Senator Todd Young 1-5-18U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) Tuesday applauded the President’s signature of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. The career and technical education (CTE) law was long overdue for reauthorization since its last update in 2006. As Co-Chair of the Senate CTE Caucus, Senator Young worked to advance this legislation in the Senate, and it included several key provisions that benefit Indiana.

“This historic, bipartisan agreement is much-needed. I applaud the President for taking this action to help modernize CTE and prepare our students for the jobs of tomorrow,” said Senator Young. “This bill also included several provisions I helped introduce to support training for academic counselors and encourage innovative professional development training. Hoosiers will benefit from better alignment between CTE programs and real opportunities in the workforce.”

The legislation signed into law by the President Tuesday included the following components that Senator Young helped introduce:

  • Provisions from a bill that Senator Young introduced with U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.) to support training for career guidance and academic counselors so that they can help inform students of opportunities in the workforce.
  • A measure Senator Young worked on with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to encourage professional development training using hands-on learning approaches like makerspaces, which provide students the tools and space needed to build, create, and learn critical skills.