CTE education benefits employers and students
COOR Intermediate School District has designed the CTE millage to fix a problem.
“Quite simply,” says COOR ISD Superintendent Shawn Petri, “our area, like many others in Michigan, is facing a shortage of workers who have the training and skills that employers want.
“It’s a problem that is frustrating everyone, including students who are demanding more vocational programs, employers who can’t find qualified help, and people in our communities who can’t find skilled workers.”
Petri believes there is one answer to this multi-dimensional problem: expand CTE (vocational) programming while cutting costs for families and school districts. The one-mill CTE proposal which voters will see on the ballot February ballot will increase and enhance vocational programs for students in Oscoda, Ogemaw, Crawford and Roscommon Counties.
While the proposal will cost the average taxpayer about 21¢ per day, it will eliminate over $200,000 in tuition costs that local school districts now pay to enroll their students in CTE programs.
“We also will continue to subsidize transportation costs that local school districts incur to bus their students to COOR ISD-affiliated vocational programs,” added Petri. “Students will be able to graduate with certification in programs such as automotive technology, business and marketing, construction trades, medical occupations, public safety/criminal justice, education and welding. They will be eligible to receive free college credit for many of their vocational classes. It will also be possible to graduate from high school with an associate degree, tuition-free.”
Local school district superintendents agree that voter approval of the CTE millage will improve employment conditions in their communities. Superintendent Ben Williams of Houghton Lake said the State of Michigan is concerned about young people leaving the state after high school.
“If we provide students with employable skills in jobs and careers that are in high demand, I believe they will continue to live and work in our communities,” Williams said. “Employers continually tell me that there are good jobs available, but no qualified workers to fill them. The CTE millage will be a step in the right direction.”
Police officer Joshua Esch agrees. He has been employed by the Oscoda County Sheriff’s Office for the past five years, even though he is now just 24 years old.
Esch graduated from the Criminal Justice Program offered through COOR ISD’s CTE program and the tuition-free early college program COOR ISD operates in conjunction with Kirtland Community College. Esch said he learned a great deal in his CTE program. “The staff associated with the CTE program genuinely cared about the success of their students, pushing us to be successful in our studies and helping us to acquire the skills necessary to be successful in our field of study.”
Esch said that he loves his job and sees himself continuing in the law enforcement field “… for many more years.”
Petri and COOR ISD CTE Director Natalie Davis are conducting informational sessions about the February 27 millage proposal across the four-county region. Davis encourages residents to visit the ISD’s website (www.coorisd.net) or contact her directly by phone: 989-275-9536 or email: davisn@coorisd.net for more information or answers to questions.
