My Point of View, By Joseph E. Brown Sr.

I recently viewed a photo of a train derailment in the newspaper. Grain cars were scattered on the railroad tracks and neighboring fields, decoupled from each other and facing different directions. This photo reminded me of Minnesota education policy in that nothing seems to be connected as we travel down the road together.

Just as Minnesota is currently experiencing a severe teacher shortage, it is expected that there will be a more serious shortage of skilled workers in the next three to five years in the area of carpenters, welders, electricians and plumbers.

Many public schools have dropped vocational programs due to lack of adequate funding.  Vocational equipment is expensive and there is already a shortage of vocational teachers.  In fact, St. Cloud State University is the only college in Minnesota that trains vocational teachers.

It seems that public schools, colleges and universities and the vocational trades are not communicating with each other.  Without a rapid change in how we fund and provide vocational instruction in high schools, Minnesota will be faced with a significant “train derailment” in the lack of skilled workers.

What is the problem? Why are students not taking vocational classes? The answer is that many high schools have simply eliminated vocational programs with an increased emphasis on preparing students for a four-year college experience. Schools have found it increasingly difficult to recruit and hire certified vocational teachers. Schools have cut vocational programs due to lack of funding for up-to-date equipment and facilities.

One of the best-kept secrets is that students only attend public schools 15 percent of the entire calendar year: 174 days times seven hours per day. It is time for the Minnesota Department of Education and the state Legislature to start providing state aid for students who take vocational classes on Saturday, in the summer or in the evening for the following reasons:

• Due to state and federal academic requirements that result in full high school schedules, many students do not have time during the regular school day to take vocational elective classes.

• Many of the top academic students are taking a foreign language, band, choir or orchestra and multiple college classes and cannot fit a vocational class in the regular school day.

• Many students who are highly interested in traditional vocational classes have full schedules due to taking core classes more than once, remedial classes, as well as other core classes.

If Minnesota is really serious about increasing the number of skilled workers and encouraging all of our students to be career and college ready we need to be more flexible on how we fund local high schools with dedicated vocational programs.

The traditional seven-period day is 110 years old. We are now living in 2017, not 1907. Now is the time to reward those high schools that are willing to think outside of the box and provide vocational classes to students when they can best fit them into their busy schedules.

Government has a tendency to reward failure and penalize success. We always seem to have money for welfare and prisons. Why are we not investing financial resources into programs such as vocational training that will result in more skilled workers for Minnesota?

For an example, if a high school student fails a few high school classes and falls off track in graduating on time, additional revenue is given to the school district to extend classes in the evening or summer. This same type of revenue should be made available to students that want to take vocational classes outside of the traditional school day in order to be ready for a skilled job upon graduation.

Schools should also strongly consider hiring vocational teachers on a 12-month contract and compensate them accordingly. Too many vocational teachers quit teaching in order to pursue full-time employment in the skilled trades. Minnesota needs well-trained certified vocational teachers to provide the appropriate instruction for our students.

The time is now to think outside of the traditional box.  Let’s put the train back on the track of success and provide vocational instruction that will result in more skilled workers for Minnesota.

Joseph E. Brown Sr. is the Senate District 27 DFL Party chairman.