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The Business Council of New York State, Inc. supports S.2124-B (Jacobs) / A.7500 (Titus) which would develop guidelines for high school counselors to make students aware of apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, and career and technical education (CTE) opportunities. There is growing demand for employment in the “middle skills” area, which requires some post-secondary education but less than a four year degree, and many high school students are simply unaware of opportunities in these fields, or how to gain access to training programs.
The term “middle skills” is very much a misnomer; in most cases, these are highly skilled jobs which require technical training, but many high school guidance offices either aren’t aware of training opportunities for students after graduation, or don’t know how to connect students to training programs.
This bill is intended to bring more awareness to these “middle skills” training programs, which are highly technical, and would also emphasize that “college ready” and “career ready” are indeed the same thing, given the same 21st Century workforce “essential skills,” (communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking) are also the same needed in these “middle skills” careers.
The Business Council supports programs that ensure New York has the qualified workforce needed to further grow our economy. As such, the Business Council supports S.2124-B / A.7500, which would ensure students have access to information about apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship and CTE education opportunities.