The Issues: Should the Schools Prepare Students for Something Besides College?

Candidates running for the Benicia school board will have many difficult choices in the years to come. Revenue to pay teachers and fund programs will continue to be tight. Class sizes are not going down and programs continue to get cut.

While the district and the state struggle with the financial affects of the slowed economy, industry still needs skilled workers. What is the role of the school system in preparing students for the workforce in addition to college? Should the schools take a role in this area?

Today’s question:

How do you feel about vocational education?

This is one of my “Pet Issues” I am seeking more parents to speak up in support of this issue.

With the cost of college on the raise, we need to be providing Vocational Education. Not all graduates have the desire or funds to continue to college. Vocation art skills will set them up for success in the work place, and enable them to become socially responsible, productive citizens.

Education and industry and market needs are changing. The nation is redefining what vocational education can be. On the one hand we have immigrant labor and export our manufacturing such that we diminish opportunities and must revise labor needs. On another front, mechanization and computer technology are revising how we accomplish many labor tasks. I, therefore, see vocational education a serious challenge. Educators agree that vocational education begins in preschool and elementary programs with project based learning that involves kids in discovery, asking questions about materials and tools and problem solving. Wherever our vocational skills lead us in future, the developing brain, with conceptual understandings, is going to further a student's choice in middle school and high school. Our goal in public education is to enable a responsible and productive citizen. Our structure for vocational education, under budget stress and market change, needs to enable a continuum from kindergarten to high school

It is a common refrain amongst educators, administrators, and community members alike that we need a more expansive and important vocational education program for both college-bound students and students seeking alternative routes of post-high school education.  Local employers have consistently communicated to me that the trades people working for their businesses are aging and need to be replaced, and we as a District must facilitate a path by which students can be prepared to take these jobs.  As a Board Member, I will work with staff and community members to establish apprenticeship programs and improve vocational education in our District.