Friends of Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education,
Very interesting piece from today’s “Contrarian Boston”. Please take a moment to read this piece written by David Mancuso, President of Mancuso Communication Strategies.
“More than 8,000 aspiring electricians, plumbers, nurses, and other students want to attend state’s vocational high schools, but can’t, due to a shortage of seats available for them.”
“A potential political backlash as conventional high schools are hit with enrollment declines as students leave to attend vokes”
“Sharek contends the way forward must involve knocking down the barriers to the funding and infrastructure needed to ensure “every student who wants and would benefit from a vocational education has access to one.”
David
Expanding opportunity: Proposals are afoot that could enable thousands of additional students to attend vocational schools across Massachusetts, but significant challenges remain
By David Mancuso
More than 8,000 aspiring electricians, plumbers, nurses, and other students want to attend state’s vocational high schools, but can’t, due to a shortage of seats available for them.
And as classes resume at voke schools across the state, three major issues stand in the way of these students getting the education they deserve and need to compete in an increasingly skills-based economy.
The three primary roadblocks:
- Not enough money for vocational schools to add the teachers, classrooms and other facilities needed to educate thousands of new students;
- A potential political backlash as conventional high schools are hit with enrollment declines as students leave to attend vokes;
- The long-standing drive on part of some activists to instead focus on forcing a dramatic change in admissions methods rather than pushing to add seats and expand capacity.
Lew Finfer of the Massachusetts Action for Justice, is a leading proponent of the push to overhaul admissions standards, rather than focusing on expanding capacity, which he does not see as realistic.
“There will not be the funding to enable thousands of students on waiting lists to attend vocational schools,” Finfer told Contrarian Boston.
Calling it a “difficult fiscal dilemma,” Finfer also seems skeptical that state and education leaders will have the chutzpah to address conventional high schools losing funding and needing to adjust resources as the money follows the students to the vokes.
By contrast, Steve Sharek, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators (MAVA), wants to shrug off the distraction of spurious debates about inequality in voke school admissions.
Instead, Sharek contends the way forward must involve knocking down the barriers to the funding and infrastructure needed to ensure “every student who wants and would benefit from a vocational education has access to one.”
Sharek and MAVA have been pushing a proposal that would create a $100 million dollar grant program that could fund the expansion of any school that has five or more Chapter 74 compliant vocational programs, including conventional schools.
There are hopes the Legislature will take up the proposal in its next session, with support not just from MAVA, but also the Alliance for Vocational Technical Education, a group the pessimistic Finfer is part of.
The need to add thousands of seats at voke schools across the state won’t be news to legislators. Sen. Paul Feeney and Reps. Frank Moran and Adam Scanlon introduced their own proposal to improve access and boost capacity at Massachusetts vocational schools during the recently ended legislative session
Feeney had this to say to Contrarian Boston: "I believe it is critical for us to expand access to vocational-technical and agricultural education opportunities in Massachusetts.”
Sharek and MAVA are also advocating that the Massachusetts School Building Authority increase its minimum reimbursement rate for all projects that include five or more Chapter 74 programs. This need not be new money, only a prioritization of vocational learning requirements, Sharek told Contrarian Boston.
Both Sharek and Finfer pointed to the millionaire’s tax, half of which is supposed to be used to support K-to-12 schools, as an additional source of funding that would give lawmakers a two-fer investment opportunity: a move toward sufficient voke seats to meet demand for all students, and better integration of the state’s labor and workforce development dollars with education.
State leaders seem to be tuning in to the need to address the shortage of seats rather than engaging in a radical revamp of admissions standards. There is an increasing understanding that this would simply shortchange students who want to attend a vocational school who, by bad luck alone, could draw the short straw if an alternative admissions policy, like a lottery, were put in place.
Acknowledging that career and technical education “supports our employers and workforce in meeting high-demand careers,” an Executive Office of Education spokesperson told Contrarian Boston.
“The Healey-Driscoll Administration is committed to expanding access to career-connected learning and maximizing the impact of career technical education (CTE) schools," the EOE spokesperson said.
The new legislative session that starts in January could signal if EOE’s definition of “expanding access” will include support for making the investment for enough seats to meet demand, but it’s clear from background EOE provided to Contrarian Boston that CTE is on their radar.
Enabling thousands of additional students to attend vocational schools across the state would provide a huge boost to the economy in the Commonwealth.
And while it would certainly require a significant investment, it seems like a no-brainer.