February is Career Technical Education (CTE) Month, a time when we celebrate skilled trades education. There is obvious and growing momentum around CTE. Last month, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visited Ella T. Grasso Technical School, a skilled trades high school in his home state of Connecticut.
“We have to start thinking about what career and technical education options we give to our students at all high schools,’’ Cardona said in comments reported by the Norwich Bulletin.
“The jobs are there. With the infrastructure bill there are going to be more…high skilled, high paying jobs that are available, that we need to make sure we are preparing our students for.”
Cardona himself attended a technical high school (HC Wilcox Technical HS) in Meriden, CT. He acknowledged that the skilled trades programs at the school he visited are not available to all high school students.
“It’s still the exception, not the norm,” Cardona said of the programs offered at Grasso Tech.
Governors across the United States are also getting serious about promoting CTE, in large part because of a critical shortage of skilled trades workers.
“It’s time we end the stigma around CTE,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said in his January State of the State Address.
“It’s just as important, valuable and impressive to become an electrician, welder or EMT as it is to go to Stanford, Dartmouth or Harvard.”
Before running for governor, Scott had a successful career in construction. He said Vermont needs to do more to get high school students on a career path. Governors in Tennessee and Florida have announced significant funding increases for CTE. The Legislature in Maine is studying how to expand CTE in high schools. New CTE facilities are being built or planned all over country, including North Dakota, Kentucky, Colorado and Pennsylvania.
Enrollment is increasing too. In Arkansas, last year there were 113,868 students enrolled in CTE. Today there are 143,451, a one-year jump of nearly 30,000 students.
Excellent high school skilled trades education prepares students to be contributors to the working world – incorporating project-based learning, hands-on problem solving, and teamwork. The best high school skilled trades programs are designed so students can obtain valuable industry certifications, participate in youth apprenticeships, internships, and earn credits toward an associate degree, all while in high school.
In a country that doesn’t seem to agree on much, support for high school skilled trades education is broad and deep. Research by NORC at the University of Chicago commissioned by Harbor Freight Tools for Schools found widespread bipartisan support for increased funding for high school skilled trades education. More than 78 percent of Republicans, Independents and Democrats said school districts should make skilled trades funding a priority. Despite this, the availability of high-quality skilled trades education in U.S. public high schools is woefully inadequate.
But as we celebrate CTE Month this year, we are happy to see long overdue attention and support to grow CTE classes and facilities. Our country is finally making the investments that our students and employers need.
