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FOR
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contact: Ray Weiss or Jessica Trzyna
443-451-7144 or rweiss@weissprassociates.com
COCHRANVILLE, PA (4/25/12) --- On April 19, 2012, Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan and Assistant Secretary, Brenda Dann Messier,
released Investing in
America's Future: A Blueprint for Transforming Career and Technical
Education at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny,
Iowa. Investing in
America's Future is the Obama Administration's blueprint
for transforming Career and Technical Education (CTE), including the
Office of Vocational and Adult Education's (OVAE's) proposal for
reauthorizing the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act
(Perkins).
Through a $1.14 billion investment in the Obama Administration's FY
2013 budget, the Blueprint for reauthorizing Perkins will transform
CTE in four key areas:
Alignment:
Ensuring that the skills taught in CTE programs reflect the actual
needs of the labor market so that CTE students acquire the 21st
century skills necessary for in-demand occupations within high-growth
industry sectors.
Collaboration:
Incentivizing secondary schools, institutions of higher education,
employers, and industry partners to work together to ensure that all
CTE programs offer students high-quality learning opportunities.
Accountability:
Requiring CTE programs to show, through common definitions and
related performance measures, that they are improving academic
outcomes and enabling students to build technical and job skills.
Innovation:
Promoting systemic reform of state-level policies to support
effective CTE implementation and innovation at the local level.
The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) appreciates
the Administration's effort to help create high-quality CTE programs
for high school and community college students, especially in the
current economy in which many people are unemployed and underemployed
and industry is having difficulty finding qualified employees. NAPE
is pleased that the Administration is strongly committed to equity,
which is discussed throughout the Blueprint and is integral to any
strategy that will provide the United States with skilled employees
for current and future jobs. In addition, NAPE sees the
Administration's efforts to help create quality CTE programs and
close equity, participation, and performance gaps as the key to
building a stronger economy.
Further, NAPE is heartened that the Administration is committed to
and recognizes that "the educational experiences of women,
students of color, students from low-income families, and students
with disabilities in both secondary and postsecondary CTE programs,
violate the belief in equity at the heart of the American
promise." NAPE applauds the Administration for continuing to
require the disaggregation of data to help understand and close gaps
between student groups. At the same time, NAPE is concerned that the
proposal does not include an accountability measure to close gender
gaps in CTE, which has helped the nation diversify its workforce and
drive innovation, especially in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) careers. NAPE is also seriously concerned about
the impact that the proposed funding mechanism may have on states and
local education agencies and the unintended consequences this may
have on student access to CTE programs. NAPE is prepared to work
closely with OVAE to ensure that NAPE's goals of equity, access, and
diversity in CTE are supported as the details for implementing the
Blueprint are designed.
With reauthorization of Perkins not slated to be considered until
2013, NAPE looks forward to continuing to work with OVAE, the Obama
Administration, and Congress to ensure that a legislative proposal is
developed that supports quality CTE programs that expand
opportunities and access to careers that lead to economic
self-sufficiency for every American.
About NAPE
The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) is a
national, nonprofit consortium of state and local agencies,
corporations, and national organizations that collaborate to create
equitable and diverse classrooms and workplaces where there are no barriers
to opportunities. Through its Education Foundation, NAPE has been
involved in a number of initiatives to increase diversity in
America's workforce and to increase opportunities in high-skill,
high-wage, high-demand careers. Among these is the National Science
Foundation-funded STEM Equity Pipeline Project, which works with
educational systems to increase the participation of underrepresented
populations in STEM education. For more information, visit www.napequity.org
and www.stemequitypipeline.org.
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