This week in Washington, Congress was focused on final negotiations to complete a deal to raise the federal debt limit before a potential government default. The final bill passed the House on May 31 and the Senate on June 1. After President Biden signs the legislation today, the focus will... Continue reading

On May 11, two bills to support recruitment and retention of the educator workforce were introduced in Congress – the Respect, Advancement, and Increasing Support for Educators Act, or RAISE Act, and the Retaining Educators Takes Added Investment Now (RETAIN) Act. ACTE has endorsed both pieces of legislation. The RAISE... Continue reading

The primary focus in Washington this week was negotiations between President Biden and bipartisan congressional leadership meetings to tackle the debt ceiling impasse. In addition, preparation for Farm Bill reauthorization began with bi-partisan meetings at the White House, and hearings were held on appropriations and WIOA reauthorization. Both chambers will... Continue reading

On May 11, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development held a hearing titled “Examining America’s Workforce Challenges: Looking for Ways to Improve Skills Development.” The hearing focused primarily on potential reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was... Continue reading

Congress has made little progress in reaching a deal to extend the national debt limit and avoid default on the federal debt. Financial experts have suggested that the debt limit could be reached as early as June 1, leaving little time for negotiations. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently noted that... Continue reading

While both chambers of Congress were in session this week, only a few votes were held. The House did vote on the Republican debt limit package, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 (H.R. 2811), and it passed on a party-line vote of 217-215. The package proposes significant cuts to... Continue reading

On April 26, the House Committee on Small Business’s Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development held a hearing titled “Help Wanted: Exploring How Alternative Paths to Student Debt Can Help to Strengthen Small Business,” featuring workforce development advocates that discussed a variety of career opportunities for students, , and... Continue reading

Congress returned from recess on Monday, April 17, and most of their focus was on appropriations hearings, judicial nomination issues and congressional Republicans’ debt ceiling proposal, which you can read more about below. Both chambers will be back in session next week as well, where the House in particular is... Continue reading

On April 21, ACTE and Advance CTE announced that Sen. Ted Budd will become the new co-chair of the bipartisan Senate CTE Caucus! He will be taking the place of former Sen. Rob Portman, who retired at the end of last Congress. He had helped to lead the Senate CTE... Continue reading

During testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Sethuraman Panchanathan emphasized the importance of rapid workforce development investments and scaling training programs to fill jobs created by investments in key industries, such as manufacturing, semiconductor research and development, and infrastructure. As... Continue reading

Today, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget request for the U.S. Department of Education. One key theme was the availability of high-skill jobs that will soon... Continue reading

This week in Washington, lawmakers focused on pressing national security and domestic issues, debt limit negotiations, holding oversight hearings and conducting further appropriations hearings as part of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process. The House and Senate are now out of session until after the two-week Easter and Passover recess.... Continue reading

On March 29, South Dakota state CTE director and Advance CTE president Laura Scheibe testified before the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing titled “Addressing the Challenges of Rural America.” Additional witnesses were present from the Department of Education, National Rural Health Association, Department of Health and Human Services, and... Continue reading

Each year, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) lead a “Dear Colleague” letter to be sent to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting robust funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical... Continue reading

On March 21, the U.S. Department of Education launched the “Your Place in Space Challenge,” which urges high school students to imagine and pursue innovative careers across the space industry. This is the first in the Department of Education’s #CTEMomentum challenge series. This annual series will help prepare students for... Continue reading

This was a busy week for CTE-related items! Much of the focus in Washington this week was on the release of the president’s budget for fiscal year 2024, what it means for CTE and subsequent responses to the budget proposal by Members of Congress. The Biden Administration will release more... Continue reading

Following a series of announcements, Congress has officially confirmed the assignments for committee leaders and members across education and appropriations. Now that these rosters are complete, you can utilize this blog post as a resource to help you schedule meetings with the Members of Congress who will have the most... Continue reading

On February 28, ACTE, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) hosted a school visit in celebration of CTE Month 2023 at Jackson-Reed High School in Northwest Washington, DC. Representatives from the Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE),... Continue reading

In Washington this week, both chambers were in session. Congress was focused on passing resolutions, negotiations on domestic spending programs and advancing nominees. Coming up next week, the Biden Administration is preparing to release its fiscal year 2024 budget proposal on March 9, followed by specific budget justifications on March... Continue reading

This week in Washington, Congress was in recess and there was limited activity in DC. Congressional leaders were focused on addressing national security concerns and the anniversary of the war in Ukraine. Both chambers of Congress will return on February 27. ACTE’s Public Policy team is also focusing on the... Continue reading

Earlier this month, the Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students Act of 2023 (H.R. 793/S. 161), or the JOBS Act, was reintroduced in the Senate by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mike Braun (R-IN), and in the House by Reps. Bill Johnson (R-OH), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)... Continue reading

This week in Washington, only the Senate was in session, and lawmakers focused primarily on hosting hearings and responding to national security concerns. Both chambers of Congress will be on recess next week before returning on February 27. CTE Month is continuing to draw awareness to our efforts to ensure... Continue reading

On Monday evening, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), new Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) hosted an event in coordination with American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) to discuss the state of teacher pay in America, and... Continue reading

Members of Congress were focused on holding some of their first hearings of the 118th Congress this week, attending the State of the Union speech and responding to national security concerns. In CTE-related news, the CTE Month resolutions have been introduced and we are collecting a strong roster of cosponsors!... Continue reading

Tuesday’s State of the Union address by President Biden highlighted several initiatives relevant to CTE, including the necessity of recruiting and retaining workers to fill many of the jobs created by legislation such as the CHIPS and Science Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the importance of... Continue reading