Since the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District was awarded $2 million through the state’s Career Technical Education (CTE) Incentive Grant in 2016, it has transformed the way local high schools educate.
The district was able to add a multitude of career-oriented courses, improve its existing pathways, and break ground on its new Agricultural Education and Career Technical Education centers, according to CTE Incentive Grant Coordinator LeeAnne DelRio. The goal, DelRio said, is to give students the tools and training necessary to be successful immediately after high school, whether or not they plan to attend college.
“We’re really trying to break the cycle of poverty by offering these pathways to high wage jobs,” DelRio told the Sun.
But the original grant funding was scheduled to come to an end after three years, and DelRio said the district has a lot of work left to do.
“We’re doing a great job, we just need to continue this funding for at least five more years,” DelRio said. “But it should be a more consistent funding source.”
And right now, that kind of consistent funding is more than just a possibility.
This year’s state education finance bill, Assembly Bill 1808, would direct $300 million in permanent funding to CTE programs, according to the bill text. Half would go toward funding the CTE Incentive Grant, and half to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.
California State Senators passed the bill unanimously on June 18, and it was presented to Gov. Jerry Brown the following day. He has until mid-July to approve or deny the bill.
“I absolutely am hoping it passes,” DelRio said. “I think it’s vital to the success of our students.”
Successful CTE programs are expensive to run, DelRio said. Facilities, classroom equipment, and technology need constant updates to stay in line with industry standards. CTE teachers need in-depth trainings, which DelRio said can be costly and time consuming, and many existing CTE courses need systematic improvements.
Local officials like DelRio are throwing out the traditional career tech teaching model, and are instead working to provide kids with new opportunities through CTE pathways, including industry certifications and free college credits.
“The old vocational classes–people used to say they were for kids who weren’t college bound,” DelRio said. “But these kids need choices.”
Most Santa Maria Joint Union High School District graduates can’t afford university tuition alone without high paying jobs, DelRio said, and CTE pathways give students the tools they need to attain those jobs right out of high school. CTE courses are beneficial to all students, DelRio said, regardless of their long-term career goals.
Roughly 5 million skilled labor positions nationwide are estimated to open up within the next 10 years, according to Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo), who said much of the nation’s baby-boomers will soon retire, or already have.
Cunningham, who recently led a campaign to save CTE funding, said the need for improved career-oriented and technical education is only growing.
“I think the demand for this is tremendous,” Cunningham told the Sun, adding that the state reviewed roughly 800 million CTE Incentive Grant applications before the most recent round of grants were awarded in 2016. “There is a real need for this and the demand is out there.”
Although Cunningham said the career tech funding included in this year’s education finance bill is $200 million less than what he originally wanted, its permanence is key. If approved, Cunningham said the funding should be reenacted each year the state education finance bill is renewed.
With a sustainable source of funding, Cunningham said that schools all along the Central Coast, many of which are famous for their CTE programs, would be better able to appropriately budget.
“This has been the most inspiring and bipartisan thing I’ve worked on so far in my time in the Assembly,” Cunningham said. “I am really pleased.”
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash writes School Scene each week. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, fax, or email at kbubnash@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 5, 2018.