Reauthorization of the Perkins Act in the 115th Congress: Comparison of Current Law and H.R. 2353 
Released: 2017-06-28T00:00:00

Summary:
Since 1984, a number of acts named after former Congressman Carl D. Perkins have been the main federal laws authorized to support the development of career and technical education (CTE) programs aimed at students in secondary and postsecondary education. The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins Act; P.L. 109-270), the most recent reauthorization of the federal CTE law, was passed in 2006 and authorized appropriations through FY2012. The authorization of appropriations was extended through FY2013 under the General Education Provisions Act, and the Perkins Act has continued to receive appropriations through annual appropriations acts through FY2017.
During the 114th Congress, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce marked up and unanimously reported the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 5587), which would have provided for a comprehensive reauthorization of the Perkins Act. H.R. 5587 was subsequently passed by the House of Representatives on September 13, 2016, by a vote of 405-5. No further action was taken on the bill.
In the 115th Congress, a new act, also named the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2353), was introduced and marked up by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. H.R. 2353 is similar to H.R. 5587 from the 114th Congress but contains several modified provisions. The committee reported the bill unanimously on May 17, 2017. H.R. 2353 was passed by the House under suspension of the rules on June 22, 2017.
H.R. 2353 would make a number of major changes to current law. Some of these include
repealing the Tech Prep program, which provided funds to consortia of secondary and postsecondary CTE providers but has not been funded since FY2010; gradually raising total authorized appropriation levels for CTE, reaching a total of $1.21 billion in FY2023, compared to the FY2017 actual appropriations of $1.12 billion; introducing a change to the state allocation formula that would require that states receive an allocation of no less than 90% of their previous year's allocation starting in FY2021; permitting states to reserve up to 15% of their Basic State Grants funds for innovative CTE activities in rural areas or areas with higher numbers or concentrations of CTE students; allowing states to set their own annual targets on the core indicators of performance at both the secondary and postsecondary education levels without approval from the Secretary of Education; replacing the local plan required from CTE providers with a comprehensive needs assessment meant to align the CTE programs being offered with local workforce needs; removing the ability of the Secretary of Education to withhold state funds due to a lack of improved performance; and revising and introducing a number of new definitions, including common definitions for terms already defined in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
This report highlights the key provisions in H.R. 2353 and explains the major differences between it and current law.

subsections: section_title: Introduction
paragraphs: Since 1984, a number of acts named after former Congressman Carl D. Perkins have been the main federal laws authorized to support the development of career and technical education (CTE) programs aimed at students in secondary and postsecondary education. The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins Act; P.L. 109-270 ), the most recent reauthorization of the federal CTE law, was passed in 2006 and authorized appropriations through FY2012. The authorization of appropriations was extended through FY2013 under the General Education Provisions Act, and the Perkins Act has continued to receive appropriations through annual appropriations acts through FY2017. 
During the 114 th Congress, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce marked up and unanimously reported the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21 st Century Act ( H.R. 5587 ), which would have provided for a comprehensive six-year reauthorization of the Perkins Act. H.R. 5587 was subsequently passed by the House of Representatives on September 13, 2016, by a vote of 405-5. No further action was taken on the bill.
In the 115 th Congress, a new act, also named the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21 st Century Act ( H.R. 2353 ), was introduced and marked up by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. H.R. 2353 is similar to H.R. 5587 from the 114 th Congress but contains several modified provisions. The committee reported the bill unanimously on May 17, 2017. H.R. 2353 was passed by the House under suspension of the rules on June 22, 2017. H.R. 2353 would authorize appropriations through FY2023.
This report does not attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of H.R. 2353 . Rather, it provides an overview of the primary changes that would be made by H.R. 2353 . Table 1 compares provisions in current law side-by-side with new or revised provisions in H.R. 2353 . It also contains a section that highlights selected definitions that would be significantly revised or are introduced in H.R. 2353 . Table A-1 depicts the authorizations of appropriations for CTE programs authorized under H.R. 2353 .
section_title: Highlights of H.R. 2353
paragraphs:  Table 1 highlights the differences between current law and H.R. 2353 , as passed by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in May 2017. The table is organized topically, focusing on the areas of current law that would see the most significant changes under H.R. 2353 . These areas include the following:
overall structure and funding levels, state and local funding formula provisions, state and local plan provisions, accountability and improvement provisions, state and local use of funds provisions, national activities, prohibitions, general provisions, selected revised definitions, and selected new definitions. 
subsections: section_title: Appendix. Authorization Levels in H.R. 2353