Education that will award competitive grants to CTE programs that integrate cybersecurity into their curricula. ACTE has endorsed this bill. Read more about the bill here, including a quote from ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Wilson.
• Department of Labor Announces New Nursing Funding Opportunities: The Department of Labor has announced $80 million in funding under the Nursing Expansion Funding Opportunity Announcement. This grant will fund programs that address bottlenecks in training the U.S. nursing workforce and expand and diversify the pipeline of qualified nursing professionals through the nurse education professional track and nursing career pathways track. Applications are due by January 6, 2023. Read more about the opportunity and apply here.
  
• Department of Commerce Unveils Strategy for CHIPS for America Fund: The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 will invest $50 billion through the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America Fund to revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry, protect American national and economic security, preserve U.S. leadership in the industries of the future, create good-paying jobs, and build strong communities in the United States. View the full text of the strategy here.

Research Roundup: STEM and Construction Education and their Workforces

Computer Science Education: In September, the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, Computer Science Teachers Association and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance released their 2022 “State of Computer Science Education” report, which summarizes the national and state landscape of K-12 computer science (CS) education policy, access and participation throughout the past year. The following are a few national-level trends pulled from the report:

• About 53% of high schools offer at least one foundational CS course, representing a 35% increase from 2018, but only a 2% increase from the year prior.
• Urban and rural high schools and schools with higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students were less likely to offer foundational CS coursework.
• When looking at the 36 states with available CS enrollment data, only 5.6% of students are enrolled in a foundational CS course.
• Approximately 23 states have adopted or updated 35 policies to make CS a foundational subject, including 18 states that allocated over $50 million to fund CS.

The report also includes a dedicated section for each state so that readers can explore recent CS education data specific to their state. To learn more about the connection between CTE and CS education, as well as STEM more broadly, check out ACTE’s newly released “STEM is CTE” fact sheet.

Diversity in the Tech Workforce: Recently, Wiley Edge published a report that discusses diversity in the technology workforce and what actions the industry is employing to improve equity in the field. Researchers surveyed 2,000 18- to 24-year-old individuals both working and not working in a tech-based role, as well as interviewed 200 senior business leaders about their technology teams to reveal the following key findings:

• Although 57% of businesses stated that they work hard to foster an inclusive company culture, 43% said they are facing challenges retaining diverse employees.
• Half of technology workers stated that they have felt uncomfortable in a job because of their gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background or neurodevelopmental condition.
• About 39% of businesses struggle to recruit diverse entry-level tech employees. However, the same percentage says that they are more likely to hire, or exclusively hire, from top universities.

Keeping Pace with the Manufacturing Innovations: A study by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Autodesk discusses how current manufacturing training must be modernized to prepare learners to enter a field that is expected to evolve rapidly over the next 5 to 10 years due to technology advancements. Based on multiple literature reviews as well as surveys with industry and education representatives, the study concluded that learners will need to be equipped with more technical, employability and interdisciplinary skills. Included in the report are also recommendations for education, industry and government stakeholders to consider in order to improve manufacturing training.

The Construction Labor Market: In October, the Home Builders Institute released their annual Construction Labor Market Report. The report compiles findings from a variety of sources, such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, to provide an overview of the current state of the construction industry labor market, including workforce shortages, job growth, wages and demographics, among other metrics. The following are some of the report’s key findings:

• Currently, construction employment totals 7.7 million, and the average annual number of occupational openings in construction is 740,000.
• The number of women working in the construction field is growing, with women comprising 11% of employees in the industry during 2021, a nearly 2 percentage point increase since 2017.
• Average hourly earnings for construction workers increased by 5.5% over the past year, reaching $35.

DC Digest: October 24-30

The mid-term elections are rapidly approaching, and Congress remains in recess. If campaign events are happening in your area, you may have a chance to interact one-on-one with the candidates, or ask them questions to gauge their understanding and support of CTE. Visit ACTE’s guide to attending town hall events with your policymakers for more tips. If you attend an event and speak with a candidate, let ACTE’s Public Policy team know by emailing Jori Houck, Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, at jhouck@acteonline.org.

After the election, the “lame-duck” congressional session will be held before the formal swearing-in of the 118th Congress. Lawmakers have set a packed schedule for after the elections, including completing fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations packages, potential debt ceiling reform and more. In the coming weeks, ACTE will be providing you with the resources you need to effectively develop relationships with new Members of Congress and urge them to support policies that will help advance high-quality CTE for all learners. In the meantime, here are some updates from Washington:

• OCTAE Releases First Year of Perkins V Performance Data: The Department of Education has released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-2021 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V. The release includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on the Perkins accountability indicators. Read more about the data here.

