A bill authored by State Senators Ryan Mishler (R-Bremen) and Doug Eckerty (R-Yorktown) to improve Career and Technical Education (CTE) passed the Senate Tuesday by a vote of 43-6.
Senate Bill 198 makes various changes to CTE funding, including increasing funding for courses in high-wage, high-demand job fields. Other major changes include:
· Transferring the administration of state CTE grants and federal Perkins CTE dollars from the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD);
· Transferring state CTE grants outside of the school funding formula so the grants go directly to the institutions providing CTE instruction – whether they be schools, CTE cooperatives or apprenticeship programs; and
· Streamlining the categories for funding CTE courses.
Additionally, SB 198 would require schools to offer the Indiana Career Explorer Program to all eighth grade students starting in 2018. The bill would also allow 15 school districts to offer Career Explorer as a pilot program overseen by the IDOE from 2017-2018.
Mishler stressed the importance of this education. “Now is the time to help expand the career and technical fields in Indiana,” Mishler said. “Helping Hoosiers receive education in these fields is an important step toward improving our workforce development efforts across the state.”
SB 198 will now be considered by the House of Representatives.
