What began in the 1970s as a national effort to provide girls equal access to vocational education classes is now an established federal program that is making standards-based, rigorous, results-driven career technical education classes available to all students. You’ve probably heard of it referred to as simply, Perkins. And, as a CTE/ROP teacher, you have access to the funds, too.
The Carl Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 was enacted on July 1, 1999, and will be in effect through June, 2007. The new Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 was signed into law on August 12, 2006 and takes effect July 1, 2007; it is a one-year transition plan that is expected to be extended through June 2012 or 2013. In addition to replacing all references to “vocation educational” with the term “career and technical education,” the new Perkins Act requires the development and implementation of “career and technical programs of study.”
Accordingly, a Request for Proposal (RFP) for new and existing career-themed academies desiring to participate in the 2007-2008 Perkins Act was emailed to all the high school principals on 18 April. The RFP document, along with the definitions of the terms used in the grant application and all the documents that will be submitted are also available on the College, Career and Technical Education website, www.sandiegostc.org.
And, I hear you asking, “What if I’m not part of an academy?” We’ve got you covered. Non-academy CTE teachers will be eligible to submit individual Mini-Grant applications throughout the 2007-2008 academic year. Mini-Grant applications are evaluated for funding based on individual merit and appropriate utilization of funds. The 2007-2008 Mini-Grant application will be linked from the SCT website in early July.
The ‘Academy’ Awards will be announced June 15, 2007 via district email.
The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 was enacted on July 1, 1999 to more fully develop the academic and technical skills of secondary and post-secondary education students. The new Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 was signed into law on August 2, 2006 and takes effect July 1, 2007; it is a one-year transition plan that is expected to be extended through June 2012. In addition to replacing all references to “vocation educational” with the term “career and technical education,” the new Perkins Act requires the development and implementation of “career and technical programs of study.”
In the San Diego Unified School District, the focus is on the development of career-themed academies that integrate academic and career technical education curricula. Principals at each of the district’s high school sites were invited to apply for Perkins funding via a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Grants were awarded to individual academies for the 2007-2008 school year based on program quality as identified in the Career Academy Validation Rubric and a demonstrated commitment to and progress toward implementing the quality academy elements indicated in that rubric. The College, Career and Technical Education department is not interested in maintaining status quo but rather driving innovation and improvement in career technical education programs. Meeting the challenge of this new act requires moving from entitlement to investment; providing academic and technical rigor; and giving all students the opportunity for higher and ‘hire’ education.
A Mini-Grant proposal process has been developed to provide funding to other schools/programs/courses that are integrating academic and career technical skills but are not part of an academy. Mini-Grants are also available to support the achievement of special population students in career technical education courses.
Funding is also made available district wide for professional development opportunities that support academic and career technical education.
