Oppenhagen Column: Technical education gets its due

There is a saying that goes something like "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it." I think it's intended more as a warning to people but, for once, the saying's promise (threat?) has come to pass and it's definitely a good thing.

Beginning with the students who will enter high school next year, there are two new diploma options, both with a career technology emphasis. Finally! I and others have long noted that there is a scarcity of technical education opportunities available to students in the county. Not every student is meant for, or even wants, college. But the curriculums at our high schools have ignored that basic fact and continued to push an academic path rather than a technical path. These two new diploma options will put technical education on a level equal with the academic.

This policy change is important on several fronts. First and foremost, it will keep more students in school. Increasingly, possession of a high school diploma is required for most jobs that pay anything close to a living wage. Upper level high school students frequently drop out because there are no classes that interest them. The new diplomas require at least four career and technical education (CTE) classes; more will have to be available so the student has opportunity.

Second, hopefully, these diploma options will increase the prestige of those students who choose this way of preparing for the workforce. Too often, high school populations are divided into the "college-bound" and the "technical" as if they were somehow less able to learn basic skills such as math and English. They are not. In fact, I would venture to say that it takes a lot more smarts to be an electrician, roofer, plumber, or builder than, say, a teacher. I can explain the basics of electricity to students and, hopefully, they will understand enough to pass a test. But I would not be able to install electricity in a house (and have it working). Or do almost anything under the hood of my car or fix the plumbing if something went terribly wrong or know how to add a new piece of hardware to my computer. And yet, these guys (general term -- I am referring to men and women in the technical trades equally) are not only able to do this, but are very skilled in what they do.

And yet, there is still a sense among some people that our technical students are not "as smart." I personally resent it when I hear people talk that way. My dad was an HVAC guy (heating, air conditioning and refrigeration). I cannot tell you the number of times I would help my Dad out at a job site, have him proudly tell the client I was college-bound, and hear a remark about how I would be better than him. Or, more times than not, ignore his comment and speak to him only about the business at hand, as if he were the "hired help" at a prestigious dinner party.

That is why I make it a point to at the very least say good morning to the construction workers at my school. They shouldn't feel as though they were invisible. Without them, I wouldn't be getting an updated, totally different inside classroom and school building. Besides, they are a fun group. And they can help me answer some of the questions my students have (and, I will admit, they can help me understand as well).

There is another important change to high school diplomas for the students beginning high school next year -- a really important, "why did it take so long" kind of change. Students will be required to take a class in economics and personal finance. Yippee! Someone, other than parents (who, admittedly, don't know anything when talking to their teenagers), is going to teach them about using credit cards, staying within your financial limits, saving for retirement, etc. -- critical life skills to success at any level. Students MUST be able to create a budget and live within their means. They must be able to plan ahead and start putting away money for their retirement. And, in some cases, learn how to combine the two, especially if there is a baby in the house already.

These new diploma options will serve to move high school out of the fabled "white tower of academics" into the real world where most people live. They will help to create a new kind of high school -- one that also trains the students to exist in a real world that has real challenges and real crises.

If all our challenges were so easy to solve.

Denise Oppenhagen is a longtime resident of Prince William County and can be reached at DenOp1@comcast.net.