Womack: Carl D. Perkins reauthorization bill an important step in creating opportunities for next generation

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) said on Friday that a bill to reauthorize and reform career and technical education (CTE) programs is an important step in creating job opportunities.

U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA) introduced the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, H.R. 5587, in June to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocation and Technical Education Act of 1984.

Womack said that Thompson’s reauthorization bill would ensure that the best CTE programs are available to help students earn certifications and apprenticeships in secondary school.

“As I travel throughout the third district meeting with job creators, a constant refrain is that there are not enough people with the right skills to fill the jobs they have available,” Womack said. “Each time I hear this, I am more and more convinced that we have duped a generation into believing the only key to success is pursuing a four-year degree. Oftentimes, students do not finish that degree, and even if they do, they are left with thousands of dollars in student debt and even worse, no job prospects. Instead of forcing students into a one-size-fits-all future, CTE education allows students to gain the skills they need to access high-demand, well-paying jobs, without the burdens often associated with other educational routes.”

Thompson’s reauthorization bill focuses on empowering state and local leaders, aligning programs with in-demand jobs, increasing transparency and accountability, and limiting the federal government’s role.

“To accomplish these objectives, the reauthorization first simplifies the application process for federal CTE funds, ensuring that this process is better-aligned with the workforce development plan that states are expected to submit under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act,” Womack said. “By ensuring that states do not have to reinvent the wheel, it allows them to focus resources on the actual work of preparing students for their careers.”

The bill would also ensure that federal resources promote programs that are aligned with in demand jobs, Womack said, by emphasizing partnerships with employers to enable students to train with local companies that can offer them jobs after graduation.

“At the same time, H.R. 5587 allows states to focus federal resources on in-demand jobs determined at the state level,” Womack said. “One way they will do this is through prioritizing partnerships with employers in each community, allowing students to train with local companies that will be able to offer them jobs after graduation.”

Under the measure, states would be able to create targeted levels of performance and report the results annually to promote transparency.

“Finally, Rep. Thompson’s reauthorization puts power back in the hands of the states by removing the requirement to negotiate targeted performance levels with the secretary of education, while at the same time, removing the Secretary’s ability to withhold funds from states –  instead allowing states to develop improvement plans to get back on target,” Womack said.