CareerTech requests $19 million increase to cut waitlists, expand training and prison reentry programs

Director Hakan, head of CareerTech, told the Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee that the agency is asking the Legislature for a $19 million recurring increase to its state appropriations to expand full‑time technology center training, K‑12 program support and transition services for incarcerated individuals.

Hakan said CareerTech used a one‑time appropriation approved last year, about $28 million of a larger request, to raise instructor pay, add programs and reduce waitlists. "Our purpose is to provide workforce training for individuals that wanna go into technical trades," he said, and described how recent dollars were applied to apprenticeships, new districts and inmate transition services.

The increase, Hakan told the committee, would restore remaining items from the agency’s multi‑year request, not fund wholly new initiatives. He said the agency added about 2,500 students after last year’s appropriation but still faces a large waitlist — he cited about a 7,400‑student waiting list for technology center programs — and noted a 40% increase in demand for full‑time programs in technology centers.

Hakan outlined how the recent state funds were spent: $1.5 million in state funds to support an apprenticeship program that CareerTech took over from a federal Department of Labor/Commerce grant; $500,000 paid to help Beaver County join a…