A significant victory was won for advocates of career and technical education when Congress re-authorized the Perkins Act by passing the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Improvement Act by overwhelming majorities in mid-summer. The legislation – which had been stalled in Congress for more than a year – re-authorizes the federal government’s $1.3 billion program designed to improve career and technical education.

The Perkins Act has been a point of contention between Congress and the Bush administration in recent years. President Bush had proposed significant cuts in Perkins funding and eliminated the program altogether in his most recent budget. Congress, however, has consistently restored funding for the popular program.

The new legislation authorizes the Perkins program through 2012. It is important to remember, however, that the act of reauthorizing the legislation only provides the general framework for the program. Any funding for the Perkins program must still be approved as a part of the annual appropriations process.

The re-authorization legislation leaves the Perkins program largely unchanged. For example, the legislation maintains Tech Prep as a separate funding stream. Tech Prep is a program that links high school and post-secondary technical education programs. Previous versions of the legislation eliminated funding specifically for Tech Prep, instead consolidating the program with the basic state grant. Career and technical advocates were concerned that elimination of Tech Prep as a separate program would jeopardize important school-to-work programs.

The most significant additions included in the re-authorization legislation are a series of new accountability provisions that require individual institutions to report certain performance measures. Previously, only states were required to report on performance measures.

Individual institutions must now report on performance indicators such as:

• Student attainment of industry-recognized credential, degree or certificate.
• Graduate placement.
• Student participation and completion rates in non-traditional fields.
• Student retention rates and transfer rates.
• Student attainment of technical proficiencies.

The re-authorization legislation also gives the state the power to withhold Perkins funds from institutions that do not meet state-negotiated performance expectations.

This year, states received about $1.3 billion in Perkins funds, with about 40% going to technical and community colleges.