Vocational Education Opportunities.

Overview & Synopsis

Vocational education is a key to the education of the future, as the schools absorb more responsibility for preparing students to enter a rapidly expanding job market. Although there are great visions for the future of vocational education, there must be concern for daily details of financial management, personnel motivation, and administrative planning. The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act is being implemented. The U.S. Department of Education is providing assistance in its implementation through the ADVOCNET electronic mail network in lieu of expensive travel. In the implementation of the Act, there are five key areas for regulations: (1) vocational education improvement, innovation, and expansion programs; (2) excess costs requirements for funding handicapped and disadvantaged student programs; (3) state administration--7 percent allocation; (4) expenditure formulas for programs for limited-English-speaking persons; and (5) Title III Consumer and Homemaking Education and Guidance and Counseling programs. Another key concern is the Federal budget. Some priorities for discretionary projects funding include bilingual vocational education, programs for Indians and Hawaiians, the correctional education program, the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, and the Curriculum Coordination Center. The key to all of these activities is industry-education partnerships. This is a time of great opportunity for education, time to go forward with not only the three R's but also the three C's--content, character, and choice. (KC)