Proponent Hearing on Senate Bill 1 — Joint Proponent Testimony, Ohio House Economic and Workforce Development Committee

Summary

Joint proponent testimony on Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) dated March 28, 2023, from the Ohio Association for Career-Technical Education (Ohio ACTE) and the Ohio Association of Career-Technical Superintendents (OACTS), to the Ohio House Economic and Workforce Development Committee. The testimony describes SB 1 as legislation that proposes restructuring the Ohio Department of Education to elevate, emphasize and expand Career-Technical Education. It says the associations represent the state's 89 career-technical schools and its 49 Ohio Technical Centers. It begins with the history of career-technical education in Ohio, which it says was established over fifty years ago under Governor Jim Rhodes.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

              Ohio House Economic and Workforce Development Committee
           Proponent Hearing on Senate Bill 1 (Dept. of Education & Workforce)

Joint Proponent Testimony of the Ohio Association for Career-Technical Education (Ohio
     ACTE) & the Ohio Association of Career-Technical Superintendents (OACTS)

                                          March 28, 2023

        Chair Swearingen, Vice Chair Santucci, Ranking Member Upchurch, and members of the
Ohio House Economic and Workforce Development Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
offer our perspective on Senate Bill 1 (SB 1)—legislation that proposes restructuring the Ohio
Department of Education in order to elevate, emphasize, and expand Career-Technical Education
(CTE). We submit this proponent testimony on behalf of the Ohio Association for Career Technical
Education and the Ohio Association of Career Technical Superintendents. These Associations not
only represent the state’s 89 career-technical schools, but also its 49 Ohio Technical Centers
(OTCs)—which focus on short-term adult technical training to meet Ohio’s diverse, regional
workforce needs.

         To understand the relevance of SB 1 to our schools, teachers, administrators and students,
one must first consider the history of CTE in Ohio as well as the current educational framework. The
state established its nationally recognized career-technical education system over fifty years ago
under the leadership of Governor Jim Rhodes and Ohio Department of Education Director Byrl
Shoemaker. Working closely with policymakers, educators and administrators, Governor Rhodes,
Director Shoemaker and the state legislature formed the initial 49 Joint Vocational School Districts
(JVSDs) which are still in existence today. Their innovative vision called for the JVSD to efficiently
organize and coordinate CTE programs across its member area school districts, and to deliver
quality, relevant technical training. Under this organizational structure, all Ohio students are
guaranteed access to in-demand career-technical programs that will prepare them for higher
education or any number of prosperous careers.

         As Ohio grew over the years, policymakers continued to build on this solid foundation in an
effort to further improve CTE. The educational framework has evolved to now include 89 “Career
Technical Planning Districts” (CTPDs)—regions established strategically throughout the state to
ensure every student continues to have access to CTE opportunities. Each CTPD utilizes one of three
“delivery-models” (i.e., type of school): 1) JVSDs, also known as Career Centers, which serve
several member school districts as outlined above; 2) Comprehensives, which are typically large,
traditional school districts with sufficient student enrollment to independently offer their own career
technical programs; and 3) Compacts, which are groups of school districts that share delivery and
costs for career technical programs through service agreements.

        Ohio’s unique, robust, and highly coordinated infrastructure is the national model for high
school and adult career-technical education. Ohio’s system is consistently acknowledged, studied,
and praised for its success—especially in recent years, as states across the country grapple with
unprecedented education and workforce issues.
        Success never comes easy, and our operations require significant effort and constant
attention. Each CTPD employs a diverse array of staff—including teachers, administrators, and
office personnel—to move CTE forward in the region and deliver educational, workforce, and
economic benefits to students and businesses alike. Their tireless work requires strong state
administrative support, as well as the ability to react quickly to an ever-changing workforce and
policy landscape. To that end, we have been pleased with the assistance of our partners at the Ohio
Department of Education (ODE) and its office of Career-Technical Education. Our collaboration and
communication have improved significantly over the years and ODE’s CTE personnel remain an
incredibly helpful resource. But there is always room for improvement—especially as policymakers
endeavor to greatly expand career-tech statewide. Hence our support for SB 1, which would place a
higher emphasis on our sector by developing a Division of Career-Technical Education within the
new Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) that stands equal to its proposed counterpart,
the Division of Primary and Secondary Education.

         As CTE administrators will explain in SB 1 testimony, there are currently several layers of
“decision-makers” within ODE’s hierarchy that fall between our school administrators and the State
Superintendent of Public Instruction. The State Superintendent must also report to the State Board of
Education, which works with the Governor to set education policy. SB 1 eliminates much of this
bureaucracy, establishing one Deputy Director for the new Division of Career-Technical Education
who would interface with the Governor and sit on his Executive Workforce Board. At the same time,
this individual would work directly with our schools to implement and strategically expand CTE
programming and otherwise better educate students about CTE opportunities and potential career
pathways.

        We welcome this timely, paradigm shifting legislation as it aligns with the Governor and
legislature’s overarching goal of growing career-tech and otherwise enhancing workforce and
economic development across the state. We thank our supporters in the legislature including bill
sponsor Senator Bill Reineke for the proposed elevated status of CTE and we believe more direct and
frequent coordination between leaders in the Governor’s office and the DEW will be in the best
interests of Ohio and its student population.

        We note that our testimony is limited to addressing the agency restructuring provisions of SB
1, given our area of expertise as CTE educators and administrators. It is equally important to note
that partnership of the two Divisions throughout HB 12 implementation is vital, as the quality career
technical programming offered within all 89 CTPDs aligns directly with the current Ohio
Department of Education’s goal for students to be enrolled, employed, enlisted, or engaged in a
meaningful, self-sustaining vocation within one year of high school graduation. The CTE
community’s support of SB 1 does not diminish our belief in the value of traditional K-12 education
—rather, we support the legislation because it provides an opportunity to elevate our voice and
unique educational opportunities in order to be viewed as essential as all other academic offerings
students have in Ohio. In fact, career technical education and academics are not mutually exclusive;
the ideal educational opportunity for students would support both facets equally.




       Maggie Hess, Executive Director, OACTS
       Interim Executive Director, Ohio ACTE
       MHess@oacts.com


File and source

File

2023-03-28_econ-workforce-dev_testimony_sb1-proponenttestimony-hess.pdf

Size

216,835 bytes

SHA-256

d9785b359dbf8e5c79347e584189bcacd5704ed0c09b9b2e89edc102e66d8eb5

Our copy

2023-03-28_econ-workforce-dev_testimony_sb1-proponenttestimony-hess.pdf

Original

No public link identified.