Congressman Krishnamoorthi Leads Colleagues in Letter to Department of Education On Addressing The Career And Technical Education Instructor Shortage
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a group of House colleagues in sending a letter to Dr. Amy Loyd, U.S. Assistant Secretary to the Department of Education, concerning the difficulties that schools are facing in recruiting and retaining instructors in Career and Technical Education (CTE). In the letter, Congressman Krishnamoorthi and his colleagues asked the Education Department to ramp up data collection efforts on this issue to assist Congress in increasing educational opportunities to meet workforce demands.
In the letter, the Members write: “As you continue to collect data on the educational workforce, we ask you to consider the significant shortage of instructors specializing in CTE. Collecting specific data that encompasses the scope of teacher shortages within CTE, including the specific Career Clusters most affected, will assist Congress in increasing educational opportunities to meet workforce demands.”
The Members request information about the following by no later than August 30, 2024:
- What mechanisms currently exist at the Department of Education to procure CTE-specific teacher shortage data?
- We ask that the Department of Education to begin collecting robust data on the characteristics of the CTE teacher workforce disaggregated by CTE program area and/or Career Cluster. Information should include characteristics such as demographics, salary, years of industry experience, and highest level of educational attainment.
- When collecting data for the Department’s Teacher Shortage Area database5 , we ask that schools no longer offering CTE programming due to staffing shortages be noted.
Other Members who signed the letter include Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Alma Adams (D-NC), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Angie Craig (D-MN), Josh Harder (D-CA)
The letter is available here.
###