K 135: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month in the State of New York

 Assembly Resolution No. 135 BY: M. of A. Tague MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month in the State of New York WHEREAS, New York State's commitment to education is unparalleled; and WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize and pay tribute to those organizations which are committed to enhancing the quality of education in the State of New York, and which enable our schools to offer excellent educational programs in the most efficient manner; and WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month in the State of New York; and WHEREAS, Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, is a public awareness campaign that takes place each February to celebrate the value of CTE and the achievements and accomplishments of CTE programs across the country; and WHEREAS, CTE is highly-specific, highly-versatile and is truly unique from traditional educational curriculum; practice, hands-on experience, and application tests make up the bulk of CTE, which is important since CTE careers require workers to have experience in their field before starting a career; and WHEREAS, CTE is the practice of teaching specific career skills to students in middle school, high school, and post-secondary institutions; CTE is split into 16 career clusters which apply to different high-demand careers: health science; business; sales; finance; information technology; science, technology, engineering, and math; manufacturing; logistics; hospitality; government; law; agriculture; human services; construction; training; and arts, audio/visual technology, and communications; and WHEREAS, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) are public organizations that were created by the New York State Legislature in 1948, to provide shared educational programs and services to school districts; and WHEREAS, Today, BOCES offers its students hundreds of programs and services designed to support the entire educational process; once a path for those who were only seeking vocational skills, career and technical education is now a pathway for students looking to build career skills, get a start on their college education or simply learn a life skill which will allow them to pay for college; and WHEREAS, More than 70 percent of high school students who attend BOCES' Career and Technical School programs pursue higher education, while many others directly enter the workforce with a highly technical skill set; and WHEREAS, Our Nation's economy is booming, and Americans are thriving; to ensure our country's workforce remains the best in the world, it is imperative we equip students and workers with the skills necessary to fill the jobs our economy is creating at an incredible pace and to enable them to reap the benefits of successful careers; and WHEREAS, CTE Month is a great time to recognize and celebrate CTE achievements and accomplishments nationwide, and to draw attention to the importance of career and technical education in building a stronger American workforce; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month in the State of New York; and be it further RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New York.