On Tuesday, July 31, 2018, President Trump signed legislation that renews the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act - the main source of funding for career and technical education programs that are offered in high schools and after graduation.
This federal workforce development program will bring more then $1 billion a year to states and will have less rules from Washington on how to spend the money and determine the success of the programs.
At an event at Tampa Bay Technical High School in Florida, Trump announced: "Now more than 11 million students and workers will have greater access to better training and more jobs."
(Source: The Washington Post)
What does this mean for professional development?
This law is going to make a big difference when in comes to career development in all states. Previously this Act called for states to negotiate what they wanted to use their funding for with Washington. Now they have the opportunity to determine what it will be used for on their own. This will create a faster turn around when it comes to creating education programs.