ICYMI: Subcommittee Chair Bean, Committee Chair Foxx Work to Protect Career and Technical Education Programs

WASHINGTON—In case you missed it, last week Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chairman Aaron Bean (FL-04) and Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05) questioned the Department of Education’s (ED) attempt to circumvent Congress and mire key career and technical education (CTE) programs in red tape. The two called on ED to withdraw its ill-advised changes to the State Plan Guide and Consolidated Annual Report for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins V).

Upon questioning the ED, Congressman Bean said, “The most valuable part of America’s job market is its skilled workforce. That’s why the Department of Education should empower local and state CTE programs, not drown them in paperwork. In Northeast Florida, we’ve consistently underscored the value of career and technical education and continue to prove how to do CTE right as we actively prepare young students for success in the modern economy. Now more than ever, we must work to strengthen the public education system and help employers access a pipeline of talented workers.”

In the letter, the lawmakers write: “The proposed revisions to the Department of Education’s (Department) State Plan Guide and Consolidated Annual Report for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins V) are problematic and we write to express our significant concerns with the Department’s action. These proposed revisions make substantive policy changes that exceed the Department’s authority under the law and will pose a significant and unjustified burden on state career and technical education (CTE) agencies, institutions of higher education, school districts, and CTE programs.”

Read the full letter here.
 

BACKGROUND: 

In January 2024, Chairman Bean held a subcommittee hearing titled, “Preparing Students for Success in the Skills-Based Economy,” to highlight the role career and technical education (CTE) plays in filling America’s 8.8 million open jobs. Expert witnesses joined the subcommittee to affirm the successes of CTE, including the Fourth District’s own, Kelly Mosley, Career and Technical Education Supervisor of Clay County District Schools. 

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