Reauthorization of the Perkins Act in the 115th Congress: The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act
Released: 2018-12-21T00:00:00

Summary:
The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins Act) is the primary federal law aimed at developing and supporting career and technical education (CTE) programs at the secondary and postsecondary educational levels. Prior to the 115th Congress, the Perkins Act had most recently been reauthorized in 2006 by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV; P.L. 109-270). In the 115th Congress, the Perkins Act was comprehensively reauthorized again, through the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V; P.L. 115-224). Perkins V was signed into law by President Trump in July 2018 and is to go into effect on July 1, 2019.
Under the Perkins Act, funds for the development and improvement of CTE programs are distributed to states by an allocation formula largely based on population and per capita income factors. States then distribute funds to local CTE providers at the secondary and postsecondary education levels according to within-state allocation formulas specified in statute. Recipients of Perkins funds are required to use them for a variety of purposes that help CTE students attain technical skills and earn an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or a postsecondary degree. The accountability framework under the Perkins Act requires state and local recipients of Perkins funds to try to achieve target levels of performance on a series of core indicators of performance. The actual levels of performance on each core indicator are reported by the states and disaggregated by a number of special populations and subgroups. If a state fails to meet 90% of any of its target performance levels, it has to implement a program improvement plan for each of the core indicators of performance for which the target performance levels were not met.
Perkins V makes a number of changes to the Perkins Act. Some of the key changes include the following:
Fund Allocations:
The state allocation formula is changed to give each state a base amount equal to its FY2018 allocation. Any additional funds are distributed among the states based on population and per capita income factors, with a greater share going to the states with the smallest initial allocation. Under Perkins V, states are allowed to reserve up to 15% of their allocation for CTE programs in rural areas or areas with high numbers of CTE students, or for innovative CTE programs, instead of 10%, which is the allowance under Perkins IV.
Recipient Activities:
Provisions in Perkins V require state plans to contain information about how the state's CTE activities will be coordinated with state activities under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Under Perkins V, local CTE providers are required to carry out a needs assessment to better align the offered CTE programs of study with local labor market needs and in-demand occupations.
Accountability Framework:
Provisions in Perkins V consolidate and modify the secondary and postsecondary core indicators of performance. Under Perkins V, states are allowed to determine their own performance targets on the core indicators of performance, as long as certain minimum requirements are met. In addition to existing data reporting and disaggregation requirements, Perkins V requires states to disaggregate CTE student achievement data by the CTE program or program of study in which the concentrator is enrolled.
Program Eliminations:
Provisions in Perkins V eliminate Title II of the Perkins Act, known as the Tech Prep program.
New Programs:
Perkins V introduces a national competitive grant program aimed at identifying, supporting, and evaluating evidence-based and innovative strategies and activities to improve and modernize CTE and align workforce skills with labor market needs.

subsections: section_title: Introduction
paragraphs: The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins Act) is the primary federal law aimed at developing and supporting career and technical education (CTE) programs at the secondary and postsecondary educational levels. Prior to the 115 th Congress, the Perkins Act had most recently been reauthorized in 2006 by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV; P.L. 109-270 ). On July 31, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21 st Century Act (Perkins V; P.L. 115-224 ), which comprehensively reauthorized the Perkins Act. Perkins V is the most recent in a series of acts that have reauthorized the main federal law authorizing support for the development of CTE programs aimed at students in secondary and postsecondary education.
The provisions of Perkins V go into effect on July 1, 2019. The first year of implementation will be considered a transition year and states will be able to submit transition plans to cover requirements for the July 2019-June 2020 program year. Perkins V authorizes appropriations for CTE programs for FY2019 through FY2024. Following the transition plan, or in lieu of the transition plan, each state must submit a state plan for the period of authorization. 
The reauthorization of the Perkins Act in the 115 th Congress began in the House, which passed its version of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21 st Century Act ( H.R. 2353 ) by voice vote on June 22, 2017. The Senate passed its own version of the bill by voice vote on July 23, 2018. The House agreed to the Senate version of H.R. 2353 two days later, and the bill was signed into law by the President as P.L. 115-224 . 
This report does not attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of Perkins V. Rather, it provides an overview of the primary differences between provisions in place under Perkins IV and those enacted in Perkins V. 
 Table 1 compares provisions in Perkins IV with new or revised provisions in Perkins V. It also contains a section that highlights selected definitions that are significantly revised or are introduced in Perkins V. Table A-1 depicts the authorizations of appropriations for programs authorized under the Perkins Act as amended by Perkins V.
section_title: Comparison of Provisions in Place under Perkins IV to Those Enacted in Perkins V
paragraphs:  Table 1 highlights the differences between provisions under Perkins IV and Perkins V as signed into law on July 31, 2018. The table is organized topically, focusing on the areas that will see the most significant changes under Perkins V. These areas include the following:
overall structure and authorized funding levels, state and local funding formula provisions, state and local plan provisions, accountability and improvement plan provisions, state and local uses of funds, national activities, general provisions, selected revised definitions, and selected new definitions. 
subsections: section_title: Appendix. Authorization Levels in Perkins V