Bill aims to consolidate; Community colleges would gain control of vo-techs.(A SECTION)

Lois Santjer enrolled at Manatee Technical Institute with a small budget and a big goal: to get a new job.

She succeeded.

Santjer, who is a graduate of MTI's nail technician program, runs Spoiled Rotten Tips and Toes from her Bradenton home. She sets her own hours and laughs about the price of gas.

She owes it all, she says, to her vocational-technical education.

"Vo-tech school is great," Santjer said. "It's a reasonable price and it's not as intimidating as college. You go in, you learn a career, you get out and you do it."

Come July 1, that could change.

There's a push to streamline Florida's adult vo-tech system by putting all programs under the umbrella of the community college system.

A bill that appears to be gaining support in Tallahassee makes the case that if Florida consolidated its vo-tech programs, less money would be spent on administration and services, and more on programs leading to high-paying jobs.

Sen. John McKay, R-Bradenton, likes the idea.

"I think it's important that we eliminate…