• 2022 ACTE Public Policy Award Nominations Now Open: ACTE’s Public Policy Department is pleased to announce that the 2022 Baird-English Advocate of the Year and ACTE Policymaker of the Year Awards are now open for submissions. Nominations for both awards can be submitted by any ACTE member, members of the ACTE Board of Directors or state associations. Read more about how to nominate a candidate here.

• First Look at Fall 2022 Postsecondary Enrollment: Recently, the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) released a first look at postsecondary enrollment estimates for the fall 2022 semester. Compared to the fall prior, overall undergraduate enrollment declined by 1.1%, returning to pre-pandemic rates of decline, with community colleges overall and CTE certification programs experiencing improved enrollment trends. Read more about the data here. 

• Election Watch 2022: CTE Funding Preview: The Perkins Basic State Grant program, the only dedicated federal funding for CTE, has received modest yet consistent increases since fiscal year (FY) 2018. The most recent House and Senate proposals for FY 2023 have continued the trend of small but important increases for CTE state grants, and the outcome of this year’s midterm elections could have a tremendous impact on CTE funding outcomes in both FY 2023 and 2024. Read more about the next steps for CTE funding here.

• Department of Education Announces Permanent Changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: The Department of Education has announced several actions to support borrowers seeking student loan forgiveness, including permanent changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Read more about the changes and view the fact sheet here.

• Department of Education Released Final Rules Amending Some Postsecondary Student Aid Policies: On October 27, the Department released its final regulations to address changes to the federal financial aid “90/10” rule, as well to fully implement Pell Grants for incarcerated students.

Election Watch: Reauthorization Bills Preview

The 118th Congress will have its work cut out for it next year, with several major reauthorizations overdue or on the horizon. Three of these reauthorizations fall under the purview of the education committees: the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), National Apprenticeship Act (NAA), and the Higher Education Act (HEA). . On all these bills, the balance of power determined by this year’s midterm elections will have a significant impact on these major pieces of legislation.  

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) 

Of all the education reauthorizations, WIOA has the highest odds of a bipartisan compromise. The bill was last reauthorized in 2014, however, both parties have been motivated to update the law due to changes in the needs and nature of the workforce since the pandemic. Earlier this year, House Democrats passed a WIOA reauthorization (H.R. 7309) largely along party lines. Due to a difference in priorities, the Senate decided not to take up the bill this year. Regardless of party control of Congress, this bill will likely represent the starting point in WIOA negotiations for House Democrats next year.  

Notably, the bill would create a set-aside fund for American Job Center infrastructure costs, removing the requirement for other systems like CTE to contribute funding. It also gave programs more leniency to serve eligible populations by removing the mandated split between in-school and out-of-school youth. Despite these improvements, the bill could have gone further in giving CTE representation in the workforce system and by more intentionally aligning WIOA with Perkins V.  

Republicans did not pass a WIOA alternative while they were in the minority, but they criticized the bill for its price tag and its restrictions on employers. Should they control one or both education committees, it is expected that their version of the bill would be very different. 

National Apprenticeship Act 

The national shift in focus toward work-based learning opportunities has NAA firmly back on Congress’s legislative agenda. NAA has not been updated since it was passed back in 1937, but House Democrats sought to update it via a bill, H.R. 447, which passed the House in February of 2021. Language from this bill was again passed in February of 2022 via the America COMPETES Act; however, neither bill was taken up by the Senate due to a lack of Republican support. This bill would have increased federal funding to expand apprenticeship opportunities and codified regulations and standards, including the Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship. Republicans opposed the bill largely due to a disagreement on the exclusion of industry-recognized apprenticeships (IRAPs) that are not registered with the Department of Labor. No matter the results of these midterm elections, it is unclear whether the parties will be able to find a compromise on this disagreement in order to update the law for the first time in 85 years.  

Higher Education Act 

While both parties might agree that the Higher Education Act is in the direst need of reauthorization, the delta between their proposed solutions remains very large. Both parties have put forth several piecemeal and comprehensive proposals to update the law since it was last reauthorized in 2008.  

Most recently, House Republicans led by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced the REAL Reforms Act (H.R. 8655) in August. This bill would focus on changing the student borrower system by reforming loan repayment options, limiting the amount of interest accrued, putting caps on graduate borrowing limits, and eliminating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Additionally, it would expand eligibility to the Pell grant for students enrolled in short-term certification programs at public, non-profit, and private for-profit institutions that meet a certain standard of quality.  

