The Career and Technical Act, formerly the Colorado Vocational Act of 1970, CRS 23-8-101, was adopted by the Colorado General Assembly to provide assistance to local school districts operating CTE programs approved by the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education.
Currently, there are approximately 178 secondary school districts that are eligible to participate in the Career and Technical Act program.
The process and disbursement of CTA funds are governed by the SBCCOE Rules and Regulations. Funds are dispersed to eligible districts as a reimbursement based on the previous year’s final financial report submitted to CCCS by each district on September 1st.
CTA reimbursement essentially works like a rebate program to offset the additional operating costs of a CTE classroom as compared to a general education classroom. Many CTE programs require specialized equipment or lab space to deliver, which results in higher costs than the standard per pupil revenue on which districts operate. The reimbursement districts are eligible for based on the costs of their instruction, operating expenses, contracts for the provision of CTE services, and student full-time equivalencies are proportionately divided based on the level at which the program is funded by the state legislature annually. Currently, CTA is funded at approximately $31 million each year. Costs of secondary CTE programming of more than $ 130 million are submitted annually.