The State Board of Education today approved the Perkins V Plan, which will be submitted to the United States Department of Education in spring 2020. The Plan focuses on strategies for improving the recruitment, preparation and retention of effective career and technical education (CTE) teachers, while also ensuring that CTE programs are aligned with the local labor market and business needs across Florida.
While the Plan is designed to ensure high quality training for high-wage, high-skill, high-demand employment by eliminating barriers and expanding access to CTE, the Plan also provides opportunities for students to participate in work-based learning, entrepreneurship education, mentoring and apprenticeships to support the development of relevant, real-world industry-driven skills
“Florida is preparing for a time of unprecedented change,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.“This bold Plan will optimize system and state enthusiasm for the value of career and technical education for years to come. The Plan will build upon the tremendous work taking place to ensure all Floridians have a pathway to achieve their career goals, and I commend the State Board for approving it at today’s meeting.”
“Florida’s Perkins V State Plan, combined with the directives of Executive Order 19-31, provide a remarkable opportunity to align the entire CTE system to industry and the future workforce needs of Florida,” said Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran. “Thanks to Governor DeSantis for his visionary leadership around the future of CTE – a vision that has helped inform the innovations in the Plan. This Plan will put us on the path for Florida to become #1 in workforce education by 2030.”
President Donald Trump signed The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) into law July 31, 2018. This made available nearly $1.3 billion annually for CTE programs throughout the nation. Of this, Florida will receive approximately $73 million annually to expand opportunities for every student to explore, choose and follow CTE programs of study and career pathways to earn credentials of value.
To ensure maximum alignment with the Governor’s vision for making Florida #1 in workforce education, the Plan proposed the following bold improvements over the previous (Perkins IV) plan:
1) A new requirement that school districts and Florida College System institutions conduct a comprehensive local needs assessments (CLNA) to ensure funding is directed to programs in alignment with local workforce demand;
2) Increased emphasis on identifying and closing performance gaps for special populations, including underrepresented genders in non-traditional programs;
3) Enabling school districts and Florida College System institutions to use Perkins funding for registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships with direct support for related technical instruction; and
4) Development of more rigorous standards to benefit students. For example, it is now explicit that secondary (grades 6-12) CTE programs, must provide students the opportunity to earn a credential of value to use Perkins dollars; and it is now explicit that postsecondary (school district technical colleges and Florida College System) institutions must offer full CTE programs for students to complete.
For more information on Perkins V, please visit fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/funding-opportunities/PerkinsV.stml.
For more information about the Florida Department of Education, visit www.fldoe.org.
