I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 366
To amend the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act 
of 1998 to strengthen and improve programs under that Act. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 26, 2005
Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. EHLERS, and Mr. 
WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical 
Education Act of 1998 to strengthen and improve pro-
grams under that Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vocational and Tech-
nical Education for the Future Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 
Wherever in this Act an amendment is expressed in 
terms of an amendment to or repeal of a section or other 
provision, the amendment or repeal shall be considered to
be made to a section or other provision of the Carl D. 
Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 
(20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES AND DEFINITIONS. 
(a) PURPOSES.—Section 2(2) (20 U.S.C. 2301(2)) is 
amended by inserting ‘‘rigorous and challenging’’ after 
‘‘integrate’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 (20 U.S.C. 2302) is 
amended—
(1) by striking paragraph (26) and redesig-
nating paragraphs (21) through (25) as paragraphs 
(23) through (27), and paragraphs (27) through 
(30) as paragraphs (29) through (32), respectively; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 
(20) as paragraphs (5) through (21), respectively, 
and inserting after paragraph (3) the following: 
‘‘(4) ARTICULATION
AGREEMENT.—The term 
‘articulation agreement’ means a written commit-
ment, agreed upon at the State level or approved an-
nually and facilitated by the lead administrators of 
the secondary and postsecondary consortia members 
as described in section 135(b)(3)(A), to provide a 
program designed to provide students with a non-
duplicative sequence of progressive achievements 
leading to degrees, certificates, or credentials in a
tech-prep education program linked through credit 
transfer agreements.’’; 
(3) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), by 
inserting ‘‘to students (and parents, as appro-
priate)’’ after ‘‘providing access’’; 
(4) in paragraph (6) (as so redesignated), by 
striking ‘‘section 5206’’ and inserting ‘‘section 
5210’’; 
(5) in paragraph (7) (as so redesignated)—
(A) by striking ‘‘method of instruction’’ 
and inserting ‘‘method’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘rigorous and chal-
lenging’’ after ‘‘required’’; 
(6) in paragraph (11)(A) (as so redesignated), 
by striking ‘‘an’’ and inserting ‘‘a public or non-
profit private’’; 
(7) in paragraph (18) (as so redesignated)—
(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 
‘‘training and employment’’ and inserting 
‘‘fields’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘training and employment’’ 
and inserting ‘‘fields’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘current and’’ after ‘‘tech-
nology, and other’’;
(8) in paragraph (19) (as so redesignated), by 
striking ‘‘the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the 
Federated States of Micronesia,’’; 
(9) by inserting after paragraph (21) (as so re-
designated) the following: 
‘‘(22) SCIENTIFICALLY
BASED
RESEARCH.—
The term ‘scientifically based research’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 9101(37) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 780137).’’; 
(10) in paragraph (25) (as so redesignated)—
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
‘‘training and employment’’ and inserting 
‘‘fields’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
‘‘and’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (F)—
(i) by striking ‘‘individuals with other 
barriers to educational achievement, in-
cluding’’; and 
(ii) by striking the period and insert-
ing ‘‘; and’’; and 
(D) by inserting after subparagraph (F) 
the following:
‘‘(G) individuals with other barriers to edu-
cational achievement, as determined by the 
State.’’; 
(11) by inserting after paragraph (27) (as so 
redesignated) the following: 
‘‘(28) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—The term ‘sup-
portive services’ means services such as transpor-
tation, child care, dependent care, and needs-based 
payments, that are necessary to enable an individual 
to participate in activities authorized under this 
Act.’’; 
(12) in paragraph (29) (as so redesignated), by 
striking ‘‘section 2’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(a)(4)’’; 
(13) in paragraph (30) (as so redesignated)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘of subsection (a)’’ after 
‘‘paragraph (2)’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (5)(A) of such 
section’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (5)(A) of 
such subsection’’; and 
(14) by amending paragraph (31)(A) (as so re-
designated) to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) offer a sequence of courses that—
‘‘(i) provides individuals with the rig-
orous and challenging academic and tech-
nical knowledge and skills the individuals
need to prepare for further education and 
for careers (other than careers requiring a 
master’s or doctoral degree) in current or 
emerging employment sectors; 
‘‘(ii) may include the provision of 
skills or courses necessary to enroll in a se-
quence of courses that meet the require-
ments of this subparagraph; and 
‘‘(iii) provides, at the postsecondary 
level, for a 1-year certificate, an associate 
degree, or industry recognized credential; 
and’’. 
SEC. 4. TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 
Section 4 (20 U.S.C. 2303) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘the Carl D. Perkins Vocational 
and Applied Technology Education Act’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the ‘Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical 
Education Act of 1998’ ’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘the Carl D. Perkins Vocational 
and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 
1998’’ and inserting ‘‘the Vocational and Technical 
Education for the Future Act. Each eligible agency 
shall be assured 1 full fiscal year for transition, to 
plan for and implement the requirements of this 
Act’’.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 8 (20 U.S.C. 2307) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act (other than subsection (a), (b), and (c) of section 
114, and sections 117 and 118) $1,307,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2006 and such sums as may be necessary for each 
of fiscal years 2007 through 2011.’’. 
