Dear Ohio ACTE Member,

Ohio ACTE is pleased to share with you a valuable initiative that will shape the future of career-technical education in Ohio and empower your roles, as well as our colleagues in the workforce. The vision focuses on evaluating current infrastructure, while ruminating on historical milestones that have contributed to the backbone of the state’s CTE system.

Central to this effort is leveraging the expertise of Career-Technical Planning Districts (CTPDs) to align regional workforce needs. Ohio’s CTE system has long been a model of excellence, reflecting our state’s dedication to providing high-quality, accessible education that prepares learners for successful careers.

The key aspects to this approach are namely those of collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and innovative pathways tailored to local demands. Ohio ACTE, alongside representatives from OACTS and Ohio CCS, referred to as the CTE Futures Coalition, are heading the expansion efforts. CTPDs will continue to serve as central hubs for career awareness, exploration, industry credentialing, and workforce development. By fostering partnerships and creating innovative pathways tailored to regional needs, CTPDs will ensure that our CTE programs remain dynamic and responsive.

This initiative will certainly help inform our legislative efforts moving forward, but to be clear this is not the official legislative agenda. Our legislative priorities are still under development by the CTE Futures Coalition and will be shared once they are finalized. This concept serves as a guiding framework to strengthen our approach, and we’ll continue to build on it as we shape our formal legislative strategy.

We are confident that through these collaborative efforts and the leadership of our CTPDs, Ohio will continue to set the standard for career-technical education and workforce development. We look forward to your support and engagement as we work together to build a prosperous future for Ohio’s next-ready generations and local economy.

We will share more developments as this progresses. Thank you for your continued dedication to advancing CTE in Ohio.

Respectfully,

Dee R. Smith, Executive Director

Ohio ACTE - Association for Career and Technical Education