The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 (Perkins III) has been reauthorized in the first session of the 109th Congress, but not without strong opposition from the Bush Administration and allied neoconservative school reformers. This paper will detail four neoconservative rationales--modernization, competition, alignment, and accountability--that were used by the White House in shaping future career and technical education legislation to closely mirror the goals and objectives in the No Child Left Behind Act. Counter-arguments for each rationale will be provided in order to exhibit the contested terrain of policymaking as well as clarify the partisan politics and ideological convictions of stakeholders.