| For Immediate Release | For more information contact: |
| February 22, 2000 | Doug Champeau (651-296- 4305) |
ST. PAUL An effort to provide fixed funding for secondary vocational education programs in Minnesota cleared its first hurdle recently when a bill to provide funding was heard in the House K-12 Education Finance Committee. Rep. Jerry Dempsey (R-Hastings) said the next step is to wait and see if the allocation is included in the final House K-12 spending bill.
The proposed legislation would allocate almost $13 million to fully fund vocational programs for the 2000-2001 school year. Under this bill, the Hastings school district would receive about $72,000 and Red Wing would receive approximately $61,000. During last year's legislative session, categorical aid for the second year of vocational programs was not included in the final biennial K-12 funding bill.
"Without this legislation, many vocational education programs could be dropped or suffer due to larger class sizes," Dempsey said.
More than a dozen people including vocational education students and staff testified on behalf of the bill. At the same time, a Children, Families & Learning task force report examining vocational education showed that there is a need to continue vocational education options throughout the state, but that the department wants to look at other ways to fund the programs.
"These programs are important to many students in Hastings and Red Wing," Dempsey said. "Not everyone going to high school is going on to college. These vocational programs prepare students for the workforce. And with today's worker shortage, these programs are needed more than ever."
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