WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Max Miller and 15 of his colleagues, including Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (AK-04), and Veterans Committee Chairman Mike Bost (IL-12), sent a letter to the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, highlighting major concerns with the Department’s proposed “gainful employment” rule that could negatively impact access to career and technical education.
“Facing these dramatic shifts in labor market demand, the United States and the Department should be working to increase access to career education programs and working to assist in the rapid transformation needed for our new economic revolution,” wrote the Representatives.
The proposed rule, published on May 19, 2023, has multiple shortcomings, including but not limited to, a lack of a proper appeals process for programs determined not to meet the Department’s standards and a High School Earnings Measure that is deeply flawed.
“The last thing policymakers want is for a predatory institution to exploit students and taxpayers and saddle graduates with unnecessary debt for certifications that may be worthless,” the letter continued. “However, overburdening career education programs at such a crucial time could be catastrophic.”
“We can all work together to help our nation’s career and technical education programs play their crucial role in building the skills needed for tomorrow’s jobs and promote upward mobility to everyone across this great nation” the members concluded.
Joining Congressman Miller: Rep. Jack Bergman (MI-01), Chairman Mike Bost (IL-12), Rep. Mike Carey (OH-15), Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04), Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Rep. González-Colón (PR-At Large), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), Rep. Dave Joyce (OH-14), Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23), Rep. Debbie Lesko (AZ-08), Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), Rep. Lloyd Smucker (PA-11), Rep. Claudia Tenney (NY-24), Chairman Bruce Westerman (AK-04).
Full text of the letter is available here.
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