CareerTech board highlights enrollment goals, defends budget before legislature and tracks two bills

The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education told its board that agency leaders defended the department’s budget in a new round of legislative hearings and are pressing to convert program growth into higher, sustained enrollment.

Superintendent Walters briefed the board that Director Hakan and agency staff returned to a senate follow-up budget hearing to answer additional questions. Walters praised Director Hakan’s testimony, saying senators contacted him after the hearing to commend the presentation.

Director Aiken said the agency is working with the Department of Commerce to expand registered apprenticeships and is tracking two bills in the current session. One, filed through Representative Baker, would create a pathway for experienced industry professionals to be designated as workplace specialists and teach exclusively in technology centers without pursuing additional academic credentials. The other proposal would change high school graduation requirements so that CareerTech courses count as pathway units rather than electives, allowing students to combine technical programs with other activities without losing credit.

Aiken framed both items as part of a larger push to reach the agency’s enrollment goals, which include increasing combined secondary and postsecondary enrollment toward a 40,000 target over the next four years. He said short-term adult career development (ACD) enrollments were up roughly 28 percent year-over-year on preliminary figures and that postsecondary full-time numbers were expected to change most in the spring semester as adult learners enter and exit programs.

Board members asked how the agency will align its messaging with lawmakers; Aiken said the board and agency are sharing the same data and that the presentation explicitly showed the board’s involvement in setting the budget request. Walters and Aiken emphasized that their legislative outreach is intended to secure the funding needed to sustain program growth, while the agency will continue to pursue partnerships and federal aid to support students.

The board received the update; no formal action was required on the budget briefing during the meeting.