Congress Loves CTE

Anti CCSS/ESSA Warriors, it’s one thing that Congress is in its recess right now, but have you seen what they did just before leaving D.C.?  Look above. Both of these, HR5587 AND S3271 made their debut in July 2016.

If you have followed my research and writing for long, you know that one of my specialties is ‘Common Core’ after high school, regardless of where the PreK through High School is completed.

If you haven’t followed me long, then you haven’t seen how, in the fall of 2014, I exposed the Adult Common Core State Standards, or how, I exposed how the Career and Technical Education was changed to Career Tech Education. You haven’t seen where I tied Career Clusters, Career Pathways, The American Apprenticeship Initiative, STEM, and STEM to STEAM, back to Common Core. To keep the focus on what is current, I will not be sharing the links to each of these juggernauts. However, if you need the information, please, let me know.

The Purposed Legislative Scramble ( more background before we tackle the ‘latest’ news):

In one of my articles published not long after the ink was dry on ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), I told you the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) was embedded in ESSA about 65 times. WIOA is also linked to HEA (Higher Education Act) via the Carl Perkins funding.

WIOA also ties back to the American Apprenticeships and STEM (along with the STEM to STEAM). ESSA has STEM embedded too. Most citizens have been shocked when I share with them that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math; the ‘a’ was added later and embedded the Arts in STEM to create STEAM) is NOT separate from CCSS (Common Core State Standards) but is in fact a product of the interaction between the PCAST (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology) and the President USING CCSS as a detractor from what was really happening! Just as CCSS is no friend to education reform, the way STEM has been rolled out, is not a friend either. Why? The goal of STEM is not education, but a ‘workforce nation’. Does this sound familiar?!

Think of it this way:

Warriors, there has been NO mistake about the workforce shift. There has been no law related (in any way, shape, form, or fashion) to education without it. These have been  carefully plotted moves in the making for YEARS. As other researchers have also shown you, the movement is global, not exclusive to America.

So, it shouldn’t really be a surprise to find our Congress creating MORE legislation along the streamlined workforce path already in place.

What’s a Warrior to do?! Speak up to your Congress members. Especially if they are sponsoring either HR5587 or S3271. Spread the knowledge, many citizens in America are convinced that CCSS (and now ESSA) is ONLY K-12 and in traditional type schools. THIS IS A LIE, regardless who tells you!

ESSA has birth to first grade readiness, special needs alignment, dual and concurrent enrollment, AP or IB classes/courses, and every conceivable education choice ensnared. Either through the digital assessments (to take place inside and outside the home), funding (not just education funds, but health/human services, labor, commerce, etc.), FASFA forms, and/or wrap around services for entire communities.  ESSA is written to conform, not to free States.

HR 5587, Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act:

Link to the Press Release: http://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400923

Here’s what we need to know as Warriors Against Fed Led Ed:
1) Being championed as a ‘bipartisan’ piece of great legislation, 5587, passed the Ed and Workforce (U.S. House of Representatives) by a vote of 37-0.
2) 5587 was introduced by Rep. Thompson of PA and Rep. Clark from MA.
3) Press release is dated July 2016, Congress is in recess until early September.
4) The purpose of 5587? “reauthorizes and reforms the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act to help more Americans enter the workforce with the skills they need to compete for high-skilled, in-demand jobs.”
5) Be sure to read the other Representatives who are featured in the Press Release. Take note of Rep. Kline’s. He was a huge backer of ESSA before it was called ESSA. Speaking of such, remember when you step into the voting booths in November that the House of Representative’s education bill (HR5) went on to become key in ESSA’s language. Also remember the voting record of HR5..it had not a single “No” vote.
6) You will also see several bullet points about the great flexibility States will have to streamline work and education (there is even a shameless plug for how it will help taxpayers). As we have proven with ESSA, State and local flexibility is not true.
7) 5587 is 88 pages long. It takes effect 7/1/17. Subtle shifts in language (just as in ESSA) pack a powerful punch. How so? See for yourselves, “(A) by striking ‘‘academic and career and  technical skills’’ and inserting ‘‘academic knowledge and technical and employability skills’’; (B) by inserting ‘‘and programs of study’’  after ‘‘technical education programs’’;  (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, including  tech prep education’’;  (3) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and programs of study’’ after ‘‘technical education programs’’; and  5  (4) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘or programs’’ after ‘‘education schools’’ ”
8) You’ll also see other big shifts in the language, like ‘in demand’ occupations, regionally based education, competency based education, etc.
Get the download Act 5587:
strengthening_career_and_technical_education_for_the_21st_century_act
(*Note: I will be doing a more in-depth article about 5587 in the near future, as I will with
S3271)

