Harrisburg, Pa. − June 9, 2026 − Today, Senator Lindsey M. Williams’ Senate Bill 366 that improves access to Career and Technical Education programs by permitting students to complete their programs prior to twelfth grade cleared the Senate Education Committee unanimously.
This legislation was crafted with the Department of Education in response to the growing number of students hoping to enroll in Career and Technical Education who are put on waitlists. Aging facilities, lack of predictable funding, and difficulty recruiting and retaining educators are just some of the reasons that CTE programs are forced to put students on waitlists. But another is the requirement that students must wait until their senior year to take the end of program assessment, known as the NOCTI exam.
SB 366 addresses this issue by allowing students to complete that coursework earlier, freeing up their ‘seat’ for incoming students. While not the only solution to growing waitlists, removing this requirement is a practical step we can take now to help.
“My goal is for every student in Pennsylvania who wants to take advantage of our amazing Career and Technical Education programs to do so,” said Senator Williams. “This bill allows for more CTE students to get a head start on their next steps, whether that’s entering the job market, an apprenticeship, or some form of post-secondary education.”
“This bill is one piece of modernizing CTE programs, but we cannot forget about the most important part: funding. We need to meaningfully increase investments in CTE if we want to meet our constitutional obligations of fully and equitably fund our public school,” continued Senator Williams.
SB 366 now heads to the Senate floor for full consideration.
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