Testimony to the House Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee
Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education
Ohio Association of Career Tech Superintendents
Mary Beth Freeman, Superintendent
Delaware Area Career Center
April 6, 2011
Chairman Carey, Ranking Member Lundy, and members of the subcommittee,
thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on Substitute House Bill 153, the
State Operating Budget. I am Mary Beth Freeman, Superintendent of Delaware Area
Career Center. We serve 800 students on our campus and through satellite programming.
Those students come from eleven high schools in six school districts. As you may know,
career-tech education is delivered in three methods in Ohio. Joint Vocational School
Districts are multiple-district schools that represent many students across a geographic
area. Comprehensive programs are located within a single traditional school district, and
Compact/Contract programs operate through agreements between school districts.
In addition to serving as Superintendent at Delaware Area Career Center, I am
also a member of both the Ohio Association of Career Tech Superintendents and the Ohio
Association for Career and Technical Education. I testify on behalf of both groups today.
My colleague, Mary Jane Stanchina, will testify on behalf of Comprehensive and
Compact/Contract programs in just a few moments.
Before I address the budget directly, I would like to describe just a small example
of the exciting and innovative initiatives provided by career-technical education programs
all across the state. Our educational delivery system is responsive to industry, and trains
students for the workforce or for college. For example, Delaware Area Career Center has
a program called “Zoo School” where students take both their career technical classes
and integrated academics required for graduation and college entrance at the Columbus
Zoo. Students complete research for the zoo while earning college credit. One year after
high school, 99% of our Zoo School graduates pursue post-secnodary education and 56%
of all graduates are enrolled in a post-secondary experience. Our post program
placement rate is 90%. These numbers are representative of career-tech statewide.
The career tech community is proud to say that “career tech equals jobs” in Ohio.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that by 2014, approximately 45 percent of all
U.S. jobs will fall into a “skills gap” - requiring more than a high school diploma, but less
than a bachelor’s degree. Yet only 25 percent of the workforce will be qualified to
successfully perform these jobs. Career and Technical Education fills this gap.
Our system includes 57 Adult Career Centers integrated within Ohio’s 91 Career
and Technical Education Planning Districts. By law, every student must have the
opportunity to enroll in career-technical programs, which offer 40+ programs serving
more than 127,000 secondary and 89,000 adult education students. Because we rely on
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voluntary student enrollments and the ability to place students into high-demand
occupations, CTE is responsive to the needs of business and industry partners, who often
help design our classes and provide our instructors. Though CTE is part of public
education, it is a program of choice for high school students and their parents; therefore,
we are constantly innovating in order to meet the needs of our students and our business
communities.
Career-technical educators understand that the State of Ohio is facing difficult
financial circumstances and appreciate the hard decisions that the Governor and
legislators must make. We would like to share with this committee the items in the
current version of House Bill 153 that affect our schools and programs throughout the
state.
o Overall funding for Joint Vocational School Districts has been reduced as a result
of lost ARRA funding and accelerated reductions in tangible personal property
tax reimbursements and kilowatt hour tax revenues.
o $1,000,000 in each year that is currently allocated to Tech Prep Consortia will be
redistributed to provide an increase for the High Schools That Work program and
Tech Prep grants. Tech Prep grants will be awarded on a competitive basis,
according to the Department of Education, and we are anxious to understand what
this process will look like.
o Finally, many comprehensive and compact career-tech programs are facing deep
cuts as part of funding cuts to their school districts.
o It is also worth noting that on the Federal level, career-technical programs face
further cuts, as Perkins Funding is threatened. Ohio career-technical programs
stand to lose 9% of our federal funding, one of the hardest hit states in the nation,
if proposed changes are approved.
We are encouraged by certain aspects of the Governor’s proposed budget and House Bill
153:
o The school foundation funding is being increased by 1.9% in 2012 and 1.0% in
2013 over all school districts by the Governor’s projections.
o The current language continues a weighted funding mechanism that has been
critical for CTE success over the past several years.
o Innovation districts will reward forward-thinking districts with relief from many
regulatory burdens.
o Adult workforce education programs will have a modified background check
requirement for instructors that better matches the typical schedule for Adult Ed
instructors.
o JVSDs are provided greater opportunity to complete projects through OSFC.
We also advocate enhancing CTE by reducing administrative burdens and
unfunded mandates. These reforms are budget-neutral and will help our schools deliver a
better product. To this end, we recommend:
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 Providing local discretion in how districts may pay for student school supplies for
free lunch students.
 Including JVSDs in Tax Increment Financing negotiations at the local level to put
the Joint Vocational Districts on par with traditional school districts.
 Eliminating the requirement of a baccalaureate degree for all instructors,
particularly in Adult Education.
 Allowing JVSDs to finance projects for K-12 and Adult Ed through a single levy.
 To the extent that it has not been addressed in recent legislation, modifying sick
leave mandates in the current revised code to reflect a more reasonable system for
accruing leave time.
 Adding clarity to continuing contract changes supported by the courts - requiring
teachers to achieve certain professional benchmarks before qualifying for a
continuing contract.
We are privileged to be able to serve high school students and adult students
across Ohio to prepare them for successful careers - contributing to our communities and
our State. We look forward to working with this committee to provide any additional
information you believe may be helpful and invite you to visit any of the career-technical
programs in your district to see programs first-hand. Thank you.
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