U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine proposes career tech middle school pilot program

Eyeing middle school as prime territory for career exploration, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is pitching legislation to get young secondary students career technical education.

The proposal comes at a time when Roanoke education leaders say career tech is booming and nearing capacity.

The Middle School Technical Education Program Act, or Middle STEP, aims to connect middle schoolers to potential careers and the skills they’ll need. The legislation would create a pilot program for schools to partner with postsecondary institutions and local businesses for education, apprenticeships and other opportunities not usually available until high school.

Kaine proposes zeroing in on middle school because elementary and high school have clear purposes, but middle school “is a little murkier.”

“Middle schools often get overlooked,” he said, adding he wants to take the part of the education system that doesn’t get attention and make career exploration a part of it.

And he’s not talking about something akin to career day with a handful of speakers who come to school one day to talk.

“You can infuse a math class with information about what mathematicians do,” Kaine said.

He said the idea is to get middle school students thinking about where they are the happiest and most excited and help them figure out what careers match up with those interests. The bill also proposes students draft a graduation plan to prepare them for careers.

To participate in the pilot program schools will have to apply based on an application process to the U.S. Department of Education, a spokeswoman for Kaine said. The secretary of education will determine the size and scope of grantees and awards.

When asked about the bill’s chances this year, Kaine said it might be tough.

“You don’t necessarily get something right when you ask,” he said.

Kaine has shown a commitment to career tech. He recently toured the Apprentice School in Newport News and in July proposed the Educating Tomorrow’s Workforce Act, which amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

The Perkins Act is likely scheduled for reauthorization next year, and Kaine said if his middle school bill doesn’t pass as a stand-alone piece of legislation, another route might be adding components as part of the Perkins reauthorization.

The bill, which has several co-sponsors, has the support of national education groups, including the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Association for Career and Technical Education.

Locally, career tech is enjoying a surge of interest, and Roanoke schools already have a career tech presence in middle schools, focusing heavily on technology.

Kathy Duncan, Roanoke Technical Education Center principal and career technical education director, said it’s important for students to begin learning skills when they are younger and exploring different opportunities.

“We want to build those skills as early as possible,” she said.

Duncan said Roanoke has had a great deal of support for career tech, but assistance from Washington is important too.

“More support needs to come from federal on down,” she said. “Without that type of funding top-down it can be a struggle.”

Though in Roanoke there appears to be a different kind of struggle.

In a report to the Roanoke School Board on Tuesday, Duncan told officials the city’s career tech programs, based at the Gibboney Center located on the campus of Patrick Henry High School, are popular.

“We are very close to capacity,” she said. “I’d love to have a brand-new building, and I’d fill it for you, I promise.”

According to figures presented Tuesday, there are 2,273 students in career tech education this year. That figure is up from 2,043 last year.

Board member Annette Lewis said the school system should think about where career tech will go in the future, including a regional approach or another facility.

“It’s time for us to start thinking about what we’re going to do,” she said.

Discussion Tuesday was casual and nothing even resembling a formal proposal was floated, but Superintendent Rita Bishop had a suggestion.

“Let’s get this literary loan paid down on Patrick Henry and [William] Fleming [high schools] and let’s consider building an appropriate career and technical building here,” Bishop said.

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