A proposal from state workforce agencies would cut funding for classes that teach nutrition, personal finance, and other skills. It has many Family and Consumer Sciences teachers across the state worried.
Under the plan being considered by the Indiana State Board of Education, schools could still offer family and consumer science classes, but they’d no longer receive state funding for them.
Laurie Holcomb is an FCS teacher in Wheatfield, Indiana, at Kankakee Valley High School. She says classes like hers help students gain fundamental workforce skills and explore future careers, but are being undervalued in the state’s plans for career and technical education.
“There’s a direct career connection to the foundational learning that we’ve provided to a certification [and] to a job,” she says. “We give those opportunities but, for some reason, they’re not being recognized by the state at this time.”
The Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Dec. 27 to discuss, and potentially vote, on the funding proposal.
Contact Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.