Speck: 'My daughter, the HVAC technician' why the new graduation pathways model is so important

School curriculum is exciting when it teaches students how to program a computer that will machine high precision parts, instructs students in the fine art of creating a banquet menu for one hundred people, install solar panels or replace the computerized braking system on an automobile. And yet, the value of these learning experiences continues to be questioned as equally rigorous when compared to traditional curriculum. This debate has raged across our nation ever since our federal government began funding Career and Technical Education (CTE) in 1917. However, one thing is changing. The debate is receiving greater attention as our global economy is shifting to require a highly skilled workforce capable of executing technical skills in problem based work settings. This conversation has landed at the doorstep of our leaders in Albany, and Albany is listening.

People generally come down on either side of this debate. Listen to the conversations at family graduation parties or discussions around the office water cooler as parents talk about the high school and post-secondary academic track of their children. Then watch the body language change when one parent proudly describes the technical certificate their daughter just earned in heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Perhaps some simple facts may help get the conversation back on track and make direct eye contact at the water cooler a little easier:

We are a nation that continues to want the shiny and wonderful new things being developed but do not have the people to build them, work on them, and fix them and if we do not find them pretty quick the American economy will be in real trouble. (James Brady, Secretary of Maryland Dept. of Business & Economic Development, View From Government, 2001)

Thinking and problem solving is the work of the future no matter what educational environment you develop these skills in. Applied learning environments do it the best. (NAVE Report, June 2004)

In New York, if current trends continue, the state will have a deficit of 350,000 employees by 2020 for mid-level technical skills jobs, which are considered to be those requiring more than a high school diploma but, less than a four-year college or university degree. (Chmura Economics and Analysis, 2013)

Only 12 percent of New York high school students concentrate in a Career & Technical Education field (OECD 2008, Education at a Glance, 2008), yet more than 50 percent of current high skilled jobs require these skills.

Thirty-seven percent of Americas three million annual high school graduates go directly to work after receiving their diplomas; most are not prepared with any technical skills. (NAVE Report, June 2004)

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, Despite high unemployment, 600,000 jobs in advanced manufacturing remain unfilled because of a lack of skilled talent, (2014)

The USA ranks well behind a majority of European nations in preparing youth for employment after formal education. (OMabony and De Bair, 2002)

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Speck: 'My daughter, the HVAC technician' why the new graduation pathways model is so important