CTE: Career and Technical Education

There is a need out there in reader-land for men and women with skills. Skills in the trades. For some reason known only to somebody else, this particular reality has gone all but unnoticed by everybody. Even those who know about the need, like those who would be doing the hiring, aren’t making any noise. Why is that?

One reason might be that most people out there assume that college education leading to Law or Medicine or Education or Finance is the only goal worth preparing for. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

College is necessary for only one or both of two reasons: either one wishes to become liberally educated, and this is a good thing, no question; or the career goal of the student requires the sheepskin. News flash: Most jobs do not require formal Liberal Arts degrees.

Plumbers don’t need one, carpenters don’t need one, electricians don’t need one, most building jobs don’t need one, driving jobs don’t generally require one. Wanna be a long-haul truck driver? Well, you get the idea. Many jobs of the sort I have just listed do require apprenticeships. Oh, and most, at least in the states, pay in the $30 per hour range.

There is a move in PSS to reemphasize CTE. What is that? That’s Career and Technical Education, folks. This is not a new thing but what it is is something that has been more or less on the back burner until recently. There are several reasons for this.

One, the cost. In order to build the shops and obtain the needed equipment for auto mechanics and machine shop and carpentry and electrical work and you name it big bucks are required. Well, you may have heard, we are in a recession. We have been for the last few years regardless of myths to the contrary.

Another roadblock has been the lack of trained instructors to teach the desired courses. There are all kinds of reasons for this too. Most trades folks want to be out there making the big bucks, so they are hard to find. And teaching a subject is a whole different ball game than being on the job responsible only for oneself.

The need for well-trained and able trades men and women is great, no doubt about it. Our high schools need the funding and the manpower to fill that need. I should mention too that our Junior College, which could also host certificate programs in the trades, could use similar funding support.

Well okay, where might such funding sources be found? Well, for one the federal government. Money for education that directly affects the growing of workforce capacity is being made available, if we are to believe the headlines. Too, certain industries desperate even in these depressed times, are hiring and training directly, though these are to be found mostly on site in the states per se. Need more examples?

The energy field needs all of the skills I mentioned above and more. Certain other skills such as welding for instance can be tied to other skills as well. Deep sea divers who are also welders can do very well; I have been told up to $200 hourly. There are just too many opportunities to list to be able to touch on them all in a short column like this. But, opportunities there are.

I am not saying to our young people don’t go to college. What I am saying is that if you go make sure you know why you’re going. Still, no matter whether one choose the Liberal Arts path or the Career Tech path one is well advised to plan, research, and choose sensibly.

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