Oklahoma CareerTech could ask state lawmakers for a $67.87 million budget increase next year, part of a broader push to expand workforce training and chip away at waitlists that topped 7,500 students in 2024. The proposal, presented in Oklahoma City on Thursday, would bring the system's total fiscal year 2028 budget request to $249.56 million.
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education laid out the request as state CareerTech director Brent Haken pitched the case for more funding, according to Oklahoma Voice. The CareerTech board is expected to vote next month on whether to forward the proposal to the state Legislature. Oklahoma's 29 CareerTech centers count more than 500,000 enrollments across the state, per the same outlet's reporting.
Where the Money Would Go
The largest single piece of the request is a $27.65 million increase for postsecondary workforce training, which includes $18.65 million in recurring funding specifically aimed at eliminating waitlists, according to States Newsroom. Those waitlists reached 7,500 students in 2024, the Oklahoma Voice report notes.
Another $20 million in the proposal would go toward building what the report describes as a statewide approach to giving more students in grades five through 12 exposure to career training. The budget request also seeks a one-time $10 million appropriation to add CareerTech centers in areas that don't yet have one, and a separate $6.7 million would support curriculum costs, new programs and CareerTech student organizations, per the States Newsroom account.
Rising Costs and Existing Funding
State lawmakers appropriated more than $185 million to the CareerTech system for the current fiscal year, according to the Oklahoma Voice report. Layered on top of the new requests is an expected $3.72 million rise in the cost of employees' insurance benefits, an obligation the states newsroom report says falls to the state. CareerTech centers rely on a mix of local tax revenue, state appropriations and federal funds to operate, per the same account.
As reported by The Journal Record, the scale of the request reflects how far demand has outpaced current enrollment capacity across the system's 29 centers.
Enrollment Numbers Behind the Push
Thirty-five percent of all Oklahoma students in fifth through 12th grade had enrolled in a CareerTech class, the Oklahoma Voice report states. Among high school juniors specifically, that figure recently surpassed 50%, according to the States Newsroom article. Haken has argued the state needs to invest beyond its current CareerTech funding levels to keep pace with other states, saying, “We are seeing other states make significant advancements in (CareerTech education) above what Oklahoma is doing.”
Haken has also pointed to unmet demand within Oklahoma's own borders. He has said the state has significant white space where additional funding could bring more people into the CareerTech system, and he has argued the state should have confidence in Oklahoma's CareerTech system as it weighs the request.
The push for more money follows the system's continued growth on the ground: CareerTech has expanded into Beaver County using startup and first-year support funding, part of the broader effort to reach areas without existing centers. Whether the full $67.87 million increase survives the legislative process will depend on the board's vote next month and, ultimately, on lawmakers who control the state's purse strings.
