Administration at the State level has progressed through the development of computerized enrollment techniques which will enable these data to be available faster and more accurately than was possible in the past. As the result of a rather large research project funded by the State Division of Vocational Education, improved manpower data on a continuing basis are available for improved management decisionmaking.

Recommendations to the committee include the following:

1. More State and Federal money should be invested in vocational education. Over the past several years, appropriations of Federal funds and State funds have not kept pace with the growth in vocational enrollments. The result of this has been that each year a smaller percentage of the cost has come from State and Federal funds and a larger percentage of the costs from local districts. In Kansas, tax and budget limitations limit the investment that local districts can make and consequently the development of vocational education in Kansas.

2. Congress should move to stabilize the funding pattern_for vocational education. Hopefully, educational planning can be done in the spring for the following fall term. When appropriations are delayed as they have been for the past several years, an orderly process of effective planning becomes impossible. Federal funds could be used more effectively if the amount of the appropriation could be known several months prior to the start of the fiscal year. In general, the State Division of Vocational Education is opposed to the Better Schools Act of 1973. First, because of the reduced funding provided. The attached summary was prepared by the State Division of Vocational Education and shows that Kansas would lose approximately $7 million under the special revenue sharing proposal.

Secondly, it will force the educational system to compete in the political arena for funds. It is unfortunate that decisions are not always made on the basis of relative merit, but sometimes on the basis of the greatest political muscle. If categorical aid is abandoned, it could lead to greater competition among groups for the funds available.

From the standpoint of reorganization and regionalization of the U.S. Office of Education, it is believed that the educational programs throughout the 50 States would be best served by the maintenance of an adequate staff in the U.S. Office of Education to establish policies and procedures on a national basis so that consistency would be maintained from one region to another.

99-988 0-73-pt. 1- -17

COMPARISON OF KANSAS FISCAL YEAR 1972 CATEGORICAL GRANTS AND ACTIVITIES WITH ESTIMATED RESOURCES UNDER THE BETTER SCHOOLS ACT

SAFA-$8,700,000 (includes "A" and SAFA-4,550,000

Net loss to Kansas under Better Schools Act, $6,898,318.

KENTUCKY

State Director-Carl F. Lamar

INTRODUCTION

I appreciate very much the invitation extended to me to prepare a detailed report to the Congress of the United States on the status of vocational education in the Commonwealth of Kentucky during the past decade and the progress that has been made in this vital area of education.

This is basically a report on the progress that Kentucky has been able to make in vocational education and manpower development, since passage of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 (Public Law 88-210), in developing and implementing federally supported programs in this area of education through Federal, State, and local financial support and cooperative efforts. It is recognized that theseinstructional programs and supporting services have been largely implemented at the local educational agency level.

There are some ideas expressed throughout the report regarding certain aspects of the program that should be preserved and safeguarded and others which should be changed or eliminated. These ideas are expressed with the sincere hope that they may be helpful in improving Federal laws and Federal guidelines related to financial support and administration which are needed to strengthen the overall thrust of the programs based on the needs of the people and the manpower requirements of the economy.

In your invitation to prepare this report, you suggested a specific outline that should be followed in preparing the document. This reflects the basic areas of concern to the subcommittee. However, you suggested that additional information which might expand the scope of the outline would be appropriate. Information which does not fit the outline is included at the end of the report.

I have attempted in this report to cover the entire expanse of adult, vocational, and technical education programs in Kentucky which are operated by the Bureau of Vocational Education, State Department of Education, under the direction of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and under the management and control of the State Board for Vocational Education, which is also the State Board of Education. An attempt is made to present a full picture of the basic program functions, ancillary services, and exemplary programs and projects that have been developed as parts of the total evolving effort in this area of vocational education and manpower development in the State. We sincerely believe that our efforts to promote vocational education and manpower development throughout Kentucky have had a salutary effect in promoting much (253)

needed regional organizations for providing educational services to local educational agencies. This has been accomplished through cooperative arrangements and by appropriately relating vocational education to the evolving concept of career education.

Again, I must take this opportunity to commend the House Committee on Education and Labor, and especially the Subcommittee on Education, for its continuing efforts to assure a viable and sound program of vocational education and manpower development in this country. These committees are to be highly commended for their untiring efforts, sustained dedication, and dynamic leadership during the 10-year period beginning with the passage of the Vocational Education Act of 1963. I consider this period to be the "hallmark" of Congress in promoting the cause of vocational education and manpower development in this country. Tremendous advances have been visualized and begun even though there is much more that needs to be done in the years ahead.

We believe we are extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated, capable, and forward looking person as Hon. Carl D. Perkins, from Kentucky, to serve as Chairman of both the Full Committee on Education and Labor and the General Subcommittee on Education during this period of unrest and frustration in educational circles throughout the United States. We are also fortunate to have Hon. Romano L. Mazzoli from the Third Congressional District of Kentucky serving on this important committee. We fully recognize the distinguished service that the other members of this committee have rendered on behalf of educational progress in this country. The people of this Nation should be forever grateful for your perseverance and effective leadership on their behalf.

Population in Kentucky

The 10-year period since passage of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 has been a decade of recordbreaking growth for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. According to the 1970 census, the population has grown to 3,218,706. This was an increase of over 5.6 percent. The 1970 census indicated that the population was 92.7 percent white and 7.3 percent nonwhite. It is expected that this ratio will remain fairly stable during the next decade. The nonwhite population, primarily black, is located largely in the urban areas of the central and western sections of Kentucky. About 51 percent of the population is female and 49 percent male-almost equally divided.

The changing age composition of the State's population is shown in table 1. The declining birthrate is indicated by a decrease in the number of children under 5 years of age; the growing longevity of the population is shown by an increase in the 45 years old and over age groups; whereas, the 15 to 25 age groups had a marked increase; and the 25 to 44 age group was rather stable.

TABLE 1.-AGE COMPOSITION OF THE KENTUCKY POPULATION, 1960 TO 1970

Kentucky is a State containing many relatively small towns and cities. Only 26 cities in the State had a population of more than 10,000 people in 1970. Kentucky is now an urban State by definition, with 52.3 percent of the population living in cities of 2,500 or more. In fact, onefourth of Kentucky's population lives in its 11 largest cities.

Projections of the State population by the U.S. Bureau of Census indicate a population of 3,559,000 by 1980. This would be a gain of 340,694 over the 1970 census. It was based upon (1) a declining rate of out-migration and (2) a declining birthrate.

Labor Force and Employment Trends

It is predicted that job increases in the State should sharply reduce net outmigration of the population. The Kentucky labor force and the employment trends are shown in table 2. The labor force, as reported by the 1970 census, averaged 1,218,800. This included 1,153,800 employed and 65,000 unemployed. The labor force in 1970 was an increase of 24.5 percent over that in 1960. Thirty-five percent of the Kentucky population in 1970 was employed as compared to 38.7 percent for the United States as a whole-3.7 percent below the national average.

TABLE 2.-KENTUCKY LABOR FORCE AND EMPLOYMENT TRENDS, 1960 TO 1970