With cuts to the U.S. Department of Education and the programs it administers, some are growing concerned that CTE programs, essential for student’s future careers and the economic well-being of the nation, might be next on the chopping block unless Congress acts to reauthorize the Perkins Act.
“If the Carl D. Perkins Act is reversed, all of our Career Technical Programs will be in jeopardy,” said Chris Carter, Executive Director of College and Career Advantage (CCA).
These courses are significantly affected when there’s budget cuts, meaning that without the Perkins Act, these classes will be at risk of having less resources and funds or even being shut down, he said.
The Express reached out to Representative Mike Levin’s office before his March 16 town hall meeting in the theater to find out about funding levels for CTE and congressional reauthorization of the Perkins Act.
The spending bill just passed by Congress, includes an extension of funding at current levels only through September 30th, 2025. But there is still a potential that CTE and any other program with lapsed authorization may be on the chopping block, according to Eileen Lee, Legislative Assistant for Representative Mike Levin (CA 49).
“Elon Musk and a few Congressional Republicans have proposed defunding or entirely cutting programs that don’t have an active authorization,” said Lee.
“With these concerns and threats in mind, this further highlights the importance of reauthorizing the Perkins Act so that CTE is not a target in the coming months.”
The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, is a federal block grant first established by Congress in 1984 and reauthorized five times by different presidential administrations and with bi-partisan support. Its purpose is to increase the quality of technical education in the U.S. which would then stimulate economic growth.
The last reauthorization of the Perkins Act was in 2018, done by President Trump when he signed the “Strengthening Career and Technical Education for 21st Century Act.”
In a presidential signing statement in 2018 Trump said, “The White House…was strongly engaged every step of the way to ensure passage of this critical legislation to provide students and workers the training necessary to succeed in a 21st century economy. By enacting it into law, we will continue to prepare students for today’s constantly shifting job market, and we will help employers find the workers they need to compete.”
The last reauthorization in 2018 allocated $1.3 billion dollars annually, spent in all 50 states to fund Career Technical Educational Classes across the nation. The current status allows for what amounts to a two-year appropriation of $2.18 billion for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025.
The Perkins Act gives money to the state to disperse to the school districts. Many of these programs provide students with opportunities to explore different career paths and further enhance their academic skills.
“It allows us to take our trips to Virtual Enterprise trade shows where students have the opportunity to interact and compete against high schools from across the country,” said Virtual Enterprise Teacher, Jeremy Wooten.
The grant money given out to CUSD for the 2024-2025 school year was around $328,000.00, according to Carter, primarily to fund supplies for our CUSD teachers who run CTE programs in 80 different CUSD programs. However, the grants have progressively been decreasing each year. This year it dropped around $30,000.00 from 2023-2024 levels, according to Carter.
Speaking about the advantages of the programs, art teacher Avery Arman said, “CTE courses aren’t just about learning— they’re about doing, students get hands-on experience and get to have fun in an interactive way. It’s the best way for students to decide what career path they’re interested in after high school.”
“The CTE pathway in technical theatre helps my students that graduate, have more substantial resumes. It also helps them get into the BFA programs, get undergraduate technical theatre experience, and helps them be able to go into the industry after high school,” said Cambria Graff, Theater Arts director.
“CTE education is super important to our state, and our state recognizes that, and I hope they’ll continue to fund and support these courses,” said Lynne Bell, Career Guidance Specialist for CCA.
Additional information about the Perkins Act, including allocation formulas, is provided by the Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan bureaucratic agency that provides information to members of Congress.
Disclosure: The Express newspaper is one of programs that has benefited from past CTE funding through the Perkins Act.
