Heidi Alexander: “on Monday of last week, the Senate passed H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st…”

“on Monday of last week, the Senate passed H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, with a Senate amendment. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives followed suit. This measure reauthorizes the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which was last reauthorized in 2006. President Trump signed this important bill into law today at a ceremony at the White House that I was fortunate enough to have been invited to attend. The bill modernizes our career and technical education programs in our Nation's high schools, and community colleges, technical colleges, and other institutions of higher education to provide the skills needed to support State and local employer's workforce needs. The bill is also designed to align with other Federal education and workforce laws. While we are currently experiencing the best economy in 18 years, there are still 6.6 million unfilled jobs, many of these jobs offer high wages, but require workers to have specific or a high-level set of skills. In order to have a productive workforce and sustain a strong economy, we need to ensure today's workers and future workers have an opportunity to learn these needed skills. Our bill is an important step in helping States and local communities do that. First, as States are designing their State career and technical education--CTE--plans, they will need to consult with a variety of education and workforce stakeholders.…”