John King, U.S. education secretary, supports the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act -- and he is urging Congress to join him.
“We’ve come a long way from what we used to refer to as vocational education,” King said. “Career and technical education is not just about preparing some students for successful lives and careers -- it’s about giving all students the tools to shape our future.”
The act funds career and technical education programs offered in secondary and post-secondary educational institutions all over the U.S. It was the subject last year of Rep. Joe Kennedy III’s Perkins Modernization Act to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006.
King pointed out that 50,000 people in the U.S. with autism will be entering adulthood -- and the workforce -- every year, and that career and technical education can be the difference between being able to find a job or not. Likewise, such programs are often beneficial for disabled people.
