Rep. Paul Harris receives award for his work on career and technical education issues

Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, has received the Washington Business Alliance 2017 Career and Technical Education (CTE) Legislator of the Year Award for his leadership on behalf of CTE students statewide.

Harris who co-chairs the Joint Select Committee on Article IX Litigation, also known as the McCleary committee, was recognized for his work on the McCleary K-12 funding plan, which included landmark investments in CTE, now a funded component of basic education.

Representative Harris facilitated the bipartisan K-12 education funding and policy negotiations, and assured industry relevant coursework is available in our public schools for students statewide. The business community is grateful to Representative Harris for providing capacity for a talent pipeline to the technically skilled positions industry currently struggles to fill, vitally necessary to grow our Washington economy. We congratulate and thank him for the lasting impact of his work,” said Jene Jones of Legislative Solutions, who serves as the education policy advisor for the Washington Business Alliance.

Harris has always had an enthusiasm for being involved in education and issues impacting youth.

“Reaching an education funding solution was difficult and required great collaborative work from all those involved. It feels great to come up with what I believe is a plan that puts a solid education foundation in place for our students and educators while strengthening the opportunity for them to succeed,” said Harris. “I always want to make a difference in the lives of our young people. To be an integral part of this plan is something special.”

Harris served 10 years on the Evergreen School Board and worked for many years as a Boy Scout leader. Earlier this year, he received the YMCA Legislative Champion Award for 2017 in recognition of his leadership for children, families and healthy communities.