Senate Appropriations advances bill to earmark high school CTE supplies and equipment

At a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, members voted 3-0 to pass House Bill 235, a measure that would pull the portion of high school career and technical education funding for supplies, materials and equipment out of the general block grant and place it into a categorical grant directed to CTE programs.

Representative Andrews told the committee the bill “ensures the career and technical education funding is used as intended to prepare Wyoming students for the workforce,” saying that under the current block grant model some of the funds meant for supplies, materials and equipment “are being used in areas that have nothing to do with CTE.” He told the panel that last year 55.1% of the funds were reported as spent in the intended areas and that “60% of today's job openings in Wyoming require CTE skills.”

The bill, as presented, removes the CTE supplies-and-equipment portion from the block grant and creates a categorical grant. Representative Andrews said the appropriation is “a wash” overall because the state would recapture funds from districts that are…