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Senator Hassan Helps Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Access to High-Quality Career and Technical Education in High Schools

Senator Hassan Helps Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Access to High-Quality Career and Technical Education in High Schools

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Todd Young (R-IN) in introducing the bipartisanCTE Excellence and Equity Actto support re-designing the high school experience to include courses more relevant to the 21stcentury workforce to better prepare students for future careers. The bill would provide federal funding for partnerships between school districts, employers, and institutions of higher education in New Hampshire and other states that integrate high-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs into high schools. These partnerships help students earn industry recognized credentials or credit toward a postsecondary degree or certificate and an understanding of the relevance of coursework in the context of a future career. According to the nonpartisan organization Achieve, nearly 80 percent of college instructors and 60 percent of employers indicate that public high schools fall short in preparing students for postsecondary education

"Ensuring that young Granite Staters have the skills they need to compete for 21st century jobs is critical to our economic future,"said Senator Maggie Hassan. "This bipartisan bill will expand access to high-quality Career and Technical Education in our high schools - helping prepare our young people for future careers while building a stronger workforce for our innovative businesses. I will continue working across the aisle to pass this common-sense bill and to expand economic opportunity across New Hampshire."

Last week, Senator Hassan announced that she is cosponsoring two other bipartisan bills - the JOBS Act and the LEAP Act - to help build a stronger workforce and expand economic opportunity for Granite Staters. The JOBS Act is a bipartisan bill that would expand Pell Grant eligibility to cover high-quality and rigorous short-term job training programs. The bipartisan LEAP Act would provide a federal tax credit to employers for hiring new apprentices.

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