SEC. 6. PROHIBITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Carl D. Perkins Vocational 
and Technical Education Act of 1998 (20 U.S.C. 2301 
et seq.) is amended by adding after section 8 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 9. PROHIBITIONS. 
‘‘(a) LOCAL CONTROL.—Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to authorize an officer or employee of the Fed-
eral government to mandate, direct, or control a State, 
local educational agency, or school’s curriculum, program 
of instruction, or allocation of State or local resources, or 
mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend any 
funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act. 
‘‘(b) NO PRECLUSION OF OTHER ASSISTANCE.—Any 
State that declines to submit an application to the Sec-
retary for assistance under this Act shall not be precluded
from applying for assistance under any other program ad-
ministered by the Secretary. 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITION
ON REQUIRING FEDERAL AP-
PROVAL OR CERTIFICATION OF STANDARDS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of Federal law, no State shall 
be required to have academic and vocational and technical 
content or student academic and vocational and technical 
achievement standards approved or certified by the Fed-
eral government, in order to receive assistance under this 
Act.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents in section 1(b) is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to section 8 the following:
‘‘Sec. 9. Prohibitions.’’.
SEC. 7. ALLOTMENT AND ALLOCATION TO STATES. 
(a) ALLOTMENT
FOR NATIONAL ACTIVITIES
FOR 
2006.—Section 111(a)(1) (20 U.S.C. 2321(a)(1)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) RESERVATIONS.—From the sum appro-
priated under section 8 for each fiscal year, the Sec-
retary shall reserve—
‘‘(A) 0.12 percent to carry out section 115; 
‘‘(B) 1.50 percent to carry out section 116, 
of which—
‘‘(i) 1.25 percent of the sum shall be 
available to carry out section 116(b); and
‘‘(ii) 0.25 percent of the sum shall be 
available to carry out section 116(h); and 
‘‘(C) 0.54 percent to carry out section 
114(d).’’. 
(b) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.—Section 111(a) (20 
U.S.C. 2321(a)) is further amended—
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(or in the 
case of fiscal year 1999’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘Amendments of 1998)’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘(or in the case of fiscal year 
2006 only, under this section and under title II of 
this Act, as such section and title were in effect on 
the day before the date of enactment of the Voca-
tional and Technical Education for the Future 
Act)’’; and 
(2) by amending paragraph (4)(A) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No State shall receive 
an allotment under this section for a fiscal year 
that is less than the allotment the State re-
ceived for fiscal year 2005 under this section 
and under title II of this Act (as such section 
and title were in effect on the day before the 
date of enactment of the Vocational and Tech-
nical Education for the Future Act).’’.
(c) WITHIN STATE ALLOCATION.—Section 112 (20 
U.S.C. 2322) is amended—
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a) ALLOCATION FORMULA.—From the amount al-
lotted to each State under section 111 for a fiscal year, 
the State board (hereinafter referred to as the ‘eligible 
agency’) shall allocate such amount as follows: 
‘‘(1) Subject to paragraph (4), not less than 88 
percent shall be made available for distribution 
under section 131 or 132, of which the eligible agen-
cy shall first make available for the activities de-
scribed in section 135(b)(3) not less than the 
amount allotted in fiscal year 2005 to such eligible 
agency under title II of this Act (as such title was 
in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 
the Vocational and Technical Education for the Fu-
ture Act), reduced by the percentage by which the 
amount allotted to the State under section 111 for 
the fiscal year is less than the amount allotted under 
such section to such State for fiscal year 2005. Of 
the remainder of the 88 percent, not more than 10 
percent may be used in accordance with subsection 
(c).
‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (4), not more than 
10 percent shall be made available to carry out State 
leadership activities described in section 124, of 
which—
‘‘(A) an amount equal to not more than 1 
percent of the amount allotted to the State 
under section 111 for the fiscal year shall be 
made available to serve individuals in State in-
stitutions, such as State correctional institu-
tions and institutions that serve individuals 
with disabilities; and 
‘‘(B) not less than $60,000 and not more 
than $150,000 shall be available for services 
that prepare individuals for nontraditional 
fields. 
‘‘(3) An amount equal to not more than 2 per-
cent, or $250,000, whichever is greater, shall be 
made available for administration of the State plan, 
which may be used for the costs of—
‘‘(A) developing the State plan; 
‘‘(B) reviewing the local plan; 
‘‘(C) monitoring and evaluating program 
effectiveness; 
‘‘(D) assuring compliance with all applica-
ble Federal laws; and