S3271, Workforce Advance Act:

The Press Release from Sen. Bennet (CO)‘s website: https://www.bennet.senate.gov/?p=release&id=3742
Again, bipartisanship is being heralded.
Again, ‘more choice’ in learning (a very false positive statement). See how Sen. Bennet’s website stated it, “give more high school students the opportunity to take career and technical education college courses that can help prepare them for success in the 21st century. The Workforce Advance Act will help strengthen and expand dual and concurrent enrollment and early college high school options as part of Perkins-supported career technical education (CTE) programs. Strong CTE programs can provide vital access to the knowledge and skills needed for job and career success.”

But that’s not all S3271 will do. Check out what teachers have to look forward to, “The bill would allow schools to use a portion of the funding they receive through the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act for tuition and fees for CTE college courses. It would also allow school districts to use funding to support teachers pursuing the credentials needed to teach these courses in their high schools, helping to remove a barrier to providing access to college credit. Finally, the bill would allow the Department of Education to use national CTE activities to help identify successful methods and best practices for providing dual or concurrent enrollment programs and early college high school career and technical education opportunities.”

Warriors, ‘region specific education’ is already written into ESSA. Teachers being trained to teach post-secondary readiness (for college and career) is already written into ESSA! ‘National activities’ and ‘CTE activities’ are also already written into ESSA!

Other tentacles of WIOA, HEA, STEM, and ESSA in S3271:
1) apprenticeships
2) public-private partnerships, especially in businesses
3) data mining and sharing of data between U.S. Dept. of Ed, U.S. Dept. of Labor, U.S. Commerce Dept., and all of these at the State levels, too.
4) more use of students as ‘lab rats’ for ‘evidence based research’.
5) how those in rural areas will be encompassed
6) special needs tracks for CTE will also increase

See the S3271: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/3271/text
Presently, the U.S. Senate’s HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) Committee has S3271. This is also the same group headed by Sen. Lamar Alexander. HELP is also charged with checking up on how ESSA is progressing.

Where did the backbone for S3271 come from? According to the Senate’s supporting documents for S3271, the State Directors for CTE  and the Assoc. for CTE created a document of principles for S3271. See: Senate Principles Crosswalk_FINAL

What you see below is the evidence to verify what my research has already shown,
1) that WIOA is, in fact embedded in ESSA.
2) that school counselors (per a White House led Initiative) are to influence students
(related will be the counselors at the one-stop-job/career-centers where non traditional students and those seeking a job will be influenced)
3) that ANY school receiving Perkins funding will be impacted (this includes the proprietary (for profit) schools and virtual schools.

Closing:

Reach out and contact a Congress member soon. If you Tweet, use any of the info above to create appropriate messages of dissent. If you have access to them in other social media, use whatever you need to make your points. Here is a list of the Congressional Twitter accounts: https://twitter.com/verified/lists/us-congress/members?lang=en

Can we stop Congress from passing these? I believe we can. Both have only been introduced. Both haven’t cleared their respective Chambers, much less crossed over. Neither has been signed into law yet. Let’s get busy, Warriors!

What you see below is from Dec. 2015, when Perkins Funding received an extension to continue funding across the nation for all those in CTE courses. It was signed just days after ESSA was passed into law.

The rope is tightening, Warriors, but we can break that rope with massive amounts of teamwork!