Yet even as we close the chapter on funding for FY2012, the Department of Education is already thinking about a next iteration – a reauthorization – of the Perkins Act that Congress will have to take up (perhaps even starting in 2012). In fact, in November at the Association for Career and Technical Education annual conference in November, Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier of the federal Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) outlined the following priorities for Perkins:
- Encourage innovation and build evidence.
- Incentivize better outcomes for students and greater employer involvement.
- Articulate clear pathways for student success.
- Develop tools to support stakeholders in the CTE delivery system.
In continuing to build clarity and direction for the Perkins Act reauthorization process, OVAE has also been circulating a series of questions to interested audiences. The questions themselves reinforce where the department is headed in asking for reauthorization from Congress.
Many of the 450,000 IT and IT-related jobs that are open presently do not require college degrees. Vocational education and certifications can provide for a skilled and able workforce. Thus CompTIA members have a vested interest in how Perkins is shaped into the future. Take the time to read these questions and share with the CompTIA public advocacy staff how you would reply to these inquiries. How is Perkins working? Should funding switch from formula based grants to other systems such as performance-based? The CompTIA community supports Workforce Development. Let’s plan early and get a seat at the table as the Perkins Act reauthorization process gets underway.
