Rep. Michael N. Castle, R-Del., has reintroduced a bill to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act, which governs federally funded career-oriented programs.
A spokeswoman for Republicans on the House Education and the Workforce Committee said the measure was similar to a bill Mr. Castle introduced last year, which would have set new standards to gauge the academic rigor of state and local career programs, among other provisions.
That measure died in the House last year, as did a Senate proposal to reauthorize the Perkins Act. The chairman of the Senate education committee, Sen. Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyo., and other Republican leaders are working to finish drafting a new Perkins bill and plan to introduce it soon, said Craig Orfield, a spokesman for the GOP members of the committee.
