Raimondo outlines P-Tech initiative for high school students

 A MULTI-YEAR program that will allow high school students to take a specialized curriculum and graduate with a community college degree will expand affordable access to higher education, according to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
A MULTI-YEAR program that will allow high school students to take a specialized curriculum and graduate with a community college degree will expand affordable access to higher education, according to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

NORTH PROVIDENCE – A multi-year program that will allow high school students to take a specialized curriculum and graduate with a community college degree will expand affordable access to higher education, according to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo.
The P-Tech initiative for Rhode Island, based on the Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools of New York, would create an affordable path to a college degree and a good job, Raimondo said at North Providence High School, according to a statement from her office.
The program, which would be adapted for Rhode Island, is a part of the governor’s proposed fiscal 2016 budget. It is based on a similar program in Norwalk, Conn., in which students enter high school on a path to either an associate’s degree in computer information systems, or in engineering technology. For up to six years, the students will be matched with mentors at IBM, and on graduation, are guaranteed a job interview.
The degree program costs families nothing in Connecticut, and is a partnership with IBM, the state and the city schools. It was created in Connecticut under then-Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor, who is now commerce secretary in Rhode Island.
IBM has agreed to provide technical assistance to Rhode Island and provide mentors in establishing a program here, according to Ashley O’Shea, a Raimondo spokeswoman. Specific employer-partners for the proposed initiative have not yet been identified, she said.
Raimondo has included a $900,000 request for a P-Tech initiative in her budget proposal.
The governor has also proposed expanding existing dual-enrollment and concurrent programs in Rhode Island, through an initiative called Prepare RI, and has requested $1.3 million for it in her budget. This would allow students to take post-secondary courses while they are in public high schools at no cost. The concurrent enrollment program allows students to take courses at a public university offered at a high school, and taught by a high school teacher. The dual enrollment program would allow high school students to simultaneously take courses at a college or university.
Also attending the event in North Providence, including a tour of the high school, were Pryor, Mayor Charles Lombardi and Maura Banta, IBM’s director of global citizen initiatives in education.
Improving the Rhode Island economy will require strengthening workforce development and meeting the needs of employers, said Pryor, according to a statement released by the governor’s office.
“Through the initiatives announced today, young people will have access to new pathways to college-level training, internships and careers in Rhode Island,” Pryor said, according to the release.

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