Grants of up to $15,000 to Massachusetts school districts, community colleges, educational collaboratives, and school consortia for the planning and implementation of technical education and career development programs designed for students in secondary and post-secondary school. Priority will be given to applicants that serve Gateway Cities and to programs that serve traditionally underserved populations.

The purpose of this competitive Career and Technical Education (CTE) Partnership Grant is to support regional and local partnerships to expand existing and/or develop new CTE programs and initiatives that increase student access to CTE opportunities, primarily through more effective use and integration of existing capacity and resources. Services provided are to supplement currently funded local, state, and federal programs.

Priority will be given to applicants that:

• Provide students access to Chapter 74 level programming at vocational technical education districts serving Gateway Cities* where access to admittance into the regional vocational technical high school that serves that Gateway City is limited by oversubscription relative to capacity.
• Can demonstrate success in providing high-quality Chapter 74 state-approved vocational technical education programs.
• Establish and implement program models and action plans that will increase student seats and access to Career Technical Education (CTE) training for jobs that are in demand and aligned with current labor market data.
• Demonstrate current and future active collaboration with secondary and postsecondary as well as industry and workforce development partners.
• Convene regional/local partners to expand existing and/or develop new CTE programs and initiatives that increase student access to CTE opportunities.
• Leverage the use of existing resources among the participating partners, to maximize capacity, impact, and sustainability.
• Serve traditionally underserved populations.
• Provide students with a sequence of courses that will lead to technical skill proficiency, an industry-recognized credential, and/or an associate degree.
• Propose a concrete strategy for sustainability as an educational option for students upon conclusion of Implementation funding.
• Propose new or expanded partnerships.
  

Grant funds must be used to plan or implement programs/activities/initiatives that will increase student seats and student access to CTE pathways/programs, particularly for underserved populations and students residing in Gateway Cities where the regional vocational technical high school serving that Gateway City is oversubscribed. All implementation activities must be appropriate and consistent with all applicable state and federal requirements.

For eligible uses of planning and implementation funds, see the URL for Full Text.