WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has joined the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus, focused on making sure students have the technical skills needed to succeed in highly specialized workplaces.
“I met with several Iowa students who asked me to join the caucus,” Grassley said. “They emphasized the important point that job success and economic growth are tied to skills training. Students who have the training employers need have the best chance at filling jobs in high demand fields. I hear from employers across Iowa who are looking to fill good, well-paying jobs if they can find skilled employees. We need to make sure Iowans are in a position to take advantage of those opportunities.”
The caucus holds briefings and other events on developments in the field to help make sure Congress is hearing the latest information to inform policy debates that support career and technical education.
Career and technical education programs help ensure that students have the skills needed for high wage, high skill and high demand career fields. These fields include nursing, allied health, construction, information technology, energy, cybersecurity, sustainability and other areas that keep the United States competitive in the global economy. Iowa employers with needs for highly skilled workers include the fields of advanced manufacturing, biosciences and financial services.
Fields requiring skilled trades are the hardest jobs to fill. Career and technical education programs help employers close the skills gap needed to fill jobs and propel economic opportunity and growth. The Senate and the House of Representatives each has a Career and Technical Education Caucus, demonstrating the strong recognition in Congress for this area of education as a priority.
Grassley has a long record of supporting career and technical education. Last week, the Senate passed his resolution with Sen. Joni Ernst honoring Iowa community colleges on 50 years of service. The community colleges partner with employers on education and training to meet local workforce needs.
The education law enacted last December included bipartisan provisions from Grassley and co-sponsors that make certain the needs of high ability students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are included in federal education policy. The bipartisan measure is the TALENT Act, or the To Aid Gifted and High-Ability Learners by Empowering the Nation's Teachers Act.
On foster youth, the law included the bipartisan Educational Stability of Foster Youth Act, which Grassley co-authored, that supports students in the foster care system by strengthening connections between child welfare agencies and state and local education institutions. Often, schools may be the only familiar place for a child in foster care, and the measure helps make sure that those kids can go to school in a safe, stable environment. Grassley is founder and co-chair of the Caucus on Foster Youth.
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