Education Funding

Voc. Ed. Pinched by State Budgets, Federal Policies

By Sean Cavanagh — October 29, 2003 5 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Vocational education programs are feeling the pressure from all sides.

Administrators and teachers in career and technical programs say that the trickle-down effect of tighter state budgets, coupled with district-level cuts, are leading school officials to trim elective courses that fall outside the scope of core academic requirements.

Some school districts, as a result, are being forced to pare down vocational education programs—or modify their schedules, to save them from more dramatic cuts.

Vocational educators also fear that in the years ahead, their cause will take a back seat as districts devote more staff and financial resources to meeting the mandates for academic progress spelled out in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

“From our viewpoint, we have seen some fairly dramatic decreases,” said Lauren Baker, the coordinator for career and technical education in the Milwaukee schools. “No Child Left Behind has set up a fairly difficult dichotomy for programs like ours.”

In Detroit, the 157,000-student district’s overall spending on vocational education rose slightly in 2003-04, said L. Kimberly Peoples, the executive director of the office of workforce development for the city’s public schools. But state funding for a program to help middle and high school students choose careers fell in Detroit from some $1.2 million to $50,000 this year, she said.

“There have been cuts—deep cuts—and we may suffer some more,” she said. At the same time, the district’s vocational education programs are being asked to support the federal and state push to raise student achievement, she said.

Alabama Woes

In Conecuh County, Ala., school leaders faced the possibility of closing their vocational center, partly because of reductions in state funding. Eventually, they were able to save the popular program by leasing out the facility to a nearby community college, and running career and technical classes out of their high school instead.

That move saved the 1,900-student district about $300,000, Superintendent Ronnie Brogden said. But he warned that the vocational program’s chances for surviving more cuts were slim. And that is an ominous statement because Alabama is in the midst of one of the worst budget crises in its history. (“As Promised, Cuts Follow Failed Alabama Tax Vote,” Oct. 8, 2003.)

“When you start cutting electives, all we have left are [vocational education programs],” Mr. Brogden said. “The only other areas are core courses, required for graduation.”

Milwaukee’s public schools have cut at least two vocational programs from the 2002-03 academic year to 2003-04, both at the middle school level. The district also has about 13 fewer instructors teaching those subjects than it did last year, some of whom retired, Ms. Baker estimated.

Moreover, she said, those reductions are hitting programs that already have absorbed waves of reductions stretching back several years.

Since the 1998-99 school year, the 105,000-student district has cut 41 posts in vocational education, worth more than $3 million in salaries and benefits, according to financial estimates provided by the district, which has a general-fund budget of about $1.1 billion.

Squeezed on Several Sides

Donna M. Harris-Aikens, a national advocate for career and technical education, agreed with district officials who said they were under pressure to devote larger portions of school days to meeting the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act. Some districts responded by adding an extra period at the end of the day for for-credit vocational classes, or arranging noncredit training after school.

“They’re trying to doing things more creatively,” said Ms. Harris-Aikens, the director of government relations for the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, in Washington. “The shrinking of the available school day” had put new burdens on vocational programs, she said.

Worries about the future of career and technical instruction gripped many state and local officials earlier this year, when the Bush administration proposed a major shift in the mission of the federal vocational program, which awards funding to K-12 schools and community colleges.

Those plans called for replacing the federal program with one that places a heavier emphasis on teenagers’ academic achievement and preparation for college. The proposal, which is still under discussion, also would require states to award money to local schools on more of a competitive basis, and allow states to shift vocational funding to support their federal Title I programs for needy students.

Overall, the proposal called for cutting funding for the federal vocational program from $1.3 billion in fiscal 2003 to $1 billion in fiscal 2004, which began Oct. 1. The bulk of money devoted to vocational education—at least 90 percent, by some estimates—comes from state and local sources. Still, backers of vocational programs fear the proposed federal reductions would hurt them.

State leaders are watching Congress as it debates the vocational education budget for fiscal 2004. As of last week, the recommended spending in the House and Senate versions topped $1.3 billion.

Susan Sclafani, the acting assistant secretary for vocational and adult education in the U.S. Department of Education, said she does not believe that districts are being forced to make stark choices between keeping vocational programs and meeting the goals in the No Child Left Behind Act.

But she thinks that schools are being asked to rework vocational classes and course schedules to make sure that students in career and technical classes are not skirting academic requirements.

“People are going to see a focus on a different aspect of vocational education,” Ms. Sclafani added, one that is “more rigorous, more relevant, and more connected with postsecondary opportunities.”

The changes proposed by the federal Education Department would compel districts to re-evaluate their vocational programs and improve them, she said.

“If they’re going to do the same things with the money,” she said of programs receiving federal aid, “it’s a waste of money.”

Events

Student Achievement Webinar What Effective Tutoring Should Look Like—and Achieve
Join this webinar to learn how to sustain effective tutoring programs that help improve students' performance in reading and math.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Engaging Every Learner: Strategies to Boost Math Motivation
Math Motivation Boost! Research & real tips to engage learners.
Content provided by Prodigy Education
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Webinar
The Ripple Effect: Mental Health & Student Outcomes
Learn how student mental health impacts outcomes—and how to use that data to support your school’s IEP funding strategy.
Content provided by Huddle Up

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Trump's Spending Plans Are Late—Raising Worries About K-12 Funds
The executive branch has three opportunities in the near future to detail its education funding priorities in writing—but it hasn't yet.
10 min read
Image of a dollar bill with the Capitol in the center.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Funding Trump Wants to Gut Head Start. He's Already Begun
More than 800,000 students would lose access to early childhood education if Trump's draft budget proposal is enacted.
11 min read
Willow Palmer, 5, at right, comforts classmate River Yang, 3, as he sits in the safe place nook at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska.
Willow Palmer, 5, at right, comforts classmate River Yang, 3, as he sits in the safe place nook at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, on May 6, 2024 in Wasilla, Alaska. Since the start of the Trump administration, Head Start programs have had difficulty accessing their funding and have lost many of the federal contacts they worked with due to layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Now, they're anticipating a budget proposal from the White House that eliminates funding for the early childhood program.
Lindsey Wasson/AP
Education Funding Explainer Trump’s Push to Slash Federal K-12 School Funds, Explained
A rundown of the biggest threats to federal funds for schools, what's allowed and what's not, and how Congress might intervene—or not.
12 min read
Illustration of cutting dollar sign with scissors. Concept on the topic of devaluation of money.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding White House Proposes Eliminating Head Start Funding in Sweeping Budget Cuts
The proposal highlights the Trump administration’s priorities as it seeks a greater overhaul of education in the United States.
3 min read
Family Educator Lisa Benson-Nuyen, addresses her students in a circle in the Northern Lights classroom at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska.
Family Educator Lisa Benson-Nuyen, addresses her students in a circle in the Northern Lights classroom at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, on Monday, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska.
Lindsey Wasson/AP