SRES 617

Whereas American competitiveness within the global economy requires workers who are prepared with the requisite academic knowledge as well as technical and employability skills needed for career success;

Whereas advancements in technology have fundamentally changed critical economic sectors of the United States and the global economy, creating significant, new demand for high-wage, high-quality, and efficient education and training opportunities;

Whereas career and technical education (referred to in this preamble as CTE) ensures that a competitive and skilled workforce is ready, willing, and capable of holding jobs in high-wage, high-skill, and in-demand career fields;

Whereas CTE helps the United States meet the very real and immediate challenges of economic development, student academic achievement, and global competitiveness;

Whereas, in the United States, it is forecast that by 2031 nearly 1/3 of all jobs will require some level of postsecondary education, but less than a bachelor’s degree;

Whereas approximately 12,000,000 students are enrolled in CTE programs across the United States at the secondary and postsecondary levels, with CTE programs in thousands of comprehensive high schools, technical high schools, area technical centers, career academies, and over 1,000 2-year colleges;

Whereas CTE aligns with labor market demand and provides employability skills and relevant academic and technical coursework leading to credentials of value for secondary and postsecondary education students and adult learners;

Whereas CTE affords students the opportunity to cultivate the knowledge and skills to earn the credentials needed to secure careers in growing, high-demand fields;

Whereas secondary CTE has statistically significant positive impacts on the academic achievement, high school completion, employability skills, and college readiness of students;

Whereas, according to a recent national survey conducted by the Hunt Institute and Lake Research Partners, 91 percent of voters favor increased opportunities for students to access workforce training and related opportunities to cultivate skills needed for a career;

Whereas 83 percent of employers in the United States recruiting from CTE programs find those programs beneficial to their bottom line;

Whereas, in 2018, Congress affirmed on a wide bipartisan basis the importance of CTE by passing the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Public Law 115–224; 132 Stat. 1563), which supports investment and improvement in secondary and postsecondary CTE programs in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and outlying areas; and

Whereas February 23, 2026, marks the 109th anniversary of the signing of the Act of February 23, 1917 (39 Stat. 929, chapter 114, commonly known as the Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act of 1917), which was the first major Federal investment in secondary CTE and laid the foundation for the bipartisan, bicameral support for CTE that continues as of February 2026: Now, therefore, be it