Proponent Testimony - SB166 Vocational Schools (Krista Gearhart, Ohio CCS)

Summary

Krista Gearhart, Ohio CCS Legislative Chair, gives written proponent testimony on SB166, Vocational Schools, to the Ohio House of Representatives Workforce & Economic Development Committee. The testimony states that the Ohio Association of Comprehensive and Compact Career-Technical Schools (Ohio CCS) represents Ohio's 40 Compact and Comprehensive career-technical planning districts (CTPDs). It asks the committee to support SB166, sponsored by Bill Reineke, and says the Student Pathways for Career Success Grant Program would help CTPDs overcome start-up costs. It also states that SB166 would allow a student who completes a driver education course at the high school to earn one-half elective credit and an industry-recognized credential.

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“Proponent Testimony - SB166 Vocational Schools (Krista Gearhart, Ohio CCS).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2021-10-27-econ-workforce-dev-testimony-testimony-10599-b295901a6a/, SHA-256 f0881c99ac1a98d9e239fedfa27c2de9a7b90a95f9675422dbef18a1aac3f08c.

Full text

                                        Ohio House of Representatives
                               Workforce & Economic Development Committee
                                          SB166 Vocational Schools
                               Krista Gearhart, Ohio CCS Legislative Chair
                                         Proponent Testimony


Chair Edwards, Vice Chair Powell, Ranking Member Upchurch, and members of the Ohio House
Workforce and Economic Development Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide written
testimony regarding SB166, Vocational Schools. The Ohio Association of Comprehensive and
Compact Career-Technical Schools (Ohio CCS) represents Ohio’s 40 Compact and Comprehensive
career-technical planning districts (CTPDs). Ohio has a three-delivery model system for secondary
career-technical education; Comprehensive and Compact districts are two of the delivery models with
Joint Vocational School Districts (JVSDs) being the third.

Comprehensive Districts provide an all-inclusive experience to students attending their school with
academics and career-technical education (CTE) all delivered within their own facilities. Compact
Districts share the costs of CTE through service agreements between multiple school districts; the
experience of a student in a Compact can vary widely, but in many cases students take their core
academic classes at their home school and CTE at a partner school. Examples of Comprehensive
and Compact districts include:

   •   Akron City (Comprehensive)
   •   Cincinnati City (Comprehensive)
   •   Columbus City (Compact; while a major metropolitan, Columbus contracts with surrounding city schools to provide CTE)
   •   Dayton City (Comprehensive)
   •   Findlay Millstream (Compact)
   •   Tri Star Career Compact (Compact)

We ask you to support SB166 sponsored by Sen. Bill Reineke. Career-Technical Education is seeing
a resurgence in our country today due to an increased workforce skills gap. Due to these deficits, the
importance of career-technical education is at an all-time high and we are excited to say that Ohio is
leading the charge not only acknowledging that the deficit exists, but meeting it head on. Following the
lead of Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted, Career-Technical Education Associations and the
Ohio Department of Education have focused on meeting the skills gap through strategic collaborations
between business, education, and government. Aligned and committed to addressing Ohio’s workforce
gap, organizations have focused on industry recognized credentials and other skill attainments that are
not only needed to address the skills gap in Ohio but can help students gain employment in rewarding
careers…right here in Ohio.
Student Pathways for Career Success Grant Program

      To continue to meet the needs of students and business partners, career-technical planning
      districts (CTPDs) need to expand and start new programs. The initial start-up cost for this
      endeavor can be a strong deterrent for some CTPDs (especially Compacts and
      Comprehensives). Expensive, equipment-heavy programs such as welding, automotive or
      even cyber security often carry start-up costs that pose an insurmountable barrier to some
      CTPDs. The Student Pathways for Career Success Grant Program would help CTPDs
      overcome the financial barrier and increase equitable access to the students of Ohio in the
      most in-demand career fields.

Work-Based Learning Experiences

      Work-based learning is a crucial component of career-technical education, and is a
      fundamental element embedded in our programs. The Ohio plan for implementing the Federal
      Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, commonly referred to
      as Perkins V has a specific focus on expanding work-based learning opportunities for our
      students. Providing incentives for business partners to develop new or expand existing work-
      based learning opportunities is a smart investment which will have a high yield return for
      building Ohio’s workforce.

Driver Education

      An impediment for many students to either make the decision to participate in a career-
      technical education pathway or have the opportunity for a work-based learning experience in
      an off-site workplace setting is the inability to obtain a valid Ohio Driver’s License.
      Unfortunately, the cost of private driver education is out of reach for many students. SB166
      would allow the student who completes a driver education course at their high school to earn
      one-half elective credit and an industry-recognized credential. SB166 would additionally allow
      the CTPD to utilize portions of their CTE Supplemental Funding (ORC 3301.17) to fund the
      drivers education course offered by the school district. Ohio’s CTPDs are ready to help
      overcome this hurdle, maximize the opportunities for our students enrolled in CTE pathways,
      and increase the number of students joining the workforce while still enrolled in secondary
      education. This is one step in the right direction

We encourage you to support SB166 and favorably report its passage. If you have any questions,
please do not hesitate to contact us

Ohio Association of Comprehensive and Compact Career-Technical Schools
66 E. Lynn Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 621-2000

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