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Perkins grant cuts would curtail career-technical programs, advocates warn
Summary
County vocational directors and the New Jersey Council for Career, Vocational and Technical Schools told the legislature that Perkins funding supports equipment, curriculum and staff for career-technical education and that losing those dollars would limit student pathways into the workforce.
Officials who oversee career and technical education (CTE) told the Joint Committee on the Public Schools that the federal Perkins grant is central to maintaining up-to-date CTE programs and industry partnerships.
Jacqueline Burke, executive director of the New Jersey Council for Career, Vocational and Technical Schools, said nationally Congress appropriates roughly $1.4 billion in Perkins state formula grants and discretionary competitive funds. She told the committee that in fiscal 2025 New Jersey’s total Perkins award was just over $29,000,000; about $24,700,000 is distributed to eligible secondary and postsecondary recipients and nearly $9,000,000 of the total was awarded directly to county vocational and technical schools.
Burke described examples of equipment and investments funded by Perkins: virtual-reality modules for biomedical training, anti‑gravity treadmills for sports‑medicine programs, laser welders for welding labs, industrial ovens for culinary programs, college-course tuition payments for special‑education students in CTE settings, and summer/middle‑school exposure initiatives. She said Perkins regulations also establish CTE standards and fund many staff positions in the state Office of Career Readiness.
County vocational leaders and legislators said that cutting Perkins would harm both students and regional employers that rely on CTE-trained graduates. Burke urged the Legislature and the public to consider Perkins as a workforce-development investment as well as an educational program.
Committee staff asked for supplemental materials on Perkins allocations and local program examples.
