Congress and President Trump signed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act this week, a move that will make significant changes to federal education law, reports Andrew Ujifusa for Education Week.
The legislation is a reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, a $1.2 billion program last overhauled by Congress in 2006. The reauthorization gradually increases annual funding from $1.2 to $1.3 billion over six years, allows states to set their own goals for career and technical education programs without the education secretary’s approval, requires them to make progress toward those goals, and makes other changes to federal CTE law.
The increased funding for career and technical education schools will hopefully help to alleviate the construction industry's labor burden in the coming years, allowing more students to receive training for trade jobs.
The legislation has been praised by a number of organizations, such as the American Institute of Architects and International Code Council. In a news release this week, the ICC stated:
“We’re excited to see the reauthorization of this important legislation,” said ICC Senior Vice President of Government Relations Sara Yerkes. “Career and technical education programs are an essential piece of our training and education system today, and this legislation will help support opportunities for future building safety professionals.”
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