Joint Technological Education Districts: Analysis of an Urban and a Rural JTED

On their Central campuses, the urban East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) and the rural Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology (NAVIT) offered vocational education classes that were more extensive than those available at member and nonmember school districts. These Central classes were generally taught by instructors with more industry experience, in better equipped facilities, and for longer instructional time, than the classes in conventional districts. However, EVIT and NAVIT receive the majority of their state aid and local property taxes based on the average daily membership (ADM) for their Satellite classes, which are located at and taught by the member districts. These Satellite classes were typically no more extensive than the vocational education classes offered at nonmember districts, which were not eligible for the additional funding. Based on our analysis, the trend of converting vocational education courses to JTED Satellite courses and other existing or possible JTED practices may have significant fiscal impacts for the State. Although a temporary legislative moratorium took effect in fiscal year 2002, restricting the formation of new JTEDs and limiting nonmember districts’ ability to join existing JTEDs, their ADM nearly doubled in the subsequent 2 years. The vast majority of this increase was due to growth in Satellite classes. In fact, between fiscal years 2001 and 2004, Satellite funding grew from $3.8 million to $31.7 million. Had all existing high school-level vocational education courses been converted to Satellite classes in 2004, the related state aid and local property taxes would have increased by another $100 million.