|
Print this page |
| |
|
Close this window |
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jim McBride, today applauded the President’s signing of a bill that will “help close the gap that threatens America’s long-term competitiveness by addressing the needs of the nation’s changing workforce.”
The “Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act,” became law this week when President Bush signed the legislation over the weekend. The House and Senate passed the legislation, S. 250, in late July.
“This particular legislation strikes a chord in Wyoming because of the intense demand for skilled workers for the booming energy industry. Just as business and industry have recast production techniques and redesigned products to change with the developing economy, the nation needs to recast the methods used to educate and train tomorrow’s workforce. Participation in these programs can mean the difference between jobs with no possibility of advancement and a successful career,” Enzi said. “Whether we take the classes or not we all benefit in some way from the knowledge that is gained. We face shortages in a number of industries in Wyoming. A well-trained skilled workforce is essential to the continued growth and prosperity of our state’s economy.”
“Wyoming has benefited greatly from the Perkins Act in the past and thanks to the efforts of our congressional delegation, especially Senator Enzi, we will continue to benefit,” Dr. McBride said. “The need for students to have access to career and technical education and resources continues to grow in Wyoming. We want to ensure that we can continue to provide the necessary opportunities to our students.
“The Perkins act will continue to help us achieve that goal and represents a significant federal expenditure toward increasing the skill level of Wyoming’s future workforce in the emerging high technology industries,” he said.
The Perkins Act provides more than $1.2 billion in federal support for career and technical education programs in all 50 States, including about $4 million annually to Wyoming. It also reauthorizes federal career and technical education programs which were last reauthorized in 1998.
Enzi and McBride agreed the Perkins Act is an important piece of a comprehensive system of education and training programs to prepare America’s students and workers for the economy of the 21st century.
About 90 percent of Wyoming students have been in some way helped by the Perkins legislation in the past and assessments of career technical students have demonstrated that these students are performing at or above students who are not taking these types of courses.
Enzi and McBride said the 1998 Perkins Act has been important legislation which promotes skill development, critical thinking and relevance to the development of a workforce capable of meeting and exceeding in today’s global economy and this improvement will do even more.
S. 250 will improve programs authorized under the Perkins Act by requiring:
A More Effective Accountability System - that aligns accountability requirements with other federal education and training programs;
Stronger Links to Businesses - that build stronger partnerships between high schools, colleges, and businesses, so they can better meet the needs of the workforce, including small businesses;
Better Links from High School to College - that require states to outline a logical sequence of courses, including high school and college courses, that will lead to an industry recognized credential, certificate, or postsecondary degree;
Training for teachers - that includes pre-service and in-service training and resources for counselors and administrators;
Stronger Academic Focus - that promotes an enhanced emphasis on academic instruction for federally supported career and technical education programs consistent with other federal education programs.