House Education reviews S.313, orders AOE report and working group to study CTE governance

Montpelier — The House Education Committee on April 28 reviewed S.313, a bill that contains findings and intent about Vermont's career and technical education (CTE) system and directs the Agency of Education (AOE) to prepare guidance and a report while a legislative working group studies longer-term governance changes.

Representative Michael Marott, chair of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, told members Commerce rewrote the Senate-introduced bill to focus on guidance and study rather than immediate statutory overhaul. "Wedeveloped the findings and intent," Marott said, "and we're proposing to create a legislative working group that would consist of members from the four committees of each body ... to work over the summer with AOE, VACTED, the superintendent association and others in trying to develop what should be a good governance system." (Representative Michael Marott, Chair, House Commerce and Economic Development.)

Why it matters: S.313 seeks to start a phased process to align CTE governance and funding with broader education reforms. Rather than opening rulemaking immediately, the bill asks AOE to issue clarifying guidance that reflects the CTE system as of July 1, 2026, and to return recommendations on educator licensing, an early "pre-enforcement intervention pathway," mediation and enforcement, and updates to flexible pathways and competency standards.

What the bill requires: Legislative counsel briefed the committee on key deadlines and deliverables. Section 3 directs AOE, in collaboration with VACTED and the superintendents association, to issue guidance by Sept. 18, 2026, on definitions (CTE programs, credentials, embedded academics), credit/proficiency recognition, work-based learning sequencing aligned with OSHA and federal hazard orders, minimum safety and equipment standards, Perkins V data alignment, and allowances for differentiated regional delivery. Section 4 would require the state board to review CTE rules at least every five years. Section 5 asks AOE to submit a written report to the General Assembly on or before Jan. 15, 2027, covering CTE educator endorsement/licensing recommendations, the pre-enforcement intervention pathway and mediation/escalation procedures, and recommendations to update flexible pathways and career-navigation competency standards.

Points of contention: Committee members repeatedly flagged the lack of reliable cost data for large governance or funding changes. "The biggest roadblock is not understanding the cost," one committee member said, noting the Joint Fiscal Office's study on dollars-per-student is not due until December. Members also questioned where responsibility for mediation and enforcement should sit and raised concerns about repeating prior studies; a long-serving school board member said, "We've done this a long time. We've done summer studies and working groups, and I don't want to do it again without clearer outcomes."

Policy changes noted: The Commerce amendment would require that credits or proficiencies earned at a CTE program be honored and applied toward graduation by any public or independent school in Vermont, removing current local board discretion to deny such credits. The amendment also creates an eight-member legislative working group (four House, four Senate) charged with submitting proposed legislation by Dec. 15, 2026, and with a target first meeting on or before Aug. 15, 2026.

Next steps: The committee expects AOE, VACTED and the state board to provide testimony and the required reports. The bill sets a Sept. 18, 2026 threshold for guidance and Jan. 15, 2027 for AOE's report; the working group must deliver proposed legislation by Dec. 15, 2026.

The committee moved on to its next agenda item after the S.313 briefing; no formal vote on S.313 was recorded during the April 28 session.