OPE report shows CTE enrollment is broad but funding and teacher recruitment create gaps, committee told

Casey Petty, principal evaluator at the Office of Performance Evaluations, presented the committee with a multi‑part review of career technical education (CTE) in Idaho, covering program offerings, dedicated funding, teacher salaries, recruitment, and policy options.

Petty said Idaho had 1,103 approved secondary CTE programs and 151,500 course enrollments this school year. He described five state funding streams and one federal stream that supplement (but do not supplant) local funding. "Program added cost funds ... cannot be used for base teacher salary," Petty said, noting that Perkins V and certain targeted funds can support teacher pay in specific circumstances.

Why it matters: LEAs report inability to recruit teachers for high‑need pathways and 60% of LEA survey respondents said they experienced funding constraints; 66% described recruiting as very or somewhat difficult. OPE found CTE teachers are on average paid about $467 more per year than non‑CTE teachers, a difference largely explained by career‑ladder placement and program area mix, but survey respondents nonetheless noted local wage competition with industry. Petty summarized policy options: allow added‑cost funds to pay base salaries (paired with new appropriations), adjust the public school support program to account for smaller CTE class sizes, simplify and clarify occupational‑specialist credential routes, and target the $3,000 occupational specialist supplement by credential or need.

Superintendent Debbie Critchfield described the Idaho Career Ready Students block‑grant program as an example of flexible state investment, saying about $60 million had been awarded that led to more than 170 new or expanded programs. Peter Ries, state administrator for the Division of Career Technical Education, said the division supports reform and cautioned that allowing added‑cost funds to support salaries should be paired with new appropriation to avoid trading off equipment and facility funding.

Next steps: Committee members discussed whether to pursue legislative fixes and how to develop cost estimates. Petty and agency officials said additional work would be needed to quantify staffing and funding needs before lawmakers draft bills.