Career and Technical Education Advocacy Grant Program Act

The purpose of this Act is to establish a grant program to enable career and technical education schools to advocate for the value and benefits of career and technical education programs and to increase public awareness of the opportunities and advantages these programs offer.

Congress recognizes the importance of career and technical education in preparing students for successful careers and fostering economic growth.

Subject to the availability of funds appropriated under subsection (f), the Secretary shall award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for the following purposes:

To support activities and campaigns aimed at advocating for the importance of career and technical education (in this Act referred to as CTE) programs to students, parents, educators, employers, and policymakers.

To develop and carry out a public awareness campaign that highlights the benefits of CTE programs and showcases student success stories.

To facilitate partnerships and outreach efforts that engage local businesses, community organizations, and government agencies in support of CTE initiatives.

In this Act, the term eligible entity means a public or private entity that offers a career and technical education program.

To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including information on the specific initiatives the eligible entity intends to carry out to raise public awareness regarding CTE programs.

The Secretary shall establish, through the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, eligibility criteria, application procedures, and a review process for selecting eligible entities to receive grants.

Not later than 1 year after receiving a grant, and on an annual basis thereafter for each year that an eligible entity receives a grant, the eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary a report on the progress and outcomes of the activities supported by the grant under this Act.

The Secretary may, through the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, periodically evaluate and review any program carried out with grant funds under this Act to assess the impact and effectiveness of such a program, which may include an assessment of the needs of the community being served by such a program.

On the basis of a review carried out under paragraph (1), the Secretary may require an eligible entity to make adjustments to the program such entity is carrying out with the grant funds under this Act.

There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2030 to carry out this Act. Amounts appropriated pursuant to such authorization of appropriation are authorized to remain available until expended.

The term career and technical education has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302).

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Education.