Senator Vin Gopal
Trenton, N.J. – Senator Vin Gopal has received the 2026 CTE Leadership Award from the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools (NJCCVTS) in recognition of his ongoing efforts to strengthen career and technical education (CTE) in the state. Over nearly 9 years in office, and as current chair of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Gopal has taken the time to understand the value of CTE and become a well-informed advocate for county vocational-technical schools.
The NJCCVTS represents all 21 county vocational-technical school districts and is governed by a committee of the districts’ superintendents. Council leaders have welcomed Sen. Gopal into their schools and have had productive conversations with him about opportunities to improve the CTE experience in New Jersey.
“Senator Gopal made becoming a CTE teacher less onerous,” said NJCCVTS President Jack Swain, who serves as superintendent of Salem County Vocational Technical School District. Swain continued, “He sponsored and championed legislation to shorten the alternate route teacher preparation program from two years to one year, recognizing that unlike other new teachers, our teacher candidates already possess the content knowledge and expertise required to teach students.”
Swain also noted Sen. Gopal’s support of legislation to eliminate the PRAXIS exam as a requirement for CTE teacher candidates.
“Both efforts have had a major impact on our districts’ ability to recruit and retain highly skilled and highly experienced professionals into our career classrooms,” emphasized Swain.
Sen. Gopal’s current focus is on modernizing the school funding formula, keeping in mind the unique challenges faced by county vocational-technical schools.
“Senator Gopal has seen firsthand the expansion projects made possible from the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act, which have sparked increased enrollment in career programs directly tied to local and state workforce needs,” said NJCCVTS Executive Director Jackie Burke. “But, many districts experiencing this enrollment growth are not seeing an increase in state aid to help offset the costs of educating more students. Senator Gopal is working to rectify this, and we hope his leadership leads to permanent changes in the funding formula that enable our schools to further meet the demand for highly engaging and purposeful career education.”
Sen. Gopal received the 2026 CTE Leadership Award at the recent NJCCVTS Annual Summer Meeting. Accepting in front of a crowd of county vocational-technical school leaders, he offered his assurance that adequate funding for CTE is a priority.
“I do not think I can overstate the importance of our county vocational-technical schools, and my focus is on protecting them as we revisit our funding formula,” said Sen. Gopal.
