Career technical education officials from northwest Alabama admit their plan to secure state funding may seem lofty, but on Thursday night during a meeting with legislators they were promised support in Montgomery.

Gary Dan Williams, director of the Center for Technology in Muscle Shoals, presented statistics to an overflow crowd at the First Metro Bank annex. Career technical educators, high school administrators, students and school board member attended the second annual legislative social.

Williams outlined the needs for career technical education to survive and progress in Alabama. The plan calls for a one-time $30 million bond issue to bring equipment and facilities up to par; the restoration of $5 million in the state budget to cover summer programs and expenses and teacher contract extensions; and a yearly state allocation of $1,800 per program. The state has never funded career technical education; programs operate on federal funds to the tune of $300 per program.

State Rep. Marcel Black, D-Tuscumbia, told the group it is moving in the right direction and is being heard around the state. Still, he said, money is tight in Montgomery.

“We’ve been saying this the last 20 years, but this year we have real problems,” Black said. “I don’t know if a bond issue would work. That has to be paid back, and we’re not raising revenue.”

Black said certain decisions in Montgomery have further exasperated the financial problems.

“We have $108 to $134 million in the education budget this year that the Legislature is saying can’t be spent,” Black said. “That’s a decision I don’t understand, and is a big part of the problem.”

State Rep. Greg Burdine, D-Florence, said the presentation pointed out areas of concern that need attention now, such as the fact that 65 of 100 jobs require trade skills and/or technical degrees. He said he knows career technical education is the answer, but he also knows it’s being ignored.

“I can say you’re on the right track in pursuing this (funding), and you’re certainly getting people’s attention,” Burdine said. “We can’t depend on Montgomery for help, though, because the money isn’t there. We’ve got to be creative on the local level. We’re $400 million short in the general fund and we’re just treading water in the education fund.”

Among the students in attendance was Taylor Austin, a senior at Sheffield High School who takes welding classes at the Center for Technology. Wearing a tie and jacket, Austin pulled at the tie and told the group, “I couldn’t work every day wearing this; I’d die,” he joked.

“I’ve learned (welding) skills in career tech, and I need a job where I’ll get dirt under my nails. I hate to think what those who are coming after me are facing if someone doesn’t step up and fund career tech education.”

State Rep. Ken Johnson, R-Moulton, offered the most encouragement, pledging his support in tying to secure the $1,800 for programs.

“We’ve got to get back to what we need to be and if we’re going to recruit industry in Alabama like we say we want to, we have to have trained and trainable people,” Johnson said. “Right now, today, 7,000 welders are needed. We’ve now got to go back down to Montgomery and tell this story.”

Gary Warren, state Board of Education District 7 representative, called on the 20 or so career technical education students to stand up, saying there are 409,000 such students in Alabama, “just as sharp and deserving as these students right here.”

He shared other statistics, including the fact that the state has lost more than half its career technical centers in the past two decades, including 1,500 teachers.

He said career technical education is what always gets pushed back in lieu of funding for other programs.

“We’ve got to get to Montgomery and push ahead with our issue or we’ll just continue to be pushed back again and again,” he said. “We just want what we’re supposed to have for career tech.”

Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 256-740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@TimesDaily.com.