Obama Budget Level Funds Career Technical...( Increase needed to train workforce st...)

Increase needed to train workforce, stimulate economy

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the White House unveiled its Fiscal Year 2010 budget request, proposing level funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins Act) at $1.3 billion. The Perkins Act is the primary source of federal funding that supports local education programs that connect education and real-world careers. The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) appreciate the level funding proposal, but a stronger investment is needed to meet the growing needs of the students, the economy and the workforce. In order to build a pipeline of skilled workers and address critical education challenges such as reducing the dropout rate, funding for the Perkins Act needs to be at least $1.4 billion for FY 2010 to support secondary and postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programs.

Recently, ACTE, NASDCTEc and the American Association for Community Colleges sent a joint letter to President Obama requesting an increase in Perkins funding. The letter included broad support from 45 additional organizations including businesses such as Apple Inc., Syngenta, John Deere and First Technologies. The letter also included signatures of eight Career and Technical Student Organizations; and other organizations such as the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council, which focuses on the core skills and knowledge needed by the nation's production workers.

Perkins hasn't received an increase in funding since 2002, and funding has actually decreased by $42 million since that time. Enrollment in CTE has increased by 6 million since 1999, with approximately 15.6 million students t
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