On July 31, President Trump signed the “Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act.”
The law is a reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which was originally passed in 1984, and last updated in 2006. The law provides for approximately $1.2 billion in federal support to state and local career and technical education programs.
The new law more closely aligns with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, permits states to set their own goals for career and technical education programs with the approval of the U.S. Department of Education, and requires states to make progress towards those goals. The law also encourages collaborative partnerships with increased apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning among students, benefits businesses as they work with school districts to address skills gaps and acclimates students to career and technical education in earlier grades.