Task force reviews career and technical education funding, CTE weighting and Excel in CTE (SB 155)

Jason Long, a Legislative Research staff member, told the task force that the K–12 career technical education weighting remains 0.5 under KSA 72‑51‑155: “It’s a 0.5 weighting for students who are enrolled in an approved career technical education program.”

The issue matters because that weighting multiplies a student’s FTE to increase state foundation aid to districts that offer approved CTE pathways, while separate Excel in CTE funding (Senate Bill 155, 2012) distributes appropriated dollars to community and technical colleges for CTE courses they deliver to secondary students.

Long and Jennifer Light, senior fiscal analyst with the Legislative Research Department (KLRD), walked the task force through how the two funding streams operate. Light described a second CTE support stream — transportation aid — and noted that it is not part of state foundation aid and is appropriated separately. She said the transportation appropriation was moved from the State Highway Fund to the State General Fund in 2019 and has generally been funded at about $1.48 million in years when it was appropriated.

KLRD and Board of Regents staff also described Excel in CTE (SB 155), which provides state distributions to community and technical colleges for approved CTE courses offered to high school students when the colleges are the providers. Elena Rutter of the Legislative Research Department reviewed the federal Perkins program history and explained the state’s Perkins V award; Representative McDonald asked how much federal Perkins funding Kansas received, and Rutter said the 2024 Perkins award was about $13 million.

Task force members pressed staff and speakers for data. KLRD provided fiscal‑year 2024 figures during the meeting: about $50.3 million in state foundation aid attributable to the CTE weighting (reported as 9,884.8 FTE for FY24), which staff said represented roughly 1.46% of total state foundation aid for that year. KLRD and other staff agreed to supply additional district‑level breakdowns, lists of pathways and credential counts, and copies of federally posted Perkins performance reports.

Superintendents and technical‑college representatives described costs at the local level. Dr. Ninswander (Jeff West USD) said district CTE programs commonly cost far more to run than the funding they receive: “Our district receives $70,000 in career and technical ed funding, but we spend $354,000,” she said, listing equipment, consumables and instructor costs as drivers. District leaders and the Board of Regents staff explained that high‑cost courses (welding, ag sciences, automotive) typically have smaller class sizes and higher equipment and consumable needs, which is why the weighting and Excel funding exist.

Several lawmakers and board members asked whether CTE funding is targeted to the highest‑demand pathways and whether there is overlap or “double funding” between K–12 CTE weighting and Excel in CTE college payments. Board of Regents materials in the packet stated that 9 of Kansas’s 13 “modernized career clusters” align with fields eligible for the Kansas Promise Scholarship; KBOR staff wrote that colleges and K–12 have collaborated to articulate high school coursework into college credit for eligible programs. Task force members requested a clearer reconciliation of K–12 pathway counts, CTE FTE by pathway, and the list of Excel in CTE fees and charges students actually pay.

What the task force directed: staff agreed to follow up with several data requests, including a district‑by‑district CTE FTE printout, counts of CTE credential completions tied to pathways, the Perkins performance reports posted by the U.S. Department of Education, and a reconciliation of Excel in CTE fee schedules versus amounts students actually pay. District and college speakers offered to provide local cost and completion data.

Ending: The task force did not take formal action on policy changes at the meeting. Members agreed to review the follow‑up data when it arrives and to schedule further discussion of program outcomes, credentials tied to the Kansas Promise Scholarship, and the interaction between the 0.5 weighting and Excel in CTE funding.