The most recent limited reauthorization proposal issued by House Democrats, the Lowering Obstacles to Achievement Now (LOAN) Act (H.R.8872), takes a different approach at tackling college affordability. The bill would double the maximum Pell Grant award, modify PSLF by shortening the time to forgiveness from 10 years to 8, expand access to subsidized loans, and lower interest rates. The last comprehensive reauthorization drafted by House Democrats was the College Affordability Act (H.R. 4674) of 2019, which had similar aims to the LOAN Act.  

No matter which party is in the majority in the 118th Congress, it will be difficult to find common ground between their stark policy differences on HEA. Given the prevalence of student loan debt and the rising cost of college, however, a HEA reauthorization will be in high demand.  

 

First Look at Fall 2022 Postsecondary Enrollment

Recently, the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) released a first look at postsecondary enrollment estimates for the fall 2022 semester. Compared to the fall prior, overall undergraduate enrollment declined by 1.1%, returning to pre-pandemic rates of decline, with community colleges overall and CTE certification programs experiencing improved enrollment trends.  These much smaller declines are a significant improvement over last fall’s enrollment numbers, which showed a 2.1% decline in undergraduate enrollment and a 5% decline for community colleges.

In fall 2022, enrollment losses at community colleges slowed significantly, with only a 0.4% drop since fall 2021, compared to four-year institutions that experienced much greater declines. According to NSC, improvements at community colleges can be largely attributed to an 11.5% enrollment increase among dually enrolled high school students. Additionally, overall freshman enrollment levels at community colleges increased by 0.9% since the fall prior, stabilizing freshman enrollment at community colleges for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

A closer look at the demographics shows that enrollment for all students of color at community colleges increased since fall 2021, especially for Latinx (2.9%) and Native American (1.9%) students and students who identified their race as “Other” (4.1%), with gains being even larger for freshman students of color. In contrast, white student enrollment declined by 4.7%. Additionally, the 18- to 20-year-old age group at community colleges grew by 1.4% since fall 2021 compared to a sharp decline among the 25- to 29-year-old age group (-9.2%).

When looking at enrollment by credential type, associate degree programs declined the most by 1.7% followed by bachelor’s degree programs that declined by 1.5% since fall 2021. In contrast, enrollment in undergraduate certificate programs increased by 2.5%.

NSC also included estimates for enrollment in the top five majors by credential type. For certificate programs, CTE programs such as precision production (7.2%), business management (6.9%) and mechanic and repair technologies (3.3%) increased significantly compared to the fall prior while health professions declined by 3.4%. For associate degree programs, enrollment in computer and information sciences grew by 10.1%, while business management (-0.5%), health professions (-5.0%) and security and protective services (-7.6%) declined.

Currently, NSC has not released their final report on 2022 postsecondary enrollment numbers. Once released, ACTE hopes to examine the full list of CTE programs that experienced enrollment growth or declines.

Election Watch 2022: CTE Funding Preview

The Perkins Basic State Grant program, the only dedicated federal funding for CTE, has received modest yet consistent increases since fiscal year (FY) 2018. However, as a result of chronic underinvestment and inflation, the Basic State Grant still remains over $400M below its FY 2004 funding level. The most recent House and Senate proposals for FY 2023 have continued the trend of small but important increases for CTE state grants. The outcome of this year’s midterm elections could have a tremendous impact on the funding outcomes in both FY 2023 and 2024.  

Most recently, Democratic House appropriators have proposed a $45M increase to the Perkins Basic State Grant program, while  Senate Democrats proposed $60M. To avert a government shutdown, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) until December 16 to allow additional time to negotiate a final appropriations package after the results of the midterm election are finalized. This does not mean, however, that a package is guaranteed by this date—and the initial levels included in the House and Senate bills are not binding on final decisions.  

Should Republicans gain control of the House or Senate, they may be motivated to wait until the 118th Congress is sworn in so that they can assume more control over the budgeting process. Many on Capitol Hill have expressed optimism that a deal will be struck before the end of the year though because of the retirements of appropriations committee leaders Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). They may be motivated to end their Senate careers on a high note by passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the current session. Otherwise, any changes to the balance of power will impact negotiations over top-level funding, as Republicans traditionally have supported more conservative levels of domestic discretionary funding. 

No matter the election results and the timing of the final FY 2023 package, the appropriations process requires bipartisan compromise. ACTE has asked Congress to increase the Perkins Basic State Grant program by $200M in FY 2023 and will continue working with Congress and the Biden Administration to secure bolder investments in FY 2024. To learn more or to find ways that you can advocate for federal investments in CTE, please contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Zach Curtis (zcurtis@acteonline.org). 

New Resource: “What is Work-based Learning” Fact Sheet

Today, ACTE released a new fact sheet titled “What is Work-based Learning?” describing the full range of work-based learning (WBL) experiences offered through CTE.

