Carl perkins vocational education act

Why rethink CTE?

• 7,136,000 unfilled jobs open in the United States
• By 2020, 2/3 of jobs will require some postsecondary education
• 85% of the jobs today's learners will do in 2030 haven't been invented yet
• 1/4 of high schools don't offer CTE courses
• $1.5 trillion in college debt

Students deserve better.

Employers demand better.

America must do better.

Rethink School

• Aren't work-based learning and "earn and learn" programs the rule and not the exception?
• Can't employers play a larger role in preparing students for their futures?
• Is CTE for some and not all students?
• Must students wait until middle and high school to explore career interests?
• Haven't we developed a teacher pipeline to meet the needs of existing and emerging career pathways in every community?
• Isn't every community empowered to create high-quality CTE approaches to meet local needs?
• Do barriers exist between the levels and types of education?
• Is access to high-quality CTE often limited by zip code?
• Is a credential considered the "end of the line" for learning?

History of the Act

The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was the first authorization for the Federal funding of vocational education. Subsequent legislation for vocational education (now termed career and technical education) included the Vocational Act or 1973 and the Carl D. Perkins Act of 1984 (Perkins). Perkins was reauthorized as the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act (Perkins II) in 1990, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 1998 (Perkins III), and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV).

Links to Legislation

• Compilation of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, as amended by the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) from the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Public Law 115-224)
• Committee Report on the Perkins V Act from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee (PDF, 570 KB)
• Perkins IV Act (PDF, 486 KB)
• Perkins III Act (PDF, 381 KB)
• Perkins II Act - Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 (PDF, 13.8 MB)
• Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act (PDF, 9.3 MB)
• Vocational Education Amendments of 1976 (PDF, 26.3 MB)
• Vocational Education Amendments of 1968 (PDF, 6.2 MB)
• Vocational Education Act of 1963 (PDF, 1.1 MB)
• Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 (PDF, 788 KB)

Media

• Ed Homeroom Perkins V Blog Post
• ED Press Release

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