Senate approves Sen. Daughtry bill to improve and expand career and technical education in Maine

AUGUSTA — On Wednesday, the Maine Senate voted in favor of a bill from Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, to improve and expand career and technical education opportunities for Maine students. An amended version of LD 680, “Resolve, To Reestablish the Task Force To Study the Creation of a Comprehensive Career and Technical Education System,” passed with unanimous, bipartisan support in committee.

“For many Mainers, career and technical education has been a path to a fulfilling, good-paying career. More than that, it trains people for the careers and industries that are most in-demand in our state. I’m proud that our state will be undertaking this review, to make sure our CTE programs are the best they can be,” said Sen. Daughtry. “I’m grateful to my colleagues in the Senate for their strong support of this bill.”

LD 680 would establish the Task Force To Study the Creation of a Comprehensive Career and Technical Education System. This 20-member task force would examine the feasibility, advantages and disadvantages of establishing a comprehensive four-year high school career and technical education program for Maine students, to help more Maine students find pathways to good-paying, local jobs. Under the amended version of the bill, the task force would share a report of its findings in 2023.

“Maine is the oldest state in the nation. With that distinction comes many challenges. We are facing the loss of qualified and skilled workers to retirement and few waiting in the wings to fill those roles. Today, manufacturers across the state have thousands of job vacancies with few applicants. These are good paying jobs,” said Jessica Laliberte, policy relations manager for Manufacturers Association of Maine, in testimony supporting the bill. “We need a strong and robust CTE program that shows students there is more than one pathway to a career.”

The bill faces further votes in the Legislature.