CTE directors tell House commerce committee current funding model forces competition and limits access

Directors of Vermont career and technical education (CTE) centers told the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Feb. 19 that the state’s tuition-based funding and local governance arrangements put high schools and regional career centers in competition for scarce dollars, limiting student access, complicating hiring and magnifying inequities.

The discussion centered on several near-term policy questions: whether to move to noncompetitive, per‑student funding routed off the Education Fund; how to address persistent enrollment waiting lists; how collective bargaining and inconsistent school calendars affect staffing and program delivery; and how recent facility closures tied to PCB testing have reduced classroom capacity.

Why it matters: CTE programs are a primary pathway into skilled trades and health-care fields that Vermont employers are seeking. Directors said funding and governance choices under consideration — including a proposal circulated in early discussions that would route roughly $17,000 per CTE FTE to an oversight district or service agency plus an additional roughly $8,000 previously retained by sending schools — would materially change center budgets, staffing and the way local schools account for students.

Jay Nichols, executive director of the Vermont Principals' Association, told the committee the “current tuition funding model puts high schools and CTE centers in a position where they're competing for limited dollars.” He said that competition can leave students in small high schools with fewer options and that popular CTE programs commonly have waiting lists, leaving some interested students unable to enroll.

Erica…