WBL enables students to learn about careers, build connections with industry professionals, and develop and practice technical, academic and employability skills needed for career success. It occurs on a continuum, ranging from short-term experiences like workplace tours and guest speakers to more sustained activities like internships and apprenticeships. This fact sheet describes and visualizes stages of the WBL continuum, including awareness, exploration, preparation and participation, and defines common WBL learning experiences.

We encourage ACTE members and CTE advocates to share this resource with students and families, education and workforce leaders, and policymakers to improve the public’s understanding of WBL and the many applied, real-world opportunities offered by CTE.

2022 ACTE Public Policy Award Nominations Now Open!

ACTE’s Public Policy Department is pleased to announce that the 2022 Baird-English Advocate of the Year and ACTE Policymaker of the Year Awards are now open for submissions.

Nominations for both awards can be submitted by any ACTE member, the ACTE Public Policy Department, members of the ACTE Board of Directors or state associations. 

The Baird-English Advocate of the Year Award is presented annually by ACTE to an ACTE member who has worked to enhance CTE in federal policy through advocacy. For the Baird-English Advocate of the Year, nomination materials should include:

• Letter of introduction (500 words or less) summarizing the following: 
• A short biography of the applicant
• Advocacy actions the nominee has taken in the past year to advance CTE in federal policy, including but not limited to: program/school visits set up for policymakers and/or staff; emails, letters and calls to policymakers and/or staff; meetings with policymakers and/or their staff; letters to the editor or op-eds on CTE topics submitted to local, state or national media
• Significant accomplishments related to CTE advocacy actions that have contributed to the improvement, promotion, development and progress of federal CTE policy, and supporting documents for those actions. For example, newspaper articles, news videos or pictures of Members of Congress or their staff on school visits or office visits, copies or internet links to op-eds or letters to the editor.

Note: The Baird-English Award is not limited to one recipient. 

ACTE’s Public Policy Department awards the Policymaker of the Year Award to nationally recognized policymakers who have made contributions of national significance to CTE.

For the ACTE Policymaker of the Year, you must include: 

• a cover letter stating the nominee’s qualifications for the award 
• supporting information listing significant CTE federal policy accomplishments 
• other appropriate accomplishments related to CTE 

Note: Individual ACTE members submitting a nomination must have the endorsement of an association, agency, group, several individuals or a combination of these. 

Nominations for the awards are due by January 1. Nominations can be submitted through the respective ACTE Awards Portal links above. The winners will be announced and honored during the 2023 National Policy Seminar.

If you have any questions about the awards, please contact ACTE Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, Jori Houck, at jhouck@acteonline.org.

OCTAE Releases First Year of Perkins V Performance Data

Today, the U.S. Department of Education released data from states’ Consolidated Annual Report (CAR) submissions for program year 2020-2021 – the first year that states reported performance data under Perkins V. 

Today’s release includes CTE participant numbers, CTE concentrator numbers and CTE concentrator performance on the Perkins accountability indicators, including the secondary program quality indicators new under Perkins V. The data can be accessed on the Perkins Collaborative Research Network in several formats:

• National and state-level summaries showing funding distribution, CTE participant data, CTE concentrator enrollment by Career Cluster, and CTE concentrator performance data
• A new dashboard of national- and state-level performance data, which can be filtered by gender, race/ethnicity, special populations and Career Clusters
• The Perkins Data Explorer, which enables users to generate custom reports on CTE participation, concentration and performance

We’ve shared several takeaways from this dataset below. Please note that national-level average performance should be interpreted with caution, owing to differences in how states define each indicator, particularly for the placement, postsecondary credential attainment and secondary program quality indicators:

• In 2020-21, there were almost 12 million participants in CTE nationwide, including 8.3 million secondary CTE participants and 3.5 million postsecondary CTE participants.
• In 2020-21, there were about 3 million secondary CTE concentrators and close to 1.9 million postsecondary CTE concentrators nationwide.
• The top four Career Clusters among secondary concentrators were Health Science; Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources; Business Management & Administration; and Arts, A/V Technology & Communications.
• The top four Career Clusters among postsecondary concentrators were Health Science; Business Management & Administration; Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security; and Information Technology.
• The average four-year graduation rate for secondary concentrators across the nation was 96%.

In addition to exercising caution when interpreting national averages, please also remember that COVID-19 may have impacted data for the 2020-21 program year, particularly in regards to performance on academic assessments and secondary program quality indicators such as recognized postsecondary credential attainment and work-based learning participation.

We encourage CTE educators to explore their state’s disaggregated data, and ACTE will be digging into this data and will share additional findings and takeaways with the CTE community soon.