Members urge stronger federal support for career and technical education
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Summary
Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education urged larger federal investments in career and technical education, citing high enrollment, improved graduation rates and the need to fund Perkins state grants and CTE innovation grants.
Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education used a members' day hearing to press for larger federal funding for career and technical education programs, including support for the Carl D. Perkins state grant program and innovation grants.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, co-chair of the bipartisan House Career and Technical Education Caucus, told the subcommittee that CTE programs "work to develop America's most valuable resource, its people," and urged the panel to "strongly support the Carl d Perkins Career and Technical Education Act's state grant program in fiscal year 2026." He said more than 12,000,000 high school and college students are enrolled in CTE programs nationwide and cited a 96 percent four‑year graduation rate for students enrolled in CTE programs.
Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island also urged support for CTE, asking the subcommittee to increase funding for "career and technical education, innovation, and modernization grants" so programs can adapt to labor‑market needs. Magaziner said demand can exceed available seats in his state, where "more than half of Rhode Island public high school students are participating" in CTE programs.
Thompson noted that Perkins State grants were funded at $1,440,000,000 in fiscal year 2024 and said those levels, adjusted for inflation, are "roughly half of the amount of the federal investment made in CTE in 1980," despite increased enrollment. Magaziner said innovation and modernization grants fund research and pilots and that he and other members have urged $64,000,000 for those grants in the past.
Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro expressed support for CTE and warned that broader debates about dismantling the Department of Education could jeopardize programs that provide resources to low‑income students.
No formal vote on CTE funding occurred during the members' day testimony; members submitted remarks for the record and asked the subcommittee to consider the requests as appropriations work proceeds.