Contact:   Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

Thank you, Mayor Steve Benjamin, for that kind introduction.

It’s good to be back with some of you, and to meet so many more. I was active in local politics and policy for many years, so I know first-hand your leadership role is important to your communities and the people you serve.

I’ve always believed solutions are best developed by those closest to an issue – by states, by communities, and by families. And mayors have a unique role in those ecosystems.

In my current job, I naturally think a lot about all things education. Education is perhaps the most local issue there is. It starts with the family. And yet those closest to their own children and to local schools and teachers seem to be the least empowered. Yet parents know that they need different solutions for their different children. They know we need to rethink education.

We live in some of the most exciting and opportunity-filled times ever. Over the past 100 years, we’ve seen significant advances in technology, medicine, and travel – just to name a few. But through all these changes in our homes, in our workplaces, and in our communities, approaches to education have largely remained the same for too many American students.

Yet, right now, there are over seven million unfilled jobs in the United States. Last year when I was with some of you, there were six million. The demand for skilled workers has grown. And looking ahead, consider the reality that the majority of the jobs that today’s students will do just 10 short years from now haven’t been invented.

Despite a booming economy with record-low unemployment, employer after employer reports that they cannot find enough qualified people to hire. I’m sure you’ve heard the same. There is a disconnect between education and the economy, just as there is often a disconnect between a child and the school they’re assigned to.

Too many students are unprepared for successful careers today, and beyond. And too many are treated more like commodities instead of as the individuals they are, each with unique abilities and aspirations.

As mayors, you have an important opportunity to build relationships between employers and educators. Today giant silos exist between educators and employers, between students and success. But students are better prepared for what comes next when their teachers learn from and partner with their community’s builders and doers.

In that vein, I was pleased this administration and Congress came together to pass what we call “Perkins V.” This new law is good news for those who want to break down those silos.

It gives states, districts, and community colleges more freedom to decide how to use taxpayer dollars to prepare students for success.

And as mayors, this year you have a critical role in helping your state shape its Perkins plan. For the first time, the law urges you and other local leaders to regularly evaluate student needs and how programs are meeting those needs.

(Texas) School accountability would include student achievement in career technical education pathways under a bill moving through the Texas State Legislature.

Currently under the state’s A-F grading system, schools can only count students who have successfully completed a career certification program, but advocates note that such a system doesn’t account for the students who are making good progress toward earning a certificate.

HB 1388 would make changes to the state’s accountability system to allow schools to count students who have completed a sequence of CTE courses that add up to four or more credits that consisted of at least two courses in the same career cluster, including at least one advanced course.

“Student achievement in career and technical education currently is counted only when a student obtains an industry certification,” according to a staff analysis of arguments in support of the bill. “However, few industry certifications are available or attainable at the high school level. The bill would recognize the value of students beginning a course of study that could lead to an industry certification or other postsecondary credential.”

Although CTE was once considered a fallback option for students who were unlikely to continue their education or earn a college degree, the pathway has gained support throughout the country as a way to fill the need for skilled workers in various industries.

In some communities, efforts are being made at the local level to target specific needs. In Maine, for instance, high school-level firefighting programs were developed to help train and recruit young people for short staffed stations. And in states with large numbers of rural schools, including Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota, lawmakers have increased funding to expand CTE and encouraged schools to partner with local industry leaders.

 Courses helps educate youths needed to fill construction jobs as openings rise  

Mark Long came from a family of high school dropouts. And for a while, his siblings expected him to follow in their footsteps.

Math and science weren’t his thing.

“I just wanted to mess around,” the Orange County native said.

Then, Long discovered a new class at his high school.

Called BITA, or the Building Industry Technology Academy, the Katella High School course taught students how to hammer, saw, build walls and install wiring and plumbing. Students used their brains as well as their hands, with math as essential as a Milwaukee miter saw. 

It pretty much gave me a purpose,” Long, now 35, said of BITA. “Being able to build stuff was my passion.”

Long was the first in his family to pick up his high school diploma on graduation day and the only one to finish college.

Today, Long is a construction manager for a general contractor overseeing road and bridge work. And, he’s Exhibit No. 1 for how training programs like BITA can help solve the construction industry’s labor shortage by steering high school students into the building trades.

BITA is now a statewide program, with classes in 29 California high schools.

“Our goal is to get the kids … interested in the construction industry,” said Jill Herman, director of the BITA program, run by the California Homebuilding Foundation. “And hopefully get into the construction industry.”

Homebuilders see the labor shortage as their top problem this year, according to a recent National Association of Home Builders survey.

While the industry has added nearly 1.5 million new construction jobs since the recovery began, it’s been 300,000 workers short, on average, over the past 10 months, U.S. census and Labor Department figures show.

Demand for new homes is growing faster than developers can build them, industry officials say. Same with remodeling jobs.

“We’ve had a lot of people leave the industry. They’ve gone to other places [to find work] and they may never come back because of age, [or] they found a good job in … another skilled labor sector,” said Mark Pursell, president and CEO of NAHB’s National Housing Endowment. “It’s up to us to show the career path to the kids.”

‘We’re getting older’

The nation’s workforce as a whole has been aging, but construction workers are aging faster, census figures show.

The percentage of construction workers 45 and older went from a fourth of the industry’s workforce in 1993 to just under half in 2017. The number of senior carpenters, plumbers, masons and electricians tripled over that 25-year period, while the number under 45 years old increased just 16%.

“We’re getting older,” said David Pekel, CEO of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. “We need to develop a way to market what the skilled trades mean as a career path.”

CWA Today addresses the workforce topics and issues that are important to you, the workforce professional. Episodes can be downloaded on a plethora of additional listening platforms; iTunes, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Sticher Radio or direct on Libsyn.com or scroll down to play our YouTube episodes.

CWA Today Wants To Hear From You!

Bob wants to hear from you, the listener. What workforce guests, innovations, or issues do you want to hear about next? Email: blanter@calworkforce.org and let him know, and he will address that topic in a future episode. 

This morning, the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor and Commerce joined the Swiss government in signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on apprenticeships. This agreement will build upon ongoing collaboration between the United States and Switzerland to encourage businesses and stakeholders to promote the value of apprenticeship programs and develop effective strategies to increase awareness of and access to work-based learning.

While you may be familiar with apprenticeship programs in the United States, there is a lot to know about Switzerland’s programs. In recognition of this morning’s MOU signing, here are 15 fast facts about the Swiss Apprenticeship Program:

A mismatch between the goals of career technical education as established by the states and the needs of the labor market is at least partially the result of employers nationwide not signaling their needs and requirements to schools, according to a new study.

Part of the problem can also be attributed to the fact that about half of states don’t collect the data needed to tell whether their CTE credentials are aligned with what employers are seeking.

And in the 24 states that do collect the necessary data to measure if credentials earned in high schools meet local industry needs, researchers found that 10 of the top 15 credentials earned by students are already oversupplied in the job market.

The report was released Wednesday by Burning Glass Technologies–which specializes in job market analytics–and the Foundation for Excellence in Education–founded by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in 2008 to advocate for innovation in education.

Matthew Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, said CTE programs are not failing to teach students the skills as intended. Rather, he said the study shows that the credentials provided through such programs often don’t support with what employers are actually looking for.

“The ultimate goal of any career credential, whether a certification, certificate, or license, is to give students an edge in the job market by demonstrating the skills they’ve acquired,” Sigelman said in a statement. “Every day employers signal what they’re looking for in their job postings. Ensuring that the supply of credentials is aligned with the demand by employers is fundamental to giving graduates a real chance in their careers.”