1.  If your Member of Congress is listed under the “yeas”, please thank him/her for that vote and all of the hard work that went into ensuring an increase to Perkins and for education overall. Ask him/her to continue to support the bill as it moves through the legislative process. 

This thank you is very important. It can help establish a relationship with your Representative that will help in the upcoming months if the President follows through with his threat to veto the legislation because it rejects his cuts and provides higher levels of spending to many programs, such as Perkins.

2.  If your Member of Congress voted “nay” on the bill you may want to reach out to him/her and explain the importance of the Perkins program, and how the passed appropriations bill will help to expand resources for career and technical education.

Another great way to advocate during the summer recess is by inviting a Member of Congress to visit your school. This is one of the best ways to demonstrate first hand the impact CTE makes in the lives of students. If your school holds summer classes or starts before September 3, extend an invitation to your Washington Representative and his or her staffs requesting a visit.

Both of these options for advocating during the month of August give you the opportunity to discuss CTE with your Members of Congress. It is important that you take the opportunity to build relationships with your elected officials in Washington to help them understand the kind of difference that increased resources in CTE makes in the lives of students.