FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2006
CONTACT: Lindsey Mask or Steve Forde
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Education Committee Republicans Send Five to House-Senate Vocational Education Conference

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Five House Education & the Workforce Committee Republicans were named today to a House-Senate conference tasked with completing work on a renewal of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act.  The Perkins program aims to prepare youth and adults for the future by building their academic and technical skills and ensuring they are equipped to proceed with postsecondary education or pursue other avenues.  Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) will join Education Reform Subcommittee chair Mike Castle (R-DE), vice-chair Tom Osborne (R-NE), and Reps. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) and Mark Souder (R-IN) on the House-Senate conference.  Three Committee Democrats also were named to the panel.

 

On May 4, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives gave bipartisan approval to legislation introduced by Castle to help states and local communities improve vocational and technical education and enhance opportunities for students.  The Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act (H.R. 366) was approved by an overwhelming vote of 416-9. 

 

“Our challenge is to ensure that all vocational and technical education students have access to programs that are sufficiently rigorous in both their academic and technical content, as well as provide clear connections with the options beyond high school that most Americans need for continued success,” noted Castle. “We are moving closer to that reality as we finalize this legislation.”

 

Reforms made to the Perkins Act in 1998 increased the focus on academic and technical skills – and on ensuring students complete their programs and transition into successful employment or further education.  In the House-passed Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act, House Republicans sought to build on the 1998 reforms by: 

  • Focusing on academics without expanding the federal role in education;

  • Streamlining bureaucracy and give more money to local communities;

  • Streamlining funding while preserving quality Tech-Prep activities;

  • Emphasizing success at the local level;

  • Ensuring equitable treatment for private school students;

  • Improving professional development for teachers; and

  • Strengthening opportunities for coordination between secondary and postsecondary vocational and technical education.

“This conference has been a long time coming, and I’m eager to finish our work quickly so we can build on the progress we made in 1998,” said McKeon.  “Each year, millions of students enrich their educational opportunities through participation in vocational and technical education.  In fact, nearly every student leaves public high school having taken some vocational education.  To demonstrate our commitment to them and enhance their educational opportunities, I look forward to sending a strong final product to President Bush.”

 

More information on House Republican efforts to strengthen vocational and technical education programs is available on the Education and the Workforce Committee website at http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/education/voced/voced.htm.

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