On July 8, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan joined to announce a campaign focused on removing stigmas about skilled trades jobs and highlighting career options that do not involve enrolling in college. This program represents the latest effort in Whitmer’s mission to close the so-called skills gap in Michigan, which has included a plan to increase per-pupil funding for K-12 career and technical education from $50 to $487 per student. While well-intentioned, these initiatives may simply increase enrollment and spending for programs that have not proven themselves effective. To truly solve the problems the governor seeks to tackle, a more serious reform of career and technical education is needed.

Many have recognized that the current education system too heavily emphasizes college as the best post-secondary option for all students. As college enrollment continues to decrease and education and business leaders have paid more attention to the skills gap, many Michigan politicians have touted the need for reform. Yet despite the impressive rhetoric, little has been done to enact substantive changes to the framework that has led the state to this point. “Reform” has mainly consisted of increased funding for the same system that continues to produce poor results.

Career and technical education offers opportunities for students to receive hard skills training that leads to specific industry certifications and employment opportunities. In CTE programs provided through K-12 school districts and intermediate school districts, students pursue technical knowledge through work-based learning in areas from agriculture to finance to manufacturing. In 2017-18, 110,316 high school students enrolled in 2,001 different CTE programs across the state. About 40% of those students completed a program.

Employers seem to value the specific skills and industry knowledge that students receive from CTE. Students who entered the workforce with a high school diploma and completed a program had starting salaries that were, on average, $2,200 greater than their peers with no CTE training. For those who went on to earn an industry certification or two-year degree, the average starting wage premium was even larger, at $5,500.

However, it is clear from shortages in the labor market that CTE has left large gaps in training. A recent study by the Fordham Institute compared employment by industry to the related fields of CTE coursework students take in the Detroit metro area. It specifically looked at students who have a concentration, meaning they completed at least three courses in a particular field. The study showed that hospitality and tourism employs 11.7% of local residents but constitutes only 2.8% of CTE concentrations, and the manufacturing field makes up 10.1% of jobs in Detroit yet accounts for just 2.4% of concentrations. Conversely, transportation, distribution, and logistics accounts for 20.4% of concentrations but only 7.6% of jobs.

Michigan’s use of CTE programs, by and large, does not appear to align with the on-the-ground employment needs of businesses, which may contribute to some employers struggling to fill skilled trade positions. Part of the problem is that schools do not respond to market signals such as wages and job shortages when determining what programs to offer. Curriculum is set, ultimately, through a political process, so even if a gap in education is recognized it takes years to discover, design and implement changes in the type of training schools offer.

In addition, school districts face few incentives to make sure their programs align with the needs of the labor market. A school’s funding is based on the number of students enrolled, regardless of their outcomes beyond graduation.

Due to these challenges, schools may not be the best-equipped to administer CTE training. Further, why should students be limited to what their local school can provide? Businesses should play a crucial role in educating students for employment too, as they have the best access to information regarding what jobs and skills are in demand. Employers also have strong incentives to make sure educational programs are useful, as they directly benefit from a well-trained workforce. Ideally, local businesses and school districts should team up to more effectively use the CTE programs currently in place.

Even better would be to widen the options available to students, beyond just their local K-12 school district. One possible option for students is the Education Freedom Scholarships, a new funding stream proposal currently in Congress. It would create annual federal tax credits for donations to state-based scholarships. Students pursuing a technical education could use these privately funded scholarships to pay for short-term job training programs, transportation to worksites, personal equipment needed for some jobs, and a variety of other services that would enable them to take advantage of the training opportunities businesses have to offer.

Schools face the pressure of preparing a wide variety of students for many different paths after graduation — no easy task, for sure. Therefore, it is unwise to place the burden of filling jobs mostly on school districts. If Michigan wants to get serious about preparing all kids to succeed, it should do more than just expand the current system, which has proven itself ineffective. Schools and businesses must collaborate, each using its comparative advantage to educate students as they pursue diverse futures, and new ideas to expand these opportunities beyond the schoolhouse door should be considered.

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