Some Kansas lawmakers ‘skeptical’ that state may be overpaying for Tech Education Courses

TOPEKA (KSNT) — The Kansas legislature is currently evaluating Career and Technical Education courses in Kansas schools.

During today’s Education Funding Task Force meeting, state lawmakers discussed CTE courses. These courses help students prepare for jobs and earn college credits while in high school.

Last year, the state spent $50 million dollars to help support CTE programs, a number that has gradually increased over the years.

However, lawmakers are telling us, the state is lacking an effective measure that shows just how effective CTE programs truly are.

We spoke with two members of the Education Funding Committee. They tell us that it’s unknown how many students are getting industry specific jobs as a result of CTE courses.

Additionally, the state does not require officials to track the success rate of students who take Career and Technological Education programs.

Representative Jason Goetz believes; the state needs to come up with something to measure the effectiveness of these courses.

“What was the goal going into this? With these funds, with this investment in vocational progress for students, what is the goal related to the dollar amount?” 

Representative Kristey Williams says some legislators are concerned that they may be spending too much money on CTE programs.

“I think it’s fair that there’s some skepticism that we’re double paying in multiple ways into multiple programs in addition to what we’re already investing in the K-12 basic state aid. So, we really want to understand if we’re double paying, triple paying, and just ensuring that the taxpayers are getting the best value.

One thing that lawmakers do know at the moment is that just over 60% of students who begin taking CTE courses, end up finishing a CTE program.

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