NEWS RELEASE from ACTE and NASDCTEc

SILVER SPRING, MD – As Congress considers how best to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) have partnered to introduce important legislation to help more students become college and career ready.

The legislation, introduced today in the House as the “Education for Tomorrow’s Jobs Act,” would allow school districts to use Title I ESEA funds to better integrate academics with career and technical education (CTE) through coursework and networks of schools. The bill would encourage school districts to link secondary school programs, including both middle and high schools, and align secondary and postsecondary education. Further, the bill would leverage a variety of school, employer and community partners.

“Much of the discussion about high school improvement, to date, has been about academic rigor, but this bill goes farther to connect learning with employer needs, and makes it more relevant so that students gain a better understanding of why they are taking academic courses so they can better apply that learning to the world of work,” said ACTE Executive Director Jan Bray. “In order to be truly career ready students need a foundation of academic, technical and employability skills, such as critical thinking, teamwork and interpersonal skills,” said Bray.

President Obama and many leaders in Congress have called for students to be college and career ready. Part of that discussion includes coursework alignment with state content standards, which would be required for school districts to access funds. The bill also requires programs to align with high-skill, high-wage, high-demand industry sectors and provides work-based learning opportunities to help students understand the education-workforce connection.

“The Education for Tomorrow’s Jobs Act underscores the importance of programs that prepare students to succeed in the global economy. We must ensure that schools, colleges and industry collaborate, preparing students with the knowledge and skills they need secure and succeed in a high-demand job,” said Kimberly Green, Executive Director of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc). “As demonstrated by Career Technical Education (CTE) programs across the nation, connecting what students learn with what the economy demands yields a workforce truly prepared for tomorrow’s jobs.”

The Education for Tomorrow’s Jobs Act reflects school improvement initiatives such as career academies and the Linked Learning movement in California. Benefits of these programs include a more educated and stable workforce, a greater ability to attract new business to communities, reduced dropout rates, increased graduation rates, greater earnings among graduating students, and increased readiness for college.

Additional co-sponsors of the legislation include Representatives Chu, Langevin and Platts. Representatives Thompson and Langevin are co-chairs of the Congressional CTE Caucus, a bi-partisan group of Members of Congress created to enhance awareness concerning the importance of career and technical education in preparing a well-educated and skilled workforce in America. ACTE has a full set of ESEA recommendations that have been developed by a task force of CTE educators and administrators, which can be found at www.acteonline.org/esea.aspx.