Carl Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006

CARL PERKINS CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2006 -- (Senate - July 27, 2006)

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to applaud the passage of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006. Perkins, the Federal Government's largest investment in our Nation's high schools, provides critical resources for students pursuing career and technical education at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Although the President has proposed eliminating the program in recent budget requests, Perkins has enjoyed a long history of bipartisan support. More than 11 million students are currently enrolled in some form of career and technical education and I am confident this reauthorization will improve the programs and services available to help them realize their goals.

I am particularly heartened by this bill's heightened focus on individualized student counseling and the use of graduation and career plans. For too many students, high school graduation and postsecondary education seem out of reach. That is why I have introduced my Pathways for All Students to Succeed, PASS, Act. The PASS Act provides assistance for schools to hire and train mathematics and literacy coaches; supports the collection and reporting of accurate graduation rates; and targets funding for struggling schools to implement reforms. It also dedicates resources to increase the number of academic counselors working in schools. Research has shown that providing early high school students with guidance boosts the likelihood that they will graduate with a diploma. Early, individualized planning also helps students obtain the coursework and training they need to achieve their professional aspirations. I applaud the increased focus on individualized student counseling and planning in Perkins, which will reach career and technical education students earlier in their schooling and put them on a track to graduate.

This Perkins reauthorization retains and strengthens the Tech Prep program, which encourages states to design and implement innovative programs that combine secondary and postsecondary activities into a coherent set of courses. In my home State of Washington, it is estimated that workforce training at community and technical colleges increases a student's lifetime earnings by more than $150,000. Federal Perkins dollars, matched by States and localities, are precisely the kind of government investment that pays off over a lifetime and I salute the continuation of these important programs.

In addition, I am heartened by several of the major changes we made to update the bill. We strengthened the emphasis on assisting students in preparing for high skill, high wage or high demand occupations, ensuring that we provide our students with skills they need to remain competitive in today's global marketplace. We promoted partnerships among high schools, community colleges, local workforce investment boards, business and industry, with the twin goals of providing students with pathways toward skilled occupations and producing the trained workers that employers need. We promoted professional development opportunities for career and technical education teachers, counselors, and administrators, so that those leading our classrooms and schools remain on the cutting edge of ever-changing workplaces and economy.

I commend this bill for bolstering the reporting requirements for Perkins programs, extending this level of transparency to the local level and requiring disaggregation for important population subgroups, including individuals with disabilities; students from economically disadvantaged families, including foster children; people preparing for nontraditional training and employment; and single parents, including single pregnant women. I am pleased that States now are required to report on student rates of attainment of diplomas and GEDs, as well as annual graduation rates. Valid and reliable data serves both an accountability and diagnostic function, and I am pleased to see that this reauthorization requires states to collect and publicize this information.

I would like to thank Senator Kennedy, Chairman Enzi, Chairman McKeon, and Congressman Miller for their leadership on this bill. I also want to thank Carmel Martin, Jane Oates, J.D. LaRock, Beth Buehlmann, Scott Fleming, Whitney Rhoades, and Denise Forte for their hard work. The time and effort dedicated by members and staff is evident in the quality of the final product and I am pleased to support the reauthorization of the act.

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