Sen. Casey applauds committee approval of Career and Technical Education legislation

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) recently praised the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee’s approval of legislation to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) also praised the committee’s approval of legislation to reauthorize the CTE Act.

“Reauthorizing and updating the Perkins program is critical to creating jobs, growing wages and ensuring our workers have the tools to out-compete anyone in the world,” Casey said.

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act would reauthorize the Perkins CTE Act for the first time since 2006. It encourages states, schools, and local CTE providers to update education and job training to meet the needs of the local economies better.

It would also enhance alignment with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Every Students Succeed Act (ESSA) and support collaboration between stakeholders to help businesses communicate their needs to states and educators.

“We were able to work together in a bipartisan manner on legislation that will strengthen career pathways, foster innovation and improve access for traditionally underrepresented populations, including students with disabilities, and ensure better outcomes for all students, educators and our economy,” Casey said. “I am particularly proud that we secured a change to the funding formula that will ensure Pennsylvania gets a fair share of allocations going forward.”