Far turn in the nation’s largest state CTE grant program
(California) Winners of just over $245 million in career technical education grants will be formally approved by state officials next week, marking round two of the three-year, $900 million program.
So far, a total of 669 local education agencies have been awarded $396 million under the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant program. That number includes 23 LEAs “new to providing CTE,” according to a staff report for the California State Board of Education, which is being asked to sign off on the list of grantees at its regular March meeting.
Established as part of the state’s 2015-16 budget, the CTE grants are designed to support and encourage the development of high-quality career education programs that prepare students for college and the work world.
In the first round of CTE grants, issued by the board in January, winners included 80 individual district applicants, three Regional Occupational Center Programs, 10 charter schools and 20 consortia with 73 participating members for a total of 173 LEAs, the staff report notes.
The funding is allowing schools to bolster the number and quality of CTE offerings by upgrading facilities and purchasing the modern equipment necessary to produce the qualified employees needed in today’s workforce.
The $3.2 million grant earned by the Capistrano Unified School District in round one, for example, will help the district increase opportunities in fields such as dental assisting, surgical technician, auto repair and engineering, Patricia Romo, executive director of CTE programs for CUSD as well as the South Coast Regional Occupational Program, told Cabinet Report in January.
Ninety percent of students completing Capistrano Unified’s dental assistant career education program are hired for jobs right out of high school, Romo said. Those graduating through the district’s surgical technician course, which includes a hospital internship, can expect to go to work at a starting salary of $25 an hour.
The grants are distributed based on a district’s average daily attendance for students in grades 7-12 Far turn in the nation’s largest state CTE grant program :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: