FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDING OVERVIEW
 
Funding for Career and Technical Education is based on the regular Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU), including incentives to provide Career and Technical Education (CTE) in all forty districts.  Funding is used for salaries, equipment, teacher training, Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance, Work-Based Learning, CTE high school courses, and accountability reporting.  Local funding in the school districts is also used to support CTE programs.

CTE funding is also supplemented with Carl D. Perkins funding, a federal appropriation for vocational and technical education.  The federal government is highly interested in CTE as a means to prepare the workforce with the academic and technical skills to succeed in a global economy.  The additional funding, which amounts to about 6 percent of the total, is used to develop new CTE programs and improve existing programs.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Only approved Career and Technical Education programs can receive state or federal CTE funding.  State Board rules, along with federal Perkins and No Child Left Behind regulations, require a high level of accountability for secondary CTE programs.

State Accountability

1. Annual Membership Reporting
   • Teacher qualifications
   • Teacher/course/membership reporting
   • State specialist review and approval
   • Onsite auditing
2. Annual Self-Evaluation – Standards
   • Entered by teacher online – focus on standards
   • Summary report to USOE specialists/CTE directors
   • Used to develop inservice, technical assistance, goal setting, and program improvement
3. Onsite Evaluation – Standards
   • Six-year cycle
   • Instructor self-evaluation
   • State specialist on-site evaluation
   • Feedback/improvement
     -Summary report
     -Improvement plan to address needs
     -Continuous improvement and follow-up

Perkins Accountability

1. Student Performance on Four Core Indicators (CTE Concentrators)

• Academic and skill achievement (academic standardized tests and CTE skills tests)
• Completion (graduation)
• Placement
• Training for nontraditional careers
• Evaluation and performance improvements that are data-driven, using targets, performance results, performance gaps, and continuous improvement plans

 The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 authorizes funding for secondary and postsecondary vocational education programs.  Its purpose is to more fully develop the academic, vocational, and technical skills of secondary and post-secondary students who elect to enroll in vocational and technical education programs.  This Act identifies development of rigorous academic standards and accountability as additional priorities.

Money is distributed based on a formula that considers the number of residents aged 5-17 from poverty-stricken families, and the total number of residents aged 5-17 living in the school district.

Updated March 6, 2013