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CTE Funding Proposal Would Cut Funding For Life-Skills Classes

State Board of Education members at their November meeting.
Jeanie Lindsay/IPB News
State Board of Education members at their November meeting.

The Department of Workforce Development is proposing a cut in state funding for several life-skills classes that teach things like basic nutrition and personal finance. The plan has upset some teachers and education officials. 

The proposal was submitted to the Indiana State Board of Education for discussion in their upcoming meeting. It would add new career classes that offer college credit while removing funding for five classes that teach students basic adult preparedness skills. In a tweet, State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick accused state workforce agencies of deliberately designing the proposal in isolation and communicating it "in the 11th hour."

The former chair of the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet, Danny Lopez, tweeted back that McCormick previously voted in support of the recommendation and added the process was transparent. 

Last year, the board voted unanimously to approve the recommendations for career and technical education funding but asked for more time to review them. 

Contact Justin at  jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.

Justin Hicks is a workforce reporter for IPB News based at WVPE in Elkhart. He comes to Indiana by way of New York. He has a master's degree from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Appalachian State University where he played trumpet. He first learned about Elkhart, Indiana, because of the stamp on his brass instrument indicating where it was produced. Justin was born and raised in Mt. Olive, North Carolina. He currently lives in South Bend with his dog, Charlotte.
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