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Senate committee debates tiered funding for vocational centers as departments warn of projected losses for some centers
Summary
Senate Bill 135 would replace the current flat per‑FTE vocational center aid with a tiered funding structure tied to program cost and labor‑market demand. Department leaders said the change would allow more predictable biannual payments but conceded some centers could see reduced funding under modeled scenarios.
Senate Bill 135, sponsored by Senator Kim Hammer, would replace Arkansas’s long-standing flat per‑FTE vocational center aid with a tiered funding system the Department of Career Education and the Career Education and Workforce Development Board would establish. The change, department officials said, is intended to better align state dollars with program costs and workforce demand.
"This tiered funding structure will take into account a number of fast‑changing factors which will aid the Department of Career Education and the board to adjust the tiered funding structure to respond to the changing business environment," said Therese Childers, Director of the Arkansas Department of Career Education. Childers described an advisory group of center directors, two‑year colleges, industry…
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