News

Every year, thousands of CTE students prove their skills on the SkillsUSA stage—but what they gain goes far beyond medals and trophies. Through NOCTI’s partnership with SkillsUSA, students now have more ways than ever to earn industry-recognized credentials that showcase their career readiness and open doors to future opportunities. See[Read More...]

HARRISBURG – The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Lynda Schlegel Culver (R-27), held a public hearing today to examine how Pennsylvania schools are managing student cell phone use and to explore whether statewide policy guidance is needed to address classroom disruption, learning, and student safety.

The Senate passed the latest budget plan on a straight party-line vote of 27–23. Senate Bill 160, as reworked by the Senate Rules Committee, essentially reverts to a flat $49.7 billion budget—mirroring last year’s funding level—with a $300 million increase to account for inflation in select programs. [Read More...]

Your school can help Pennsylvania address the shortage of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals. How can you help? Share this with your school administrators and teachers!

The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Technical Assistance Program (TAP) provides targeted support for career and technology centers and school districts to enhance program effectiveness and student outcomes. Through a combination of training and coaching, TAP helps schools address specific needs and build capacity. Activities are customized to each school[Read More...]

Both the House and Senate have released their Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 funding bills for the Department of Education (ED). In some good news for CTE, neither bill cuts funding for the Perkins State Grant, and the House bill provides a $25 million increase for CTE. However, there are[Read More...]

Commonwealth Media Services HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office has pitched a $49.9 billion budget to top Pennsylvania lawmakers in an attempt to end the state’s two-month impasse, according to Capitol sources. Such a proposal would increase state spending by about 5%, as opposed to the 8% Shapiro originally[Read More...]

PA Criminal Intelligence Center PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) The Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center of the PA State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation, has issued an ALERT for the education sector, related to swatting, hoax email threats, and in-real-life violent plots. Since we have seen an uptick of these[Read More...]

Meeting Agenda and Notes, Recording

New workshops are now available for Fall 2025! These can be found on our resources page or via the links below: Workshop for Adult CTE Coordinators 2025 Fall Workshop Registration Form 2025 Fall Announcement Workshop for CTE School Counselors 2025 Fall Workshop Registration Form 2025 Fall Announcement SC Workshop[Read More...]

PACTA is pleased to offer new PIL courses for Fall 2025. Information about these offerings are available on our resources page.