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To best understand the landscape of CTE, including identifying concrete policy solutions, we need to look at the data on participation and program and student outcomes in Pennsylvania. For the first time, PPC is sharing a new analysis of CTE data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. For this report, data is for the 2022-23 school year. The data show that increased, sustained state investments are critical to CTE growth and the ability to meet students’ needs.

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Each day, families struggle with food security and the ability to provide their children with healthy meals that fuel their minds and bodies. Lack of nutrient-rich food impacts child development, overall health outcomes, mental and behavioral health and academic achievement, performance, and participation. Free school breakfast has been one initiative provided to Pennsylvania school-aged children to combat child hunger and ensure students succeed.

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Career and technical education (CTE) combines academic, technical and hands-on skill-building that prepares students to immediately enter high-priority occupations or better define career plans, including post-secondary education. Each year thousands of Pennsylvania students will have already earned higher education credits, completed a pre-apprenticeship program or gained on-the-job skills before graduation because of the CTE path they chose in high school. Unfortunately, not all students get to participate in CTE due to the lack of sustained state investments in funding to support programming.

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Career and technical education (CTE) provides a unique combination of academic, technical, and hands-on skill-building that prepares students to either immediately enter the workforce or better define career plans to enter post-secondary education. Funding for CTE is complex, with several streams from federal, state and local funding. Funding sources vary.

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We can learn a great deal from European CTE models, specifically Germany’s system and supporting students and the workforce. Several pieces are adaptable for Pennsylvania’s practices to build a robust CTE system, including improving career exploration and planning by elevating CTE in earlier grades, supporting partnerships between CTE and the business community, and increasing the use of pre-apprenticeship programs. However, we can only be successful with adequate state funding increases for basic education and career and technical education.