Voke/tech new focus of skills gap
Students at Worcester Technical High School work on projects. The high school recently received a $347,882 grant from the state to expand its veterinary assistant training program and for new information-technology equipment and clinical equipment updates.
Traditionally, teenagers based their high school choice on their post-graduation plans. Kids who want to go into a trade chose vocational education, while those who planned on going to college chose schools that focused solely on academics.
Research, however, suggests the line between the types of students who have traditionally attended the different kinds of high schools has blurred.
According to a January study from the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University, nearly 57 percent of vocational technical high school graduates in Massachusetts pursue secondary education, compared with 78 percent of traditional high school graduates.
High demand for vocational training is due in part to students becoming increasingly more aware of the value of combining academics with on the job training, as voke/tech schools do, said Timothy P. Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“The students have a strong academic base, but they also have tangible skills – soft skills that are required to be a good employee in today's work environment, like communications, working as a team, good work habits and showing up on time,” said Murray, who also co-chairs advocacy group the Alliance for Vocational Technical Education. “From both of those perspectives, there's a growing awareness that it's a very valued commodity being produced in our state.”
At the same time, there is a concern that increased demand has caused students who have traditionally benefited from vocational training – including those who perform badly in traditional academic settings – get iced out.
Government action
As Massachusetts faces a lack of skilled workers to fill technical positions that will open up over the next decade, the message coming from the state is now extraordinarily popular voke/tech schools are a big part of the solution. Better training for the commonwealth's future workforce is a central part of Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed economic development plan, which is currently sitting in committee in Beacon Hill. Baker has called the workforce skills gap the single most significant threat to the state's economy.
The bill, which asks for about $1 billion in capital investments over the next five years, includes $75 million over five years to fund better equipment and education at voke/tech schools and community colleges that create partnerships with employers to address the skills gap. The proposed funding builds on a $9 million Skills Capital grant program launched in December, administered by the governor's Workforce Skills Cabinet. The economic development bill also includes $118 million for a new initiative geared towards advancing manufacturing statewide.
Recommendation basis
The direction of the governor's Workforce Skills Cabinet is informed by Dukakis Center research as well as other studies, said Paul McMorrow, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
The study found voke/tech schools often compete for funding with other schools in the towns they serve. Voke/tech schools are about 50 percent more expensive to run than typical public schools because they constantly need new materials, equipment and safety equipment, the study found.
However, despite higher costs, demand for voke/tech schools is up even as demand for traditional high schools has gone down. One-third of the state's 351 communities are not served by voke/tech schools, and that as of Oct. 2015, about 3,200 students were on a waiting list to get into such schools, the study found. In fact, voke/tech and traditional high schools are increasingly attracting students who want to graduate and then go on to college.
Worcester Technical High School received a grant of $347,882 out of the $9.3 million the state initially gave out in Skills Capital grants. Principal Kyle Brenner said the measures of success at voke/tech schools have changed.
“If you're familiar with the old vocational education, they might say you're not doing your job if the kids are going onto a two-year or four-year school,” he said. At Worcester Tech, a graduate is considered successful if he or she goes on to either a two- or four-year college, into the workforce or into the military, Brenner said.
“We're not telling them, 'You have to go to college,' but we're giving them the key to that door if they want to,” he said. “You have the key to go to work and the key to go to college. It's up to you.”
The school has applied for more funding and is awaiting results, Brenner said.
“To stay current with the industries, it costs additional money,” Brenner said. “So these capital grants are opportunities for us to go out and apply for and hopefully get money to update equipment and maintain our equipment.”
Community college funding deficit
A second Dukakis Center study, this one on meeting workforce needs in the commonwealth, found the majority of future job openings between now and 2022 will be replacements and require less than a four-year degree.
The Skills Capital grant program is available to community colleges. The presidents of Worcester's Quinsigamond Community College and Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner said they are focused on filling skills gaps in various fields and were disappointed to find little money set aside for their institutions and others in the governor's fiscal 2017 budget, which is separate from the economic development bill.
“It's a bit of a disappointment given that we have high expectations for our students, and we have a ways to go in terms of ensuring everyone that comes to us can be prepared for math, science, communications skills, and to be part of a high-expectations workforce,” said Gail Carberry, president of QCC.
At a tour of Quinsigamond's new QuEST Center for STEM education late last month, state Commissioner of Higher Education Carlos Santiago acknowledged the fiscal 2017 budget was a lean one for community colleges. Those schools, he said, do much of the heavy lifting in terms of training the workforce.
While community colleges will probably never have all of the resources they need to completely fill the skills gap, the key to making the most of new resources is investing in equipment that can be used by more than one school, said MWCC President Dr. Daniel Asquino.
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