The education policy of the incoming federal administration is still being formulated. While there will be many issues that we as unionized educators disagree with, there is at least one initiative that should be drawing support from across the political spectrum—an expansion of career and technical training for our high school and community college students.
Today’s technical training goes far beyond the woodshop of decades ago.
Often involving paid apprenticeships in major firms, it can range from computer-assisted design and software development to cybersecurity and robotics.
In New York City it includes training in the technology of electric vehicles; in Syracuse, N.Y. it is a new high school dedicated to science and technical careers, supported in part by Micron Technology, Inc., a leader in semiconductor manufacturing and microchips.
In Cleveland, Ohio, students are learning about health care in a school housed inside a hospital,the city’s MetroHealth Medical Center. They study a …