On July 14, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Education Reform approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 4496) to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act (P.L. 105-332). Pointing to the importance of vocational and technical education, Chair Mike Castle (R-DE) said that “66 percent of all public secondary schools have one or more vocational and technical education programs with approximately 96 percent of high school students taking at least one vocational and technical course during their secondary studies.”
H.R. 4496 would authorize $1.3 billion in FY2005 and such sums as necessary in FY 2006 through FY2010 for vocational and technical education programs. The bill would fold the Tech-Prep program, which provides courses in math, science, and technology, into the Perkins state grants program. Under the bill, not more than 10 percent of funding may be spent on state leadership activities, and of that amount, not less than $60,000 and not more than $150,000 shall be available for services that prepare individuals for nontraditional employment. State leadership activities should place an emphasis on learning, math and science education, scientifically based research, improving student achievement, and enhancing professional development. H.R 4496 also would require local programs to develop, improve, or expand the use of technology and math, and science knowledge. Local programs also could use funds to strengthen teacher training.
Prior to approving the bill, the subcommittee approved, by voice vote, a substitute amendment by Rep. Castle that would, in addition to other provisions, require local recipients of funding to provide for activities “to prepare special populations, including displaced homemakers, for high skill, high wage occupations that will lead to self-sufficiency.” When the Perkins Act was last reauthorized in 1998, Congress eliminated a 10.5 percent set-aside for vocational education programs that target displaced homemakers, single parents, and single women. Funding for states to maintain a full-time sex equity coordinator was eliminated as well.
The subcommittee also approved, by voice vote, an amendment by Rep. Tom Osborne (R-NE) that would add entrepreneurship education and training to the list of activities funded under the bill.
Next week, the full committee will consider the bill, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will mark up a companion measure.
