Ohio Association of City Career-Technical Schools
Testimony to the Ohio House of Representatives Finance Sub-Committee on k-12 Education
HB 59
3-5-13
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Chris Renn, Career Technical Director at Millstream Career Center in Findlay.I am here today to represent the Ohio Association of City Career Technical Schools comprised of Ohio’s high school career-technical programs in 42 of Ohio’s 91 Career-Technical Planning Districts (CTPD’s).
We applaud the Governor and his staff for their hard work and forward vision to ensure linkage between Ohio’s career technical education and the workforce. The new funding model works to elevate career technical education in a positive way. As we work to fully understand the implications of HB 59 to our students, we have two concerns:
Continue dedicated funding: Under the current weighted funding model, the funding is dedicated to career technical expenses. This is referred to as the 75/25 rule. This is critical for comprehensive single districts and compacts since we are part of a larger school district(s).
Associated Services: We are grateful to the administration for including a funding mechanism for associated services as it is critical for our ability to continue programming for students. These funds must also be specifically dedicated to career technical use.
Programs in comprehensive single districts and compacts educate 58% of Ohio's career technical students.Examples are Toledo Public Schools, South Western City Schools, Akron City Schools, Millstream in Findlay serving 14 schools in 3counties, Tri-Star Career Compact serving 9 schools districts in Auglaize and Mercer Counties) These are all the non-Joint Vocational Schools.
We tailor our programs to our local employers workforce needs. Each of our Workforce Development programs has an Advisory Committee comprised of business and industry partners. The business and industry partners’ input helps us provide the training that meets our local employers’ workforce needs. Our partnerships with business and industry are effective and vital. These partnerships strengthen the economy, strengthen our students’ skills, and provide well prepared employees for our business and industry partners.
Funding must be dedicated: In order to meet our local employers’ needs, the career technical funding in comprehensive single districts and compacts must be dedicated to career technical programming expenses.
Currently in ODE rules at least 75 percent of career-technical dollars must be spent on career-technical programming expenses. The other 25 percent may be spent on personnel costs. It is imperative that this dedicated funding rule be in place in the new model.
This designated funding component is one area where the funding for comprehensive single districts and compacts needs separate attention and specific language to ensure the funding is dedicated to the career technical students and the expenses associated with the dedicated training.
Dedicated Associated Services Funding: Designated purposes for the use of Associated Services funds are also vital to our single district and compact CTPD’s. Examples of Associated Services expenditures include apprenticeship coordination, job placement coordination, programming development, vocational evaluation, and career development activities. These services are provided by the lead school within the CTPD. The dollars currently flow directly to the lead district.
I would also like to compliment the Governor’s office on including a streamlining of Ohio’s GED process. While this doesn’t impact our secondary students, it is important for the adults in our communities who are working to earn their GED. Within the new concept, each CTPD will designate a site(s) where individuals may register and take the exam. The CTPD also will offer career counseling services to adults earning their GED.
We appreciate the opportunity to testify today. The Governors funding model appears to support career-technical education in Ohio. We ask that the funding mechanisms for career-technical education be dedicated in a way that those funds support only career-technical students and the programming needs that support those students learning.
Thank you for your time today and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.