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Board Of Regents Hears Pitch For More, Earlier, Career-Tech Training Programs

In his State of the State speech tonight at Medina High School, Governor John Kasich is expected to push for more career-tech education at younger ages. A few miles away today, at the vocational high school Medina county schools share, the Ohio Board of Regents heard a similar pitch. M.L. Schultze of member station WKSU in Kent reports..

The meeting included chocolate-and-raspberry cake served by hospitality students and a tour of computer-assisted design labs and other programs. And it zeroed in on a recurring theme: The gap between jobs and workforce skills.

The board of regents oversees Ohio’s two- and four-year public college and universities. The career-tech high schools are the Department of Education’s purview. But regents Chancellor John Carey says the regents have a big interest in what’s happening at all levels.

“We’re looking at adults career workforce, the GED students as part of the pipeline to higher education. Because we just can’t rely on the traditional college students from the traditional high schools to meet our need for a skilled labor force. So we basically need everybody that we can educate to participate in today’s work world.”

Another concert for schools is keeping up with equipment for training. Carey’s department is inventorying the equipment needs of colleges and has put up as much as $2.5 million in grants to help schools upgrade.

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