What's out there for the non-college-bound?
By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News
High school students, take note: There's a world of opportunity out there
between a college education and jobs at Burger King. That's the message
being shouted by educators in the career/technical fields, including many
dedicated professionals in Larimer County.
Amy Smith, former career education coordinator for Poudre School District,
is passionate about the value of career education in the public schools
and beyond. "There's a lot of opportunity and very good jobs out there
that don't require a four-year degree," said Smith.
What's needed, she added, is more awareness of career and training options
among teachers, counselors and parents. These adults can help steer students
toward rewarding careers in nonacademic fields, if that's where their interests
lie.
These days, more than ever, there is tremendous emphasis on the value of
a college degree, so much so that other options are often ignored. However,
there's a movement afoot to interest more students in career and technical
education, or CTE, both at the high school level and beyond. In most cases,
even if a student does not attend a traditional four-year college, some
post-secondary training is necessary to get a good job.
Dollars are following this resurgence of interest. The 2000 bond issue
passed by Larimer County voters designated $1.4 million for career/technical
education. Using that money, Poudre High School installed a new computer
lab with state-of-the-art drafting programs, as well as new lathes and
a computer-controlled mill for wood and metal. The other high schools are
also upgrading their shops and computer labs.
Front Range Community College has many career programs for high school
students, and two of those recently spilled over into PSD's newest high
school, Fossil Ridge. Due to overcrowding at FRCC, carpentry and culinary
arts classes are now taught at the Fossil Ridge site and staffed by FRCC
instructors. The carpentry program was reinstated just last year, after
a 10-year hiatus.
At the post-secondary level, there's a lot going on as well. Nationwide,
stock prices for companies that provide career education have surged in
recent years because of the high volume of interest in these schools.
Movement is quiet
Despite the undercurrent of activity in CTE, the movement is a quiet one.
It's considered political suicide at Colorado State University to say that
college is not for everyone. Encouraging the career/technical path is seen
by some as racist and classist, an attempt to keep the lower economic classes
where they are.
"School counselors and CTE supporters face a can't-win challenge," said
Rich Feller, professor of education at CSU. "Parents basically say, 'Don't
let my child take courses that keep him from going to university.' Yet,
the public recognizes that college degrees are not for everyone and that
craftworkers, two-year technologists and young people with occupational
competencies are critical to global competitiveness and the entrepreneurial
spirit."
Feller, who was raised in a blue-collar family and didn't do particularly
well in school himself, understands the frustrations of young people who
aren't academically inclined. He now studies changes in the American and
global workplace and recently co-authored a book, "Knowledge Nomads and
the Nervously Employed: Workplace Change & Courageous Career Choices."
The myth persists, Feller said, that to get a good job one needs to go
to a four-year college. "Increasingly," he said, "there are college graduates
who feel cheated, even deceived. They were led to believe that a college
education was going to correlate with a job."
Besides the political overtones, CTE faces other challenges. One is financial,
since teaching technical skills requires smaller classes and expensive
equipment. Schools also face safety issues with shop classes such as carpentry
or metal fabrication.
Furthermore, with the current emphasis on school testing, mandated by No
Child Left Behind and state standards, schools sometimes put greater emphasis
on subjects that will be graded - in other words, the academic subjects.
Career education is easily left in the shadows.
Momentum grows
Even with the challenges, there are many reasons why the career education
movement is gaining momentum. Consider the following:
Increasingly, American manufacturing jobs are being lost to overseas
plants, so new ways must be found to earn a living wage.
Layoffs continue from high-tech companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Agilent
and Kodak. In northern Colorado, 2,000 to 4,000 people have been displaced
from high-tech jobs in the last few years, according to NoCoNet.
Some college graduates are doing what's called a reverse transfer: they
are going back to community colleges to get technical training, in order
to find good jobs.
A strong career education program may keep some young people in school.
Amy Smith said she has seen it happen first-hand in PSD, which reported
a 1.8 percent dropout rate in 2003-04. Nationwide, a study of southern
states showed that every state that reduced vocational education saw a
rise in the number of high school dropouts.
U.S. businesses increasingly report shortages of skilled workers.
"Hot jobs" in Larimer County include those for pipefitters and steamfitters,
making $23.50 per hour; medical and clinical laboratory technologists,
$21.60 per hour and construction managers, $24.30 per hour.
Registered nurses can earn from $21 to $60 per hour in Larimer County,
with good benefits. With the current serious shortage of nurses at all
levels, fast-track training programs are available. There are also scholarships
and training opportunities to help people move to the next level of responsibility
--and a higher level of pay. Some people who have been laid off in the
high-tech sector are now being retrained as nurses.
The experts agree on several things in today's changing workplace. For
one, lifelong learning is a must. People must be prepared to change, to
learn new skills, to adapt. Also, reading, reasoning and problem-solving
skills are necessary regardless of the career path chosen, so dropping
out of school is not a good idea. Finally, in terms of getting and keeping
a job, "soft skills" such as teamwork, reliability and a good work ethic
are just as important as hard skills.
Feller said it's also wise to look for careers that can't be outsourced
or moved overseas.
In today's high schools, there are actually three roads that can be traveled:
one headed toward a four-year college, one toward work right after high
school and the "in-between" path: some CTE training in high school, followed
by post-secondary training.
The challenge lies in meeting all those different needs and not ignoring
youth who aren't college-bound. "We can't afford to have our human resources
wasted," Feller said, "when we're competing in a global society."
In next month's issue, the North Forty News will look at career training
opportunities available in Larimer County and other nearby communities.
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