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DEED outlines CTE grants, certifications and traveling instructor model to subcommittee
Summary
Commissioner Dina Bishop said the department awarded CTE grants and supported coding credentials and a career guidance model; she described a successful traveling CTE instructor model used in Bering Straits for rural welding training.
The Department of Education and Early Development told the House Finance Education Subcommittee on Jan. 31 that it invested in career and technical education (CTE) grants, career guidance and credential pathways to support workforce readiness.
Bishop said the department received $1,500,000 in additional funds last year to support CTE student organizations and one‑time grants, with half of the grant dollars targeted to rural districts to purchase equipment and expand program offerings. The department also supported a computer coding credential pathway and reported 121 certificates issued in rural Alaska last year.
“We received 1,500,000 in additional funds, and we, supported career and technical student organizations,” Bishop said. She described the career guidance model developed with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and noted that the department aims to expand programs for plumbing and electrician pathways identified as high‑need occupations.
Bishop described one operational model for remote delivery: a traveling CTE instructor who spends concentrated time in multiple villages. She recounted visiting a welding program in the Bering Straits region where one instructor rotated through villages and students completed OSHA safety testing during short, intensive sessions. “How they've operated is... they do a project in each of those areas... that teacher shared with me that he has a couple weeks off, gathers the requirements and the and then he goes to the next village,” Bishop said.
Lawmakers asked about continued funding and district partnerships; Bishop said the department wants to expand grants and CTE programs with additional state general fund support in the next budget.
DEED said it will continue to develop standardized CTE program curricula (CTEPs) at the state level to reduce the burden on districts and to target investments where workforce demand exists.
