Representatives Dworak and Diamond Berman

H.R.

115th Congress
First Session

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 1, 2018

Pathways in Education Act (PIE)

A Bill to create pathways to higher education, such as through vocational high schools,
while students are still in secondary school, and increase the number of vocational
schools available to graduates.

Whereas​ the United States currently has 4,627 colleges, 1.2 million students drop out before
they reach the higher education level, and are unprepared to enter the workforce because of their
lack of career specific education in high school;
Whereas ​countless federal regulations such as mandated standardized tests prevent states and
districts from providing unique educational opportunities which best suit the needs of their
respective constituencies;
Whereas​ education is not individualized to suit the needs of students, and instead leaves already
disadvantaged students further behind because they are misinformed about career and
professional options;
Whereas ​there are few vocational alternatives to college available to students starting at the high
school level, and no national program exists;
Whereas ​a study in the early 90s found that students that received the opportunity to attend
vocational high school earned l1% more than those who did not​;
Whereas ​vocational schools allow students from low income families to prosper economically​;
Whereas ​Germany, which is prevalent for vocational schools, has the lowest youth
unemployment
rate in the European Union of 7.7% and the US must decrease it’s youth unemployment rate;
Whereas ​between 1990 and 2009 the number of career and technical education credits obtained
from vocational high schools dropped by 14%;
Whereas ​it is more inexpensive for states to maintain vocation colleges than four-year colleges
because the average bachelor’s degree costs $127,00 while average trade school degree costs
$33,000;
Whereas ​workers must have the necessary skills to enter their desired occupations that do not
require a four-year college degree;
Whereas ​students must be provided with opportunities for other paths that are not aimed at
obtaining a bachelor’s degree;
Whereas ​college is not a suitable path for everyone and students should have other
opportunities;
Now, therefore, be it enacted,​ That the House of Representatives urges the creation of the
College and Vocational School Program for Student Success, a program to teach students
career focused skills and inform them of these opportunities to overall prepare them for
the workforce--
(1) The College and Vocational School Program for Student Success will...
a. Converting 10% of schools in every district to specialized training path schools
which students experience on their chosen career path;
b. Implement trial courses on smaller scale into every high school so that all students
are able to take guiding and career specific classes to better prepare them to enter
into college or vocational school;
c. Make recommendations to improve and expand programs that train educators to
lead students down pathways of success;
d. States convert underperforming public colleges or universities into vocational
colleges to make for 10% of public colleges into vocational colleges;
(2) Cut standardized testing as the main indicator of student’s aptitude for higher education,
and instead use portfolio based assessments;
a. Portfolio based assessments evaluate student’s grades, records kept by teachers,
and collections of student work to help guide them down the correct path;
b. States spend $1.7 billion every year on testing , and these funds would be saved
and reallocated towards implementing the College and Vocational School
Program for Student Success;
c. Funds would also come from increasing the Committee on Education and the
Workforce’s budget by 5%;
(3) Give the power to the states to decide the best method to implement the program to best
benefit their constituents.