Vocational Education Upgrade

The Chicago Public Schools system is overhauling its Career and Technical Education program to provide about 25,000 teens the skills they'll need to land well-paying jobs -- such as those in the medical or electrical fields -- right out of high school.

The seven-year plan calls for scrapping the unfocused vocational programs now spread across 70 city schools and consolidating them at 35 schools with better trained staff, more focused curriculum and more opportunities to earn vocational credentials in addition to a diploma.

Ultimately, students would graduate from these programs prepared to land what Mayor Daley termed "middle-skill" careers, such as electricians, auto mechanics, medical technicians or licensed practical nurses. "In today's economy, it is essential that we graduate students with the skills they need to go directly into a good job and a long-term career," The mayor cited a recent study by The Workforce Alliance that concluded 45 percent of jobs by 2014 will be in so-called middle-skill occupations -- those requiring more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree.

Chicago Public Schools have struggled to create a quality career prep program. This is the third time in a decade that city and school leaders have launched highly touted reforms, none of which have proved terribly successful.

Students in the career and technical education programs should graduate prepared to land well-paying jobs. But district research has shown they do only slightly better than other Chicago public school students. Now, the district offers 250 programs, everything from culinary arts at Clemente Community Academy on the West Side to brick masonry at Dunbar Academy on the South Side. That will narrow to 80 career tracks at 35 schools. Relabeled "College and Career Academies," the first will roll out next school year at 11 high schools. The remaining programs will phase in over seven years.

Students from across the city can apply to any program, but preference will be given to students at grade level in the core academics, especially those who live within the schools' neighborhood boundaries.

Huberman said the district developed the new plan after working with the Chicago Workforce Investment Council to study regional labor-market trends, then compare them with the district's vocational offerings.

"This is not about sitting around and thinking, 'What do we want to teach at CPS,' " he said."Rather, we started with, 'Where are the jobs, and what should we be teaching to prepare our kids to compete for the jobs that make $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 a year?' "

It quickly became clear that the district could not run 250 programs at a high level, Huberman said, so officials will scrap some. Take plastic fabrication. Huberman said the district's current career track in plastic fabrication has not kept pace with the evolving field. The programs will be phased out so students can opt to finish in their field.

The new plan also calls for students to gain real-work experience through internships and job-shadowing. The district is working with area businesses to offer 1,200 internships next year.

Currently, the district spends about $40 million to enroll about 25,000 students in career and technical education programs, and Huberman said those figures will not change. The only new expenditures will come from improving outdated labs, at a cost of about $4 million to $5 million annually for five years.

Source: Chicago Tribune, Stephanie Banchero and Hal Dardick, 1/5/10