Chuck Neeley
I am a strong proponent of Career Technical Education (CTE)
classes in our high schools. In the last
half century we have lost our ability to prepare the way for talented students,
that are not college bound, to enter the trades. The concept to bring back a mandatory program
for high schoolers now seems to be gaining traction in California. Following is a recent article on the
legislation under consideration:
Senate Votes to Include a Career Technical Education in High
School Graduation Requirements
On Thursday, June 7th, the California State Senate approved
Senate Bill 672 (Torlakson) to add career and technical education to our
state's high school graduation requirements in 2014. This measure passed with a strong bipartisan
vote of 33-2. This bill is co-sponsored
by the California Industrial and Technology Education Association (CITEA) and
other members of the Get REAL coalition in Sacramento. SB 672 will finally ensure that CTE coursework
is given equal footing with all other college-prep mandates so that students
will actually have an opportunity to take these important classes.
While this bill is controversial to some in the education
community, including the Chair of Senate Education Committee Jack Scott
(D-Pasadena), this bill is absolutely essential to re-establish balance in high
school curriculum. The criticism by
Chairman Scott is that there are already too many mandates on our high schools
and this bill is yet another requirement on an over-burdened system. However, this is exactly the point. The education system delivers only those
courses that are mandated or required. As such, curriculum like CTE that is not
required or mandated doesn't get taught. California's
CTE system has been dismantled during the past twenty years because these
courses are "electives" competing with an ever expanding list of high
school graduation and college admission course "requirements."
Bottom-line, in California education policy, we value what we require, what we fund,
and what we measure. This
past Thursday, more than 80% of our State Senators agreed with Senators Tom
Torlakson (D-Contra Costa) and Mark Wyland (R-Escondido) that it is time for
California to move beyond rhetorical support and act upon a measure to place
real "value" on CTE.
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