For the last few years, the idea of career and technical education is all in vogue. With modern day pathways and occupations that defy old-school training, the whole field has been ripe for a makeover. Traditionally, it’s the high schools, community colleagues and various other government agencies that get paid to offer work-based training and support. Meanwhile business and industry is moving at the speed of light, and offering relevant, desirable and outcomes-based training for new skilled trades that isn’t always available through traditional means. That’s why Indiana’s new career and technical education scholarship account program (CSA) is a very cool, 21st Century idea. It gives students freedom to make those decisions outside of having to rely solely on what the system delivers.
Indiana appropriated $5 million for 2024-25 and $10 million the following to allow students in grades 10-12 to receive $5,000 each year the account is active. The bill also creates additional support for career coaching and connections with employers.
As Hoosier state business leader Al Hubbard puts it, “The scholarship accounts will enhance Indiana’s strong commitment to career and technical education by providing funding directly to students to pursue training and real-world experiences that will prepare them to enter the workforce.”
Traditional public schools which partner with career training groups are not too happy, thinking that giving students the freedom to shop for their own career training somehow undermines their work.
As reported in the Hechinger Report, a teacher argued that “The local schools would end up not being able to offer much of the introductory classes that get students interested. Then, you’ve not helped solve a problem — you’ve actually created a problem by not having those students be interested in the first place.”
Or one could consider that more students might be interested if they could avail themselves of onsite training at a business or a panoply of new options today not reflected in companies or schools, from General Assembly for computer programming to cybersecurity training, and hundreds of other things. Then there are newer kinds of models in education creating impactful apprenticeships and training for students that could be easily developed for Hoosiers, including Uncommon Construction, Oakmont Education and Build Up, all award-winning providers which provide contextual and relevant training and education for students.
Indiana’s efforts ensure students and employers can mutually benefit from a new pathway to addressing the critical skills gap the workforce faces across the States. It also builds on the state’s long-time commitment to and ongoing expansion of educational opportunity, having made education choice available to the majority of students in the state, with important increases in charter school funding, teacher pay, along with expanding the teacher pipeline to people with non-traditional credentials.
The bottom line is really the bottom line: It’s time for disruptive approaches to solving the critical need for more workers that have the right skills for today’s enterprises.
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