Assembly Education Committee Considers Vocational Training Requirements (KCBS-AM)

SACRAMENTO (KCBS)
June 17, 2008

Two bills to require more vocational training in California high school are now working their way through the state Assembly.

Education cuts have meant fewer opportunities for students to receive training in a specific field such as the building trade or computer engineering, said the bills’ sponsor, Antioch Democrat Tom Torlakson.

He noted that vocational training programs have a drop-out rate as much as 20 percent lower than their exclusively academic counterparts, and he reasoned that requiring all students to take at least two career technical education classes to graduate would ensure students are offered “multiple pathways” to success.

“Students that are engaged in career technical education courses are excited, inspired, focused,” he said. “They see the reason for staying in school.”

The money for the teachers and other expenses of offering the classes would come from mandatory Prop 98 spending.

The bills go before the Assembly Education Committee Wednesday.