Marin schools fall short in supporting students who are not college-bound and who instead might seek to go straight into the workforce, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury says in a new report.
“Vocational training, now included in what is called career technical education, is not promoted sufficiently to accommodate those students who could benefit from such programs,” said the report, “The Status of Career Technical Education in Marin County,” issued June 27. “Although the educational establishment in Marin County has increased opportunities for this group, the workforce-bound group may be unaware of the programs that exist. More can be done.”
The report, an update from the last review on the topic in 2007, issues four findings:
- Approximately half of Marin students who will not complete post-high-school education within six years of graduation are “underserved” by the countywide focus on going to college;
- Career information given to parents and high school students leaves out some available career technical education opportunities;
- Many Marin high school counselors do not have an “in-depth” knowledge of CTE opportunities that are available.
- Marin does not have enough physical resources and coordinated CTE programs. The grand jury uses as a model the successful Silicon Valley Career Training Education, a major high school focused on CTE located in San Jose.
“A similar campus in Marin could reach a broad range of students,” the grand jury said.
The panel is requesting formal written responses from board members at the Novato Unified, San Rafael City Schools, Tamalpais Union High School and Shoreline Unified districts. The districts are working with Marin Promise and other partners to improve graduation outcomes for all students.
Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke said she appreciated the grand jury’s focus on career technical education and agreed with its conclusions.
“From the perspective of the Marin County Office of Education, we agree that more work needs to be done to increase awareness about career technical education programs and opportunities available to students,” Burke said in an email. “While we have expanded programs including career academies and internships, we are eager to increase participation so all students can experience the work environment.”
Burke added that “while not all students are interested in going to college, we believe that all students can have a bright future if given access to the appropriate skill sets and training.” In addition, she said sometimes the career technical education “exposes” career goals that may require college training and thus can “become a catalyst” to lead students to pursue a college path.
Jonathan Eldridge, a vice president at College of Marin, disagreed somewhat with the report’s findings.
“College of Marin has been partnering with local high schools on a variety of fronts related to CTE, including the offering of college courses at high schools, articulated pathway agreements — such as our medical assisting program in partnership with Terra Linda High School,” Eldridge said in an email. “Our summer career academies that are running right now enroll over 100 local high school students in topics ranging from coding to entrepreneurship to health professions to solar.”
He also noted the college was a partner in the recently awarded K-12 Strong Workforce grant from the state that is being coordinated through Marin County Office of Education. He said CTE programs at College of Marin range from health occupations to machine metals to auto tech to multimedia studies to landscaping to court reporting, and can lead to a certificate, a degree or a transfer to a four-year college.
The grand jury did offer some kudos. The panel praised Shoreline Unified School District’s mission statement because it emphasized a dual track of serving both college-bound and workforce-focused students.
Bob Raines, superintendent of the Shoreline district, said the it was “expanding our CTE offerings to include a construction pathway, as well as our agricultural program.”
Eldridge said he worried that the grand jury’s report might inadvertently reinforce old stereotypes that some students just aren’t destined for college “based on demographic factors,” he said.
“This is not to suggest the grand jury is proposing this by any means, but it is important to guard against this being the takeaway, as it would serve to further disenfranchise those students who are already on the wrong end of educational inequities in the county and beyond,” he said.
July 5, 1019
Marin Independent Journal
By Keri Brewnner
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