Career and Technical Education Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today as co-chair of the bipartisan Career and Technical Education Caucus to recognize February as National Career and Technical Education Month.

Career and technical education programs play a key role in closing our Nation's skill gap by preparing students of all ages for the 21st century workforce and jobs. That is why I was encouraged by the inclusion of career and technical education center provisions in the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act.

Not only does the ESSA provide much-needed flexibility to States and local education agencies, it also encourages businesses to get involved with their local schools. More schools will be able to use Federal funds to provide academic credit for apprenticeships and strengthen their career counseling programs.

This was a result of bipartisan legislation I introduced with the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin), my colleague and friend, aimed at informing school counselors of local labor market conditions so that they can best guide the decisionmaking process of their students.

It is my hope that this and other Federal education policies will provide support to schools, businesses, and community organizations in Pennsylvania's Fifth District and across the country as they work to prepare our students for the future.

I look forward to working toward improving and reauthorizing the Perkins Act for career and technical education training.

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