Marylee Shrider: Tech education a big win for students
| Friday, Feb 06 2009 08:34 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:26 PM
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At last.
Tech Ed is back.
It’s been a long time coming, but career technical education will soon return to many Kern County high schools as a graduation requirement thanks to some progressive thinkers on the Kern High School District board of trustees.
Trustees voted this week to proceed with their Career Technical Education Pathways plan. As a result, those kids thinking of dropping out — those who lack the interest or ability or family support to finish high school — may now have a reason to stay.
Or even go on to college.
The Pathways plan brings back to our schools technical courses some students once took for granted, like wood shop and auto shop — courses that, 30 years ago, fell under the umbrella of “Industrial Arts” as I recall. Depending on the school, students may now also take courses as varied as computer application, welding or architectural design.
The plan was pioneered by trustee Joel Heinrichs, who campaigned and won his board seat on his promise to do just that. In an opinion piece he penned this week, Heinrichs wrote that “extensive educational research” shows that quality CTE is a boon to students across the board.
And so it does.
A study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that a single year of technically oriented coursework at a community college increased the earnings of men by 14 percent and women by 29 percent. Numerous studies found that students at schools with “highly integrated” quality CTE programs scored higher in reading, mathematics and science than do students at schools with less integrated programs.
The plan requires student to take either a college prep or career prep pathway.
The best part is the plan gives students more areas in which to succeed, including an individualized program that allows high schoolers to take both career prep and college prep.
Another plus? The district already has the “equipment and space available to accomplish phase one of the plan,” trustee Chad Vegas says.
“With phase two we don’t, which is why we didn’t put it in right away,” he says. “By the time we hit phase two, we will.”
It’s a win-win all around, but there was still some grumbling at the Monday night board meeting. Mitch Olsen, president of the Kern High School Teachers Association, said while the union is excited about bringing tech education to the high schools, it’s unhappy with the makeup of the Pathways Committee and thus are taking a “wait-and-see” stance.
“We didn’t feel like the committee included enough of the stakeholders in the district,” Olsen says. “You didn’t have parents, you didn’t have teachers, you didn’t have CTA teachers.”
Considering the board has discussed the plan practically nonstop for two years and a number of stakeholders were included on the plan’s subcommittees, it’s a pretty tiny nit to pick. But I guess somebody has to.
We’ve fretted for years over our dropout numbers. We’ve been on the KHSD for years to do something about it. Now they have.
The Pathways plan may not be the magic cure for all that ails our schools, but it’s sure a promising start.
These are Marylee Shrider’s opinions, not necessarily The Californian's. Reach her at 395-7474 or write mshrider@bakersfield.com.
