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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION 371

 
2    WHEREAS, Career and Technical Education (CTE) links
3academic learning directly to workplace competencies through
4hands-on learning, career exploration, on-site instruction,
5and credentialing to give students a jump start on their
6postsecondary education or meaningful career; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Students who take more than two CTE courses in a
8sequence have a 90% graduation rate and are as likely as
9non-CTE students to enroll in college, and students with three
10or more CTE classes in high school are far more likely to
11persevere in college and obtain a degree; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The federal Strengthening Career and Technical
13Education for the 21st Century Act, which amended the Carl D.
14Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, was signed into law
15on July 31, 2018; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The Perkins re-authorization provides renewed
17opportunities to improve CTE and enables more flexibility for
18states to meet the unique needs of their learners, educators,
19and employers; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and
21the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) convened a broad

 

 

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1group of stakeholders to provide input as the agency drafts its
2plan and have continued this feedback loop with stakeholders
3through committees (Equity and Access, Transitions and
4Alignment, Data and Accountability, Employer Engagement,
5Teacher Pipeline and Professional Development, and
6Innovation); and
 
7    WHEREAS, CTE funding in Illinois has been largely stagnant
8since 2004, while surrounding states continue to invest heavily
9in Career and Technical Education programs that encourage
10industry partnerships and emphasize credentialing; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Department of Commerce and Economic
12Opportunity's (DCEO) related Workforce Investment Opportunity
13Act (WIOA) plan is due to the federal government on the same
14timeline as the Perkins plan, allowing an unprecedented
15opportunity for alignment between the two plans; and
 
16    WHEREAS, K-12 CTE coursework teaches skills that are
17transferable to numerous careers and allows students to explore
18career options and find a pathway while still in the K-12
19system; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly has established a
21set of strategies for a robust and coordinated postsecondary
22education and career readiness system through the enactment of

 

 

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1the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act; and
 
2    WHEREAS, This year presents a unique chance for Illinois to
3consider its CTE funding methodology, alignment with priority
4occupational areas, modernization of course catalog codes,
5development of pathways sequences, alignment to the
6Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act, and state supports
7needed to effectively enable high-quality local CTE programs;
8therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
10HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11we encourage ISBE and ICCB to include within the State's
12Perkins Plan:
13        (1) A funding methodology that incentivizes completion
14    of aligned course sequences, early college credit, and
15    work-based learning as part of college and career pathway
16    systems extending from high school into postsecondary;
17        (2) An expansion of equitable access to high quality
18    career pathway systems to students across Illinois;
19        (3) The inclusion of program quality indicators that
20    address both dual credit and work-based learning;
21        (4) The incentivizing of innovative regional career
22    pathway models incorporating the Postsecondary and
23    Workforce Readiness Act's College and Career Pathways
24    Endorsements through Perkins Reserve funding; and

 

 

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1        (5) The alignment of definitions and systems between
2    the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act and the
3    State's career pathways definitions; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That ISBE, ICCB, and the Illinois Workforce
5Innovation Board (IWIB) shall work collaboratively with each
6other and with school districts, community colleges, business
7and industry, and other organizations to ensure alignment among
8the Perkins and WIOA plans and priority occupational areas; and
9be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That as the applicable agencies step back to
11rethink and improve allocation of Perkins and WIOA funding, the
12agencies also assess their administrative capacity to
13effectively support local programs, maintain accurate and
14accessible data, and modernize course coding frameworks and
15other administrative structures to better enable local
16innovation, and propose, within their Perkins and WIOA Plans,
17funding or structural mechanisms necessary to provide that
18support; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That ISBE, ICCB, and IWIB shall report to the
20General Assembly and the P-20 Council on or before December 1,
212019 on how the State's draft versions of Perkins and WIOA
22plans address the foregoing recommendations, and the P-20
23Council shall subsequently review the draft Perkins and WIOA

 

 

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1plans and make recommendations to ISBE, ICCB, IWIB, and the
2General Assembly on or before February 29, 2020 on how to
3strengthen the plans and any other aspect of law or policy to
4better address the foregoing recommendations prior to the April
52020 deadline to submit to the U.S. Department of Education.