Missouri Gov. Mike Parson called for more vocational training in the state鈥檚 high schools during a visit to St. Louis on Thursday.
Parson visited Clyde Miller Career Academy in Grand Center, which offers training in hospitality, manufacturing and other fields, besides preparing students for college.
The governor said he'd like to see more of Missouri's high schools offer career training to help fill the state's nearly 150,000 open jobs.
鈥淲hen I was in school, you were pushed into a scenario of 鈥榳ell, everyone鈥檚 going to college,鈥欌�� Parson told school administrators during a discussion in the school鈥檚 library. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 fine, but the reality is a lot of kids are not going to. So how are you going to take care of those kids?鈥�
The governor said he advocated for higher teacher salaries in this year鈥檚 proposed state budget. Teachers in Missouri are .
Clyde Miller students in the high school's professional-grade kitchen and health care training classroom showed Parson their skills.
More students are seeking career training instead of a four-year degree because they can鈥檛 afford the ballooning cost of college admission, St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams said.
鈥淭he cost is prohibitive for so many kids,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey look at those costs and say 鈥榳ait a minute, I can never go to college.' There鈥檚 a total shift that kids are looking at careers much more.鈥�
If Missouri wants to use career training in schools to develop the workforce, it should be more flexible in what it asks of schools, Adams said.
鈥淵ou need to give them some grace around the school day, and how long they鈥檙e going to be in school, and maybe even how many credits they need to have and what kinds of scores they have on certain assessments,鈥� he said.
Career and technical education programs are becoming more common in Missouri schools.
But schools need more money to transport students to career training sites and internships off campus and feed them, said SLPS Director of Career and Technical Education Tony Maltbia.
鈥淭here are many companies looking to build their pipelines, they want to be able to invest and know the students can get there, Maltbia said. 鈥淏ut [students] are dependent on busing systems, and it takes them two hours to get to work or three or four bus rides.鈥�
Low teacher pay makes it hard to retain vocational teachers at the city鈥檚 schools, said administrators during Parson鈥檚 visit.
Many families with students in St. Louis Public Schools can鈥檛 afford to pay the initial fees to enroll kids in a career training program, Maltbia said. A funding program reimburses families for such costs, but some families cannot afford to pay up front.
He said the state needs to consider the needs of poor students in big cities when it develops workforce programs.
鈥淲e do a lot to try to make it work, we鈥檙e thankful we have a governor in our state that does recognize the workforce gap,鈥� Maltbia said. 鈥淲e want to make sure when these allocations come, they鈥檙e thinking about all the students in the state, in these unique places like St. Louis.鈥�
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