Perkins Funding

Issue:
On Monday, February 4, 2008, President Bush released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009.  The budget includes $52.9 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, the same level appropriated by Congress for FY 2008.  This budget proposal eliminates all funding for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. 

U.S. Department of Education officials rationalize that elimination of Perkins is due to “tough choices,” a continued focus on federal programs that support rigorous academics.

Impact:
The Perkins program plays a critical role in providing the skills and knowledge essential for a competitive workforce.  Quality Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, including agricultural education, are linked to rigorous academic instruction and are improving student engagement through “real world” application to prepare students for successful careers.

The Bush Administration eliminated Perkins funding in FY 2006 and FY 2007, and cut Perkins funding in half in FY 2008.  However, Congress has ignored these recommendations and restored funding for the Perkins program each year.  It is important to note the strong connection between FFA – Agricultural Education – and Career and Technical Education  programs.  Cutting Perkins funding means funding cuts for Ag Ed and FFA programs.

The Perkins program is crucial to ensuring that students have the necessary skills to compete in a global economy and a $1.7 billion investment will help address rising student enrollment and costs of implementation.

Farm Bureau Policy:
High school career and technical education programs for agriculture and the National FFA Organization are vital programs for development of the talent and leadership needed in farming and agricultural service industries. We support "10x15: The Long Range Goal for Agricultural Education" to help create new programs in communities not yet served by agricultural education and FFA and ensure the quality and high performance of current programs providing personal, academic and career education in agriculture. We support an increase in federal funding and necessary personnel to advance the initiative. We encourage school districts to revise their agricultural curriculum to a level where credits in agricultural courses can be utilized as science credits. We encourage universities to accept these agricultural course credits as science credits. We support career and technical education and post high school job training and retraining. We strongly support continued federal funding at current or higher levels for career and technical education.

Legislative Request:
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau members urge Congress to reject the President’s blueprint for education and increase Perkins funding to $1.7 billion.