When the nanotechnology jobs start pouring in, Howard Mettelman wants the highly skilled trades workers filling those positions to be homegrown.


“That’s not to say we can’t bring in skilled workers from out of the area,” the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES superintendent said. “But, we have a certain responsibility to create a native pipeline of skilled workers first.”

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, has been pushing his 21st Century Education Initiative, which, if passed, would allow students enrolled in career and technical programs to receive a specific diploma in technical education.

There’s also a proposal to create a new pathway to the Regents diploma for students interested in learning a trade.

“We really feel there needs to be support for a comprehensive approach to this to ensure students are college and career ready,” Mettelman said. “When you use that definition, it becomes crystal clear why having this opportunity as a pathway to a Regents diploma is so important.”

So what would a CTE pathway look like? Here are some possibilities:

* Full-day BOCES classes: Students who take half-day classes now lose instructional time during the bus commute.

* Starting students younger: Right now, only students who are either in 11th grade or who turn 16 years old by Dec. 1 can participate in the career and technical programs. Some officials recommend introducing elementary students or at least middle school students to the proposed pathway.

* A vocational substitution: To get a Regents diploma now, students must take and pass five Regents exam. Officials propose substituting one Regents exam with a vocational exam for CTE students.

Students in CTE programs also may miss out on obtaining an Advanced Regents diploma because they miss the specific classes required while they’re at BOCES. Substituting a vocational exam for an Advanced Regents diploma would help students achieve both a technical education and advanced recognition.

* An entire new diploma: Brindisi has pushed creating a standalone technical diploma to make students’ skills more viable. It would be a diploma that offers the same identification and carries the same weight and distinction as a Regents diploma.

Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Superintendent Mark Vivacqua said their graduation rate of CTE students is 97 percent.

“When we get students to CTE, they almost always graduate,” he said. “Hooking them into a technical study early on keeps kids learning and could help students at risk for dropping out.”

He said CTE programs already target students who might not work well with the traditional educational system, and prefer to see real-world applications of academics.

Mettelman said it’s not an “easy way out,” however.

“This is an extremely rigorous, academically rich, standards-based program that utilizes the power of career and technical education as the pathway road map,” he said.
