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

Introduction

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 .

Highlights of H.R. 2353

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.

Appendix. Authorization Levels in H.R. 2353