U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, this week joined his colleagues in the House of Representatives in voting to advance H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21^st Century Act by a unanimous vote.

“This bipartisan bill will help Americans develop the skills they need to compete for high-skilled, in-demand jobs,” said Upton. “Local career and technical education, or CTE, programs help prepare high school and community college students with the knowledge and hands-on experience necessary to succeed in careers in a broad range of industries. In order to support and grow our middle class, we need to support and grow CTE programs that help countless students succeed. That’s exactly what this bipartisan legislation does and I was proud to support its passage.”

“We in Kalamazoo County, both business, industry, and education, thank Fred Upton and all of our U.S. legislators for reauthorizing the CTE Perkins Act,” said Deb Miller, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Programming for the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA). “CTE is a major part of the pipeline to economic development here in Michigan and a pipeline for a skilled workforce for Kalamazoo County. CTE has a strong history of creating opportunity for students in high school to find their niche in the workforce with skills and credentials.”

At its core, H.R. 2353 reforms, modernizes, improves, and reauthorizes the Carl D. Perkins Act. Since 1984, the Carl D. Perkins Act has provided federal support to state and local career and technical education programs. These innovative programs offer local students the opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to compete for good-paying jobs in a broad range of fields. Unfortunately, federal law has not been updated in more than a decade, and no longer reflects the realities and challenges facing students and workers in today’s economy. H.R. 2353 would improve the Perkins Act by simplifying the application process for receiving federal funding, improving alignment with in-demand jobs, increasing transparency and accountability to ensure CTE programs deliver results.

H.R. 2353 is supported by numerous groups and organizations including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Association of Teachers, IBM, the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.