State of the States

One of the most interesting aspects of these Region conferences for me is the State of State address–a time when each state gives a quick rundown of what they are up to and what issues they are dealing with. Here is an even more abbreviated rundown:

1. Alabama–They had about 50 people at their Policy Seminar and about 1,500 at their state conference. While they secured $2.5 million for Alabama Career Tech, it was a cut from the original $5 million that was in the budget.

2. Florida–Funding continues to be an issue in Florida. They have had some budget cuts. The state is piloting a new category where institutions join for a fee and individuals pay a small fee to join a Division. It will be interesting to see how that works–it may be a model. They are working on membership as they have 700 out of about 20,000 CTE instructors.

3. Georgia–Continues its strong membership growth–now over 3,000. They had an increase in attendance at their summer conference. Georgia has also had some budget cuts and anticipates more this year. The Region II conference in 2009 will be held in Savannah.

4. Kentucky–They had a good summer conference with more than 1,600 attendees and 75 exhibitors. Its three goals for the year are membership, leadership and public relations. It is considering a dues increase that will include liability insurance.

5. North Carolina–It has seen an increase of about 200 members this year. They have a new Web site. One of their concerns is the lack of CTSO information in the curriculum. It is the site of this year’s ACTE Convention.

6. South Carolina–Ray Boland is now the Exec. More than 2,500 educators attended the state conference this summer. The state is also experiencing cuts, with more possibly on the way. The state is doing a couple of membership programs related to the Division with the most members and the individual who recruits the most new members.

7. Tennessee–While the TN Directors of CTE did get their bill passed for additional funding, this year there was no money to fund it. The association’s winter meeting will be in Nashville in February. All students must choose a career path focus for graduation.

8. Virginia–They are currently working on the legislative agenda. Last year, for the third year, its three primary budget amendments were funded–which are great victories for CTE in the state. They are working on legislation to address the shortage of CTE teachers. Their state conference will be January 15-16 in Richmond.

As I said, it was a very informative session, despite the fact that there was no cheesecake.