What to do after high school?

During the holiday season, my wife and I attended gatherings of family and friends with high school-age children and grandchildren. A common question overheard while talking with the high school-age youth was, “What colleges did you apply to, and which is your first choice?” I tried to ask, “What are your plans after high school?” According to the 2021 U.S. Census, approximately 37.9 percent of adults in the United States have completed a bachelor’s degree. By asking the question about the next steps, we consider the multiple postsecondary paths individuals can take on the journey to becoming productive members of our society.

How do we, as a community, best prepare youth for life after high school graduation? Nearly 10 years ago, I presented some of my educational research at a symposium hosted by Cambridge University in the United Kingdom (U.K.) about postsecondary paths for young people and the recruitment of employees. My research partner Dr. James Gentilucci and I addressed an audience from America, Europe, Asia, and Africa on the importance of thoughtful education and workplace practices designed to train and retain a local workforce. The U.K., London in particular, faces a similar shortage of employees as we do here in California. One path the European, African, and Asian countries implement is aggressive Career and Technical Education (CTE) in secondary schools that include teacher education. Over the past few years, I attended conferences hosted by the California Department of Education on the importance of CTE pathways in our schools. Our previous local assembly member, Jordan Cunningham, was always in attendance. I anticipate our new assembly member Dawn Addis will continue the support Jordan championed in the state legislature.

Education in the United States and across the globe continues to experience challenging times. We would be wise to remember that less than 40 percent of Americans report attaining a bachelor’s degree. More than 9 out of 10 Americans (91.1 percent) earned a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Educational attainment varies by age, sex, race, ethnic origin, nativity, and disability status. While we in America continue to navigate through federal and state mandates impacting our classrooms, our leaders must continue emphasizing CTE as a part of the educational puzzle. Expert puzzle masters advise that instead of taking a wild stab at the puzzle, identify a good strategy that will lead to an acceptable solution. Like the puzzle master’s advice, CTE is a crucial piece of the educational quest for student success. CTE curriculum strives to pair academics and high-level workplace skills. Students, administrators, teachers, business members, community leaders, and even politicians have endorsed CTE programs across the country for the following reasons:

• CTE-related jobs are in high demand.

• CTE preparation can meet individual and community workplace needs.

• CTE programs reduce dropout rates.

• CTE classes serve to increase student engagement in both CORE and CTE classes.

• CTE curriculum increases student achievement during and after school.

• CTE is cutting-edge in preparing students for “college and career readiness.”

We must make college and career readiness information available, such as collecting and reporting whether students are on-track for high school graduation, readiness for postsecondary enrollment, and how well students persist towards earning a college degree (not simply entrance rates). SLO Partners’ mission is to engage business partners and educators in aligning workforce needs with career and college pathways. We facilitate work experience opportunities to ensure that students have the skills and knowledge necessary for success in the workplace and that businesses have the skilled workers required for a sound, growing economy. We continue to work on industry certifications, such as our highly successful CompTIA Bootcamps.

SLO Partners is a regional consortium of business, industry, education, and community leaders committed to collectively impacting the workforce and economic development by aligning education systems and employment programs with economic opportunities. We recently received formal notification of the intent to award additional pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and workforce development grants for our county. SLOCOE, Cuesta College, and every school district and charter school in our county continue to join forces in leveraging CTE funding to best serve the students in our county. I encourage you to learn more about our highly successful partnership with Cuesta College, SLO Partners, and our high school CTE programs benefiting the community. It is an honor to serve as your County Superintendent of Schools.