House Finance Subcommittee hears CTE funding gaps, Rooted pilot and proposal to expand state training funds

Juneau — The House Finance Subcommittee for the Department of Education and Early Development heard three compressed presentations Feb. 25 on career and technical education, during which state and federal officials and an outside practitioner described persistent funding gaps, a school‑to‑work pilot and a proposed major increase to the state training program.

Brad Billings, administrator for career and technical education at the Department of Education and Early Development, told members Alaska receives about $5,900,000 in federal Carl Perkins funds and that Perkins is a formula grant distributed to districts, with an explicit minimum award of $20,000 for many small districts. "Right now, about 45 of our 53 districts choose to take those funds," Billings said. He added the state student funding formula includes a vocational education factor he said is 1.5 percent, which he estimated equates to just over $18,000,000 that flows to districts.

Billings provided participation figures that underscore scale issues for some programs: the department tracks 849 CTE courses delivered by 44 districts, with roughly 12,000 students taking at least one CTE course and about 3,000 "concentrators" (Perkins' definition for students taking at least two credits). He said some local career academies rely primarily on district discretionary dollars and other grants: "Carl Perkins federal funding only pays for 4% of [one program's] budget," he said, describing how districts supplement Perkins with local and grant funds.

Zach Stinson of Pathfinder Solutions described the Rooted career‑guide pilot now operating in several regions. Stinson said Rooted is a partnership among the Department of Education, Department of Labor, regional CTE consortia and tribal partners and that the pilot tracks six key performance indicators including one‑on‑one meetings, career‑awareness activities, FAFSA completion, financial planning, a postsecondary plan and completed applications. "The goal of the program is simply helping our youth find their strengths, find opportunities, and connect with those opportunities," Stinson said. He said eight districts currently participate and more are interested.

Stinson cited state labor research and education‑board data to set the program's urgency: he said Alaska has experienced a long decline in its working‑age population and that about 15 percent of youth are "disconnected" (neither in school nor working). Stinson also stated a multi‑billion dollar figure for wages paid to nonresident workers; that dollar figure is reported here as he presented it to the committee.

Paloma Harbor, director for the Division of Employment and Training Services at the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, highlighted regional training centers and partnerships with institutions such as University of Alaska Southeast and Sealaska Heritage Institute. Harbor said the technical and vocational education program recently received an additional $10,000,000 in funding to regional recipients and noted a governor‑backed proposal, House Bill 267, that would raise the state training and employment program from about $11,000,000 to $55,000,000 "which would significantly expand our opportunities," she said.

Harbor told the committee the department supports registered apprenticeships, can fund competitive grants awarded by the Alaska Workforce Investment Board (including union and nonunion applicants), and uses job‑center funds to cover supportive services—childcare, housing and equipment—for apprentices during related technical instruction.

Committee members asked for more granular and geographic information: representatives requested lists of district recipients and program participants, maps or lists showing where CTE 'deserts' exist, and copies of Perkins and related outcome reports. Billings agreed to provide the Perkins report; staff said they would provide recipient lists and follow‑up materials.

The committee adjourned at 09:58 a.m.; members were invited to a noon "lunch and learn" on the Alaska workforce plan. The subcommittee's next meeting was announced for Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, at 8 a.m.