6 minute read
Ready To Work
by LABI_Biz
By Marie Centanni
LABI’s LA Driven movement tackles workforce readiness at the high school level
When Juan Garcia Cordona walks across the graduation stage, he’ll exit with much more than his Tara High School diploma. The Baton Rouge senior enters the “real world” with something just as precious and hard earned, a gold medal in HVAC.
“Oh, man, I was so happy, I was not expecting it,” says Cordona, who won the SkillsUSA statewide competition earlier this spring (think literary rally, but for skilled trades). “I started the competition, and I felt like I was at least getting second place. But when they read my name for gold, it was pretty amazing.”
Cordona has always been interested in skilled trades, working alongside his father on construction jobs. He was able to refine that interest and aptitude while in high school, spending part of his school days training at the East Baton Rouge Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC).
Cordona is headed to the SkillsUSA national championship in Atlanta this June. And he’s prepping in the best way possible—by working in the industry. “My teacher offered me a job in his own company. I’m working now for him, doing a house from scratch, ducts and everything. I’m getting good experience.”
Cordona’s opportunity is another type of gold altogether–getting real world experience from the start. It’s the kind of experience that can’t be replicated in a classroom and, until now, wasn’t part of a high school’s accountability scores— meaning it didn’t factor into how a school was valued. Even for a school producing highly employable graduates like Cordona, who, by the way, also earned a Platinum score on his ACT WorkKeys assessment–one more “proof of skill” for his already impressive resume.
State Education Superintendent Cade Brumley is changing that valuation.
“I really see this as twofold,” says Brumley. “I see it as internships and apprenticeships, and I think that Louisiana is poised to be a national leader in this space.”
Brumley says the education community has an opportunity–and an obligation–to help students be better prepared for the day after high school–whatever that day brings. The problem is, until now, that preparation has largely been geared toward college only, to the detriment of our talent pool of skilled professional tradesmen.
“Certainly, we need students to go into universities, but there are also so many valuable jobs, necessary jobs, high-wage jobs,” he says. “Unfortunately, our accountability system in the state of Louisiana has not recognized internships or apprenticeships at all, until most recently. I was able to make a recommendation to our board, for the first time in our state’s history, to value internships and apprenticeships.”
Improving work-ready skills for our students and adults is one of the major focuses of LA Driven, the movement to implement LABI’s LA23 Strategic Plan. The plan outlined a set of specific steps, or a roadmap for us to follow, in order to position Louisiana as an economic driver in the South and ultimately provide economic opportunity for all. The recommendations focused on ensuring our citizens were ready to seize job opportunities, that our state was ready to attract and expand job opportunities, that our tax and business climate allowed those opportunities to thrive, and lastly, that we address roadblocks to that success, like high insurance costs and crime rates.
Louisiana’s labor force is relatively stagnant compared with our neighbors in the southeast. According to the LA23 findings, Louisiana’s talent pool–one of the most critical resources to a strong economy–has grown only 5% in the last 25 years, compared with Florida at 47% and Texas at 50%. Clearly, it’s time to grow that talent pool through re-entry initiatives, upskilling older workers, and yes, training early. LABI is making good time on the road to success, working with legislators, the administration and more to implement the first set of the many recommendations in its LA23 Strategic Plan.
WHAT'S NEXT
Specifically, one recommendation in the work readiness focus area calls for every high school student in Louisiana to be offered a relevant, paid internship opportunity. Another says Louisiana should build a statewide pre-apprenticeship program for high school students. Brumley’s team is implementing both of these, and he’s calling on businesses to help.
“I’m quite bullish on this, and I just believe that we have to do this,” he says. “If we want Louisiana’s economy to thrive, then our students need to graduate high school prepared. But they also need some set of experiences before that graduation date so they’re ready to take the next step.”
For Cordona, the next step was participating in CTEC and engaging in hands-on experiences that taught him valuable skills. It also helped him secure a job doing HVAC in the construction of a house. While many high school students are given little to no direction or encouragement, the internships and apprenticeships in real jobs would give them a chance at a brighter, higher paying future.
“I would ask business and industry to be open to conversations with their local school systems,” says Brumley. “Just say, ‘Hey, we recognize that the State Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are beginning to value and expect internships and apprenticeship opportunities. We want to partner with you, and we understand that there are certain barriers that have to be broken. We understand that there are logistics that must be worked through, but if we don’t start now, we’ll never get there.’”
Louisiana’s labor force is relatively stagnant compared with our neighbors in the southeast. According to the LA23 findings, Louisiana’s talent pool–one of the most critical resources to a strong economy–has grown only 5% in the last 25 years, compared with Florida at 47% and Texas at 50%. Clearly, it’s time to grow that talent pool through re-entry initiatives, upskilling older workers, and yes, training early. LABI is making good time on the road to success, working with legislators, the administration and more to implement the first set of the many recommendations in its LA23 Strategic Plan.
Louisiana business men and women, now it’s your turn. While policy plays out at the Capitol, the private sector is being called on to help implement these workforce expansion measures. We need you to open your doors to opportunity.
