High quality career and technical education (CTE) programs can equip students with skills, certifications, and higher-education credits that will allow them to graduate from high school ready to enter the workforce in a field they love and in a job that pays a family-sustaining wage.

Pennsylvania has 74 regional career and technical education centers (CTCs) that provide more than 55,000 students with rigorous, hands-on experiences and technical training in a wide variety of fields. Students who attend CTCs have the opportunity both to pursue their passions while in school and to graduate ready for further education or entry into in-demand jobs.

Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), the state legislature’s failure to provide adequate and equitable funding to public education denies students in every corner of the commonwealth the opportunity to receive meaningful career and technical education while they are in high school.  

A recent report issued by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, our partner in the PA Schools Work coalition, shines a light on the impact Harrisburg’s neglect has had on students who want to study Career and Technical Education.

Under Pennsylvania’s current school funding system, school districts pay 90% of the costs of sending students to CTCs.

In Pennsylvania, which ranks 46^th in the nation for state share of school funding, school districts that don’t have a wealthy local tax base to fund their schools struggle to balance their budgets and provide students with a quality education.

Every year school boards are faced with impossible decisions. Will they raise property taxes? Increase class sizes? Cut music or art courses? Eliminate programs? Close libraries? Close buildings? Cut school counselors or nurses? Or will school districts send fewer students to Career and Technical Centers and/or cut technical education programs in their buildings because it saves the district money?

Unfortunately, as PPC documents in their report, school districts are, in fact, limiting career and technical educational opportunities for students. The report states,  “CTE is not available to all students who want to attend because many school districts simply cannot afford to enroll all students in those programs.”

Limiting access to CTE squanders students’ potential and strips them of opportunities to enter the workforce after graduation on a path that will lead to a satisfying career that pays well. Failing to provide students with CTE opportunities also threatens to hinder the growth of the state’s economy, as employers struggle to find people who are qualified to fill in-demand vacancies.

The good news is that there is a newfound interest in supporting career and technical education in Harrisburg. The PA House and Senate have recently explored the issue and have made policy recommendations. And, in the 2018-2019 state budget, state lawmakers supported Governor Wolf’s proposal for a $10 million increase in the career and technical line item in the state budget–the first increase in CTE funding in almost a decade.

In the 2019-2020 budget, Governor Wolf and the state legislature must support an additional $10 million in funding for the CTE line item. In addition, because it is school districts that pay 90% of the cost of operating Career and Technical Centers, Harrisburg must provide a substantial increase in Basic Education Funding to school districts—a minimum of $400 million. It is this increase in Basic Education Funding that will provide school districts with the money they need to be able to send students to Career and Technical Centers and to provide career and technical education opportunities in their schools.

If lawmakers are serious about supporting CTE experiences for students, they need to get serious about providing adequate state funding to public education so that all students have access to robust CTE opportunities while they are in high school.