Alaska education officials outline $5.9 million in Carl Perkins funds, push CTE expansion

Monica Goyette, director of innovation and education excellence at the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, told the Senate Finance Subcommittee on March 11 that the state receives $5,900,000 in federal Carl Perkins funding and a $687,000 state base allocation for career and technical education (CTE).

"Carl Perkins is the federal funding that we receive," Goyette said, and by statute 85% of that amount is passed through to school districts and postsecondary institutions. She described competitive campus grants (four University of Alaska campus awards at $150,000 each), district professional development grants, nontraditional-occupation grants and a small corrections grant, along with statewide Perkins activities that remain with the department for monitoring and technical assistance.

The presentation emphasized strategies for small and rural districts that lack sufficient enrollment for onsite CTE programs. Goyette said districts form consortiums (for example, the Bristol Bay Regional Career and Technical Education Consortium) or send students to partner programs; DEED also supports online sharing of course materials and a flexible career-guide model to help seniors plan postsecondary pathways.

Senator Tobin asked how DEED supports districts that cannot sustain CTE programming locally; Goyette pointed to consortium arrangements, external partners and one-time grants intended to develop courses that other districts can adopt. The department said it will issue a grant this month to develop electrician and plumbing course materials that districts could use statewide.

Why it matters: CTE funding and program design affect how remote and small Alaska districts can offer career pathways such as trades, health occupations and other credentialing opportunities. Senators pressed DEED for clearer tracking of which districts run which programs; Goyette and Commissioner Dina Bishop said Alaska lacks a mandatory statewide course-reporting system, which limits visibility into local offerings.

Next steps: DEED committed to provide additional detail on Perkins fund line items and grant recipients and to circulate the grant solicitation for the electrician/plumbing course work.