[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16227-16228]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CARL PERKINS CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2006

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to applaud the passage of 
the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 
2006. Perkins, the Federal Government's largest investment in our 
Nation's high schools, provides critical resources for students 
pursuing career and technical education at the secondary and 
postsecondary levels. Although the President has proposed eliminating 
the program in recent budget requests, Perkins has enjoyed a long 
history of bipartisan support. More than 11 million students are 
currently enrolled in some form of career and technical education and I 
am confident this reauthorization will improve the programs and 
services available to help them realize their goals.
  I am particularly heartened by this bill's heightened focus on 
individualized student counseling and the use of graduation and career 
plans. For too many students, high school graduation and postsecondary 
education seem out of reach. That is why I have introduced my Pathways 
for All Students to Succeed, PASS, Act. The PASS Act provides 
assistance for schools to hire and train mathematics and literacy 
coaches; supports the collection and reporting of accurate graduation 
rates; and targets funding for struggling schools to implement reforms. 
It also dedicates resources to increase the number of academic 
counselors working in schools. Research has shown that providing early 
high school students with

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guidance boosts the likelihood that they will graduate with a diploma. 
Early, individualized planning also helps students obtain the 
coursework and training they need to achieve their professional 
aspirations. I applaud the increased focus on individualized student 
counseling and planning in Perkins, which will reach career and 
technical education students earlier in their schooling and put them on 
a track to graduate.
  This Perkins reauthorization retains and strengthens the Tech Prep 
program, which encourages states to design and implement innovative 
programs that combine secondary and postsecondary activities into a 
coherent set of courses. In my home State of Washington, it is 
estimated that workforce training at community and technical colleges 
increases a student's lifetime earnings by more than $150,000. Federal 
Perkins dollars, matched by States and localities, are precisely the 
kind of government investment that pays off over a lifetime and I 
salute the continuation of these important programs.
  In addition, I am heartened by several of the major changes we made 
to update the bill. We strengthened the emphasis on assisting students 
in preparing for high skill, high wage or high demand occupations, 
ensuring that we provide our students with skills they need to remain 
competitive in today's global marketplace. We promoted partnerships 
among high schools, community colleges, local workforce investment 
boards, business and industry, with the twin goals of providing 
students with pathways toward skilled occupations and producing the 
trained workers that employers need. We promoted professional 
development opportunities for career and technical education teachers, 
counselors, and administrators, so that those leading our classrooms 
and schools remain on the cutting edge of ever-changing workplaces and 
economy.
  I commend this bill for bolstering the reporting requirements for 
Perkins programs, extending this level of transparency to the local 
level and requiring disaggregation for important population subgroups, 
including individuals with disabilities; students from economically 
disadvantaged families, including foster children; people preparing for 
nontraditional training and employment; and single parents, including 
single pregnant women. I am pleased that States now are required to 
report on student rates of attainment of diplomas and GEDs, as well as 
annual graduation rates. Valid and reliable data serves both an 
accountability and diagnostic function, and I am pleased to see that 
this reauthorization requires states to collect and publicize this 
information.
  I would like to thank Senator Kennedy, Chairman Enzi, Chairman 
McKeon, and Congressman Miller for their leadership on this bill. I 
also want to thank Carmel Martin, Jane Oates, J.D. LaRock, Beth 
Buehlmann, Scott Fleming, Whitney Rhoades, and Denise Forte for their 
hard work. The time and effort dedicated by members and staff is 
evident in the quality of the final product and I am pleased to support 
the reauthorization of the act.

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