Technical and higher ed key to empower Idahoans

The 2016 legislative session featured a governor-supported focus on education, particularly professional technical education, now called Career Technical Education (CTE). CTE is high school, college and non-credit workforce training focused on the industries and occupations prevalent in Idaho, including health professions, agriculture and natural resources, skilled and technical sciences, engineering and technology, plus more. Programs and classes are offered in high school and post-secondary institutions.

The mission of Idaho’s Division of Career Technical Education is to prepare Idaho’s youth and adults for high-skill, in-demand careers, and to create a skilled talent pipeline for Idaho industry. Currently, Idaho has a HUGE demand for properly trained and certified workers. For every job available for an individual with a graduate degree, two are available for those with a bachelors degree, and seven are available for those with a one-year certificate or two-year degree.

Students who complete career technical education (CTE) are far more likely to find a job or move into postsecondary education than their peers. The investment in CTE is an investment in the success of Idaho’s businesses and the prosperity of Idaho’s citizens. The most recent passage of HB 625 provides funding for this year and evaluation of SB 1151 votes gives readers an idea how their legislators voted last year on the same topic.

Hand-in-hand with CTE are Idaho’s colleges and universities. As stated above, there is great demand for Idahoans who are empowered with associate, bachelor and graduate degrees. During the Great Recession, higher education experienced quite a reduction in funding from the state. While this reduction was necessary to balance the state budget, Gov.Otter has pledged that he would restore that funding in alignment with the recommendations from his Education Task Force. HB637 provided for a 6.9 percent increase to higher education including increasing salaries and other programs.

The success of these bills in the legislature marks a commitment by the legislature to support career preparation for Idaho students. It is part of the Idaho State Board of Education’s goal that 60 percent of Idahoans between 25 and 34 years old attain a post-secondary degree or certificate by 2020, and this goal was supported by the Governor’s Task Force on Education as well. Support for this effort is growing across the state and was confirmed by the Idaho Legislature in the form of Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR134.

The graphic shows how your legislators voted on these issues.

For more details about the intent of the law or the funding go to: https://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2016/legIndex.htm

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Jim Pierce is 2nd Vice Chair of the Idaho GOP and a member of NIPAC. NIPAC, or Republican North Idaho Political Action Committee: “Protecting Individual Freedom, Promoting Individual Responsibility: Our mission is to help rational, dedicated, problem-solving people get elected to public office — by motivating citizens to register, affiliate, and vote in the upcoming primary elections.”