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Rep. Tillman pitches expansion of middle‑school CTE grants in HB 357
Summary
House Bill 357 would expand a small Perkins ‘rural reserve’ grant that currently distributes about $60,000 statewide, adding a one‑time allocation the sponsor described as an additional $100,000 and opening eligibility to all Montana districts to seed middle‑grade CTE programs.
Representative Eric Tillman introduced House Bill 357 to provide more state-directed grant funding for career and technical education (CTE) at the middle‑school level.
Tillman, the bill sponsor, told the House Education Committee the state’s current Perkins rural‑reserve program supplies about $60,000 per year and historically provided one‑time rural grants of $5,000 to very small schools. "Right now, Perkins funding in the state of Montana, that comes from the feds," Tillman said, and he asked the committee to add an additional $100,000 and open the grant to all districts to help junior‑high programs purchase capital items such as VR welding equipment, CNC machines, and lab kits.
The bill drew broad support from agriculture and business groups, labor unions and school advocates. Erik Sommerfeld of the Montana Farmers Union said the union’s education grants and local contributions show small and rural schools are struggling to meet basic CTE needs: "Education being the base root of that," he testified, and added that additional funding would help "backfill" cuts to shop and family and consumer science classes. Sheridan Heyer of the Montana Chamber of Commerce said middle‑grade CTE exposure improves workforce readiness and can incentivize districts to start seventh‑ and eighth‑grade programs.
Other proponents included the Montana Contractors Association, Montana Farm Bureau, Montana Stock Growers, the Billings Chamber and teacher and labor organizations; several urged a larger increase than the sponsor proposed, suggesting the practical costs of machines and equipment can far exceed $5,000 per school.
Committee members asked detailed questions about how the expanded grants would work, what types of CTE offerings could be funded (examples discussed included basic computer/business classes, family and consumer sciences, shop and industrial tech, and introductory health sciences), and how OPI would administer the program. Tillman said the intent is to provide a one‑time boost and that Perkins rules restrict the funds to capital purchases rather than consumables. He also said his research identified roughly 170 existing middle‑grade CTE programs across Montana.
The sponsor closed by saying he expects a forthcoming amendment and urged a do‑pass. The committee closed the hearing on HB 357 without taking a committee vote on the bill that day.
