U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will be joined by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree as he travels to Maine on Monday with stops in Kennebunk and Wells.

At noon in Kennebunk, Secretary Cardona and Rep. Pingree will talk with local bus drivers about the nation's school bus driver shortage and how Maine worked to address it using resources from the American Rescue Plan. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration provided flexibility for a portion of the Commercial Driver's License and Maine is utilizing that flexibility. In December, Secretary Cardona sent a letter to state and local leaders demonstrating how schools and states could use the plan's funds to address labor shortages across the country. Rep. Pingree helped pass the American Rescue Plan in the House in March 2021.

Then, at 2:15 p.m. in Wells, the Secretary and Representative will tour York County Community College (YCCC) and hold a roundtable conversation at 2:35 p.m. with students including ones who are simultaneously enrolled in community college classes. They'll discuss their experience and how to ensure higher education institutions such as YCCC create good career pathways. The President's proposed budget provides a new $200 million investment in Career-Connected High Schools, an initiative that would support competitive grants to partnerships of local educational agencies, institutions of higher education – including community colleges – and employers, to support early enrollment in postsecondary and career-connected coursework; work-based learning opportunities; and academic and career-connected instruction across the last two years of high school and the first two years of postsecondary education.