Kaine, Portman To Renew Push For CTE Ahead Of State Of The Union

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH), co-chairs of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, announced that they will renew their push for CTE by sitting together during the State of the Union and introducing bipartisan legislation to better prepare students for 21st-century jobs. The Educating Tomorrow's Workforce Act, sponsored by Portman, Kaine, and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), would raise the quality of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at schools in Virginia and across the country. The bill would amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act to better ensure students have access to the highest quality CTE programs.

"High-quality career and technical education helps students develop skills that meet the needs of 21st-century employers," said Kaine. "I'm proud to re-introduce this commonsense, bipartisan legislation to raise the quality of CTE programs, and I look forward to joining Senator Portman for the President's State of the Union tonight as we demonstrate our continued commitment to growing a talented workforce through career and technical education. I'm also honored to welcome Lisa Barnett, Coordinator of CTE for Botetourt County Public Schools, as my guest tonight. Ms. Barnett's work to promote CTE sets an impressive example for educators across the country."

"In today's competitive job market, far too many Americans are finding that they lack the skills they need to get a good-paying job," said Portman. "This legislation is a step in the right direction toward helping those Americans seeking work acquire the skills they need to connect with a job, and I hope that the President will highlight this important issue during his address."

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