Rethinking the paths to prosperity
The reauthorized Perkins Act would expand access to career and technical education to open up more job opportunities for young people.
By Charles Sahm
“Here’s something we don’t say often enough: College is crucial, but a four-year degree should not be the only path to a good job. We’re going to help more people learn a skill or practice a trade and make a good living doing it.”
– Hillary Clinton, in her acceptance speech at the Democratic convention this summer.
“In the modern economy, careers in innovative and in-demand fields are opening up to professionals with the right skill sets, and for many, career and technical education is the stepping stone to opportunity and success.”
– House Speaker Paul Ryan, announcing his “A Better Way” anti-poverty blueprint this summer.
Across the political spectrum, there is wide agreement that strengthening career and technical education is key to improving economic and social mobility. Still, in these polarized, hyperpartisan times, it seems far-fetched that Congress could pass a thoughtful, bipartisan piece of legislation that would help young people place their feet on the ladder to economic prosperity. But as Congress returns from recess next week just such a bill is awaiting a vote.
The legislation, titled the “Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act,” modernizes and reforms the Carl D. Perkins Act, which has funded career and technical education programs since 1984. It emerged from the House Education Committee via a unanimous 37 to 0 vote in June.
Like the recent reauthorization of the federal government’s main education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, the Perkins reauthorization gives more discretion to the states. It doesn’t seek to micromanage policy but rather requires states to measure and report certain targeted outcomes. The new law also incentivizes stronger engagement with employers, the utilization of “work-based learning” and programs that lead to attainment of “recognized postsecondary credentials.”
Career and technical education might be the new policy du jour, but policymakers need to invest in it for the long term.
While the legislation doesn’t increase the dollars spent — funding starts at $1.13 billion in 2017 and increases to $1.21 billion in 2022 — it does offer states increased flexibility on how to spend their Perkins dollars. While most Perkins funds are distributed to schools on a formulaic basis, states can now use up to 15 percent of their Perkins funding to set up competitive grants programs and experiment with emerging career and technical education (CTE) models that are showing real results in preparing young people with the skills they need to compete for high-skilled, in-demand jobs.
Secretary of Education John King helped to dramatically expand the number of CTE programs in New York state during his tenure as the state’s education commissioner and, if the Perkins Act is passed, other states could soon be following New York’s lead.
New York City, in particular, has embraced the CTE revolution. The number of CTE-dedicated schools in the city has more than tripled in recent years — from 15 in 2004 to about 50 today. A recent Manhattan Institute report by Tamar Jacoby and Shaun Dougherty examined the early results from these new schools and found increased attendance and graduation rates.
These new CTE-dedicated schools include seven “early-college” high schools, including the IBM-sponsored Pathways in Technology Early College High School, mentioned by President Obama in his 2013 State of the Union address. These 6-year schools enjoy strong partnerships with community colleges and employers. Students graduate with a high school diploma and a no-cost associate degree from an accredited community college, along with the skills and knowledge they need to continue their education or step into jobs in a variety of industries.
More time and data are needed to fully assess the efficacy of the “early-college” model. But early results are promising: Of the handful of students who have graduated early from the IBM P-TECH school, all have gone on to four-year colleges or are now employed with IBM. The six other New York City “early-college” schools focus on careers in health care, energy and other in-demand professions.
This is how career and technical education programs prepare young people for middle-class jobs.
The P-TECH model is being embraced by school districts across the nation. This fall, there will be about 60 P-TECH-like high schools (not all early-college) in New York, Illinois, Connecticut, Colorado and Rhode Island, with more on the way. Maryland’s innovative and popular governor, Larry Hogan, announced this summer that his state will be opening six P-TECH schools.
Stanley Litow, the IBM Foundation executive who helped set up the original P-TECH school in Brooklyn and is now helping districts across the county replicate the model, notes that “no piece of federal legislation is a panacea. But Perkins will be a significant step in the right direction.”
Litow notes, “Sixty schools across six states is a lot of progress. But it’s certainly not enough when you look at the need. We’d love to get to 500 in the next several years. That should be everybody’s goal.”
The best, most secure jobs of the 21st century will require some sort of post-secondary degree or industry-recognized credential. But that doesn’t mean that every student need go directly from high school to a four-year college. It’s time to rethink some of our rigid views around higher education in the United States. Other nations with higher mobility rates tend to make more use of apprenticeships and technical education.
If passed, the new Perkins Act would be a small but important step toward making sure that students get on the pathway to prosperity that’s right for them.
Charles Sahm is director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute. This piece originally appeared in U.S. News & World Report.
