Under a new state program, Destin Valega spends half of his school day outside the classroom learning to be an electrician, which could easily pay him $42,000 per year for starters.<\/p>\n
Valega, a senior at Dutchtown High School, is one of about 2,500 students statewide who are learning skills in nontraditional settings under a controversial push called Course Choice, which was launched about two months ago.<\/p>\n
\n
Why train to be an electrician?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust knowing I am going to have a job,\u201d said Valega, 17.<\/p>\n
State Superintendent of Education John White, who toured a training center for 30 aspiring electricians and welders, said the early results for a pilot program are promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are technical fields that are very difficult for high schools to offer training,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery one of them is articulating \u2018I am going to be an electrician, I am going to be a welder,\u2019 \u201d White said of the students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are excited about it, they are obviously learning and demonstrating that they are good at it,\u201d White said. \u201cIt is really good news.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program stems from a 2012 state law pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal.<\/p>\n
Backers said it was aimed at students attending schools rated C, D or F, or cases where students wanted classes that were not offered at their schools.<\/p>\n
The state is spending nearly $3 million for the effort this year, which critics contend is a drain on already financially strapped public schools.<\/p>\n
How students were recruited, how the classes are financed and the quality of the instruction statewide all have sparked controversy.<\/p>\n
About two dozen private firms, colleges and others signed up to offer courses, including Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., which is the site of the welding and electrician training center.<\/p>\n
Under the program, Valega and other students spend half their days grappling with math, English, science and social studies.<\/p>\n
Then they ride school buses from Dutchtown, East Ascension and St. Amant high schools to learn a trade that could offer a solid salary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are catching on quick; they are excited about the program,\u201d said Harold Bagley, who is the electrician instructor.<\/p>\n
The real payoff, he said, is when students finish the two-year training and leave with industry-based certification.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are marketable; you are very marketable,\u201d Bagley said.<\/p>\n
Graduates of the program can expect to land jobs where the starting pay is $20 per hour \u2014 nearly $42,000 per year \u2014 and know it can rise to $30 per hour or more.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are about guaranteed a job,\u201d Bagley said.<\/p>\n
William Mosley, a junior at St. Amant High School, is learning to be a welder.<\/p>\n
Mosley said he got interested in part because an uncle worked in shipyards.<\/p>\n
Cory Tuggle, also a junior at St. Amant, said he saw training as a welder as a path to a career. \u201cI\u2019m not that good in school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ascension Parish Superintendent Patrice Pujol said the training offers options.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese kids enter a career where they can be highly productive, make good money,\u201d Pujol said. \u201cAt the end of the day, that is the only reason we exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pujol added, \u201cThis is basically their elective courses. We have dual enrollment. They are getting credit here; they are getting credit from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valega and others will leave high school with the same diploma that most of their peers collect.<\/p>\n
Officials say that, in some cases, parents show the most reluctance on whether students enter the program, especially if it seems to threaten college dreams.<\/p>\n
Pujol said students can pursue both.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may require us to be more creative in the scheduling, but we can make that happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Robert Clouatre, director of education for Associated Builders and Contractors, said the program offers students vital skills training whether they pursue careers in the field or not.<\/p>\n
One 16-year-old student showed such natural welding skills, Clouatre said, that he is sure to land a top-notch job when he is old enough to be hired.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can be the Lebron James of welding,\u201d he said he tells students.<\/p>\n
Does this just enshrine these students in blue collar jobs instead of educating them for greater social mobility?\u00a0 (Hint:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 For poor kids, a blue collar job IS social mobility and a ticket to the middle class.)<\/p>\n
Does this program violate the ideals of a liberal arts education in favor of a mere vocational training?\u00a0 (Hint:\u00a0 No, and I speak as a militant advocate of the classical liberal arts.\u00a0 Why do you think I would say \u201cno\u201d?)<\/p>\n
How does that last sentence speak to us of vocation?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tip of the hat to my former student Nathan Martin, who is involved with this program in Louisiana that teaches students in troubled high schools to be electricians, welders, or other well-paid skilled technicians.\u00a0 Read about it after the jump and then consider my questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14,48],"tags":[2841,4359,2842],"class_list":["post-17031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-education","category-vocation","tag-secondary-education","tag-vocation","tag-vocational-training"],"yoast_head":"\n
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