Education and the Workforce Committee Vice Chair Burgess Owens (UT-04) participated in a subcommittee hearing focused on strengthening career pathways through Career and Technical Education (CTE). The session, held by the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, highlighted efforts to better connect classroom learning with workforce needs.
During his opening remarks, Rep. Owens pointed to achievements within Utah’s education system. He noted that Jordan School District has provided students with over 16,000 credentials of value and awarded 10,000 credits. According to Owens, students who participate in CTE programs graduate at higher rates than their peers.
“Our children are the most precious resources we have, and we want them to live the best of their lives, and CTE helps make this possible, giving our students the opportunity to experiment with careers before graduating from high school so they’re more knowledgeable of their own interests and aptitudes. CTE also offers students a chance to build tangible, practical skills for use in life and in the workforce,” said Rep. Owens.
Rep. Owens questioned Dr. Deb Volzer of SME about how inter-agency agreements between federal departments affect local CTE programs. Dr. Volzer stated: “Opportunities to collaborate, to innovate, and to ensure that funding is still maintained for these programs is critical to our nation.”
He then asked Mrs. Kristi Rice from Spotsylvania County Public Schools about how federal agreements impact teaching in classrooms.
“As a classroom educator, my focus is delivering the highest quality learning experience for my students. Regardless of where funding is administered, what matters most to me is that CTE programs will continue to receive stable, consistent support so that students have access to tools, technology, and opportunities that they need,” said Mrs. Rice.
Mrs. Rice further explained Virginia’s process for updating cybersecurity curriculum standards: “We actually just did this last week: we reviewed and rewrote our competencies for our cybersecurity course. We do that every three to five years based on the course, and we have higher education in the room. We have industry partners in the room, and we have other high school teachers. So we just make sure that it’s always updated and fresh.”
Rep. Owens also discussed program flexibility with Mrs. Nicole Gasper of West Michigan Aviation Academy.
“Similar to what they just said, my primary focus is on ensuring that we have excellence across all of our programs, including our CTE programs,” said Mrs. Gasper.“It sure would be nice if we could see some continued innovation at the federal level.I’m not someone who tries to predict what will happen and live in fear,but I would also like to not have to fight for every dollar that we get.So having more control locally would be amazing.”
Burgess Owens has represented Utah’s 4th district in Congress since 2021 after replacing Ben McAdams (https://owens.house.gov/about). He was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1951 (https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/O000174), graduated from the University of Miami with a BS degree in 1974 (https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/O000174), and currently resides in Salt Lake City.
