Invest in career and technical centers

Career and technical education is making a comeback in Rhode Island. Long overdue, real career programs provide high school students with opportunities to learn skills required of the workforce, to develop strong relationships with instructors, to earn college credits, to gain industry credentials, and to participate in meaningful internships. Sadly, our students and Rhode Island’s taxpayers are suffering because of an inefficient, uncoordinated and duplicative delivery system.

No one will argue about the value of real career and technical education. In addition to preparing high school students for potentially good-paying careers, it adds a strong measure of relevance to the high school experience. Moreover, students get to practice skills learned in the classroom in the real world. Learning comes alive!

Unfortunately, Rhode Island’s educational leaders have become so swept up with the concept of unrestricted school choice that little to no attention is paid to efficiency and program quality. Two examples might help. The Chariho Area Career and Technical Center has long offered quality programs in cosmetology and culinary arts, and has invested both state and local funding in these programs.

An even better example is the R.I. Department of Education’s approval of a Chariho student’s request to attend an agricultural sciences program 18 miles away, even though Chariho offers the same RIDE-approved program. The potential cost to Chariho taxpayers will be over $300,000 because no mandated school bus runs from Charlestown to the high school 18 miles away. There are other similar examples of inefficiency from across our state. The reason for this ill-advised direction is the belief that unrestricted school choice will solve all problems, regardless of cost.

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The General Assembly requires the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education “to allocate and coordinate the various educational functions among the educational agencies of the state and local school districts and to promote cooperation among them, so that maximum efficiency and economy shall be achieved.”

There are numerous other references to cooperation and efficiency in the delivery of educational services in the Rhode Island General Laws. Still, our educational leaders have “spun” the career and technical-center regulations to align with their school-choice mantra. The result has been nothing short of chaos, costing taxpayers millions of dollars for a duplicative and inefficient system.

There is a better way. The General Assembly created regional career and technical centers, with a more recently created career and technical board of trustees, “responsible for ensuring a comprehensive and coordinated career and technical system.”

Pursuant to this directive, Rhode Island should:

  1. Invest in its regional career and technical centers so that they become modern, attractive facilities that house state-of-the-art programs aligned to workforce needs.
  2. Ensure that approved programs meet the highest of standards, with regular monitoring and closure if standards drop.
  3. Charge each regional center with the responsibility to coordinate the delivery of career and technical education in its region, including delivery through needs-based satellite programs in high schools.
  4. Provide financial relief to tuition-paying districts by reimbursing for a portion of tuition payments for students who successfully complete career and technical programs in a regional center.

Unrestricted school choice in public education is not the panacea that advocates would have us believe. Those who turn a blind eye to other alternatives, including those written into existing guidance and regulations, have led us down a path to inefficiency, chaos and questionable quality at tremendous cost to taxpayers.

It’s time to find a better way! •

Barry J. Ricci is superintendent of schools for the Chariho Regional School District.

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