Michael Fong

A major workforce challenge in the United States is the shortage of skilled workers particularly in critical industries such as health care and information technology. CTE—intended to create pathways for students to gain the academic and technical skills needed for in-demand careers—has long been a focus of federal support. To help ensure that federal support for CTE is paying off, Congress mandates states to report on a core group of students, referred to as CTE “concentrators,” for whom CTE ed

Even with constant change in the nature of work and the economy, the education decisions students make today will influence their later career direction and success. Helping secondary and postsecondary students develop skills that have value in the workplace is the key goal of career and technical education (CTE). Congress has supported CTE for over a century, most recently through the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in 2018 (Perkins V). Many provision

Changes to education law in 2015 consolidated several programs to give states and districts greater flexibility in how they use federal funds. The resulting Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant program (Title IV, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)) tries to maintain the different purposes of the original programs by prioritizing and requiring spending in three broad areas: (1) providing students with a well-ro