On April 15, 2016, the New York Times featured an opinion column by Katherine S. Newman and Hella Winston titled “Straight From High School to a Career.” The column states that “there are hundreds of thousands of ‘middle skill’ jobs in the United States that are — or soon will be — going unfilled because of a dearth of qualified workers. Employers complain that electricians, pipe fitters, advanced manufacturing machinists, brick masons and radiology technicians are scarce. More than 600,000 jobs remain open in the manufacturing sector alone. These are jobs that provide a middle-class wage without a traditional four-year college degree.”
The authors argue that a 70-year decline in the U.S. commitment to vocational education and apprenticeship training is largely responsible for the current workforce shortages in middle-skill jobs. Encouragingly, the authors go on to point out that the past several years have seen increased support for vocational and apprenticeship training (also known as career and technical education) among U.S. educators and policy makers. The article cites effective career and technical education models, as well as examples of vocational high schools that struggle to function due to funding constraints.
The authors conclude with the following call to action: “We can do better, and we need to if we are going to compete against countries that are pouring funding into first-rate training. We should pay vocational teachers to spend their summers updating their experience in their industry of expertise, and make it easier for people who have worked in industry to become teachers themselves. We should also define high standards for vocational education and attach real apprenticeship opportunities to it. Finally, we should push our political leaders to make a long-term commitment to technical training for high school and community college students.”
The Eastern Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (EAMA) proudly counts the Connecticut Technical High Schools (THS) as a vital partner in EAMA’s mission to improve the regional manufacturing workforce. Our THS partners provide state-of-the-art manufacturing lab space, talented and dedicated instructors, and a commitment to producing workers with the advanced manufacturing skills needed by the many EAMA member companies that are poised for growth in the coming years.
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