As one method for expediting Kansas’ economic recovery, the Legislature is taking steps to improve technical education across the state. Technical education merges the best of the private and public sectors. The Technical Education Authority brings together stakeholders in both education and business to make technical education more efficient. TEA will allow technical education institutions to receive direct input from the business world, enhancing technical education curriculum to include real world issues facing the business community.
We have taken steps this session to get all institutions in Kansas to a “per credit hour” funding formula. This formula will help the state’s ability to provide the technical education institutions (and also the institutions that have combined with technical education schools) more balanced funding. It would also help streamline federal funds to technical education institutions.
This proposal is only beginning to gain momentum. The Kansas Board of Regents has been requested to study the issue further and report back to the Legislature on the best methods for implementing a new formula and also on how to complete the multi-year process of standardization of the programs in technical education.
As much work that has been this year, even more will done next year and will be ready to go by the start of next session. Kansas has an opportunity in technical education that if capitalized on can throw back the weight of this recession on lead this country into a bright future.