Houston Chronicle by Joe Straus March 4, 2020
New academies with hands-on training a better fit than college for many Texas youth [Opinion]
A growing number of high schools in Texas — 63 to be exact — now include six-year academies providing students groundbreaking access to high-demand technology careers. Among them are Avalos P-Tech High School in Aldine, Pathways in Technology at Willowridge High School in Fort Bend and four other schools in the Houston area.
These Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH) are helping tens of thousands of students across the state graduate with a two-year degree or valuable industry credential paired with hands-on training.
This is just one example of the growing reality around the state that good jobs require education and training beyond high school, but they don’t necessarily require a four-year degree. This educational approach was codified in 2013, when the Legislature moved schools away from a one-size-fits-all model that said every student needed to earn a bachelor’s degree. That narrow focus on bachelor’s degrees had proven ineffective because many students could not afford or were not completing a four-year degree. At the same time, high-growth, high-paying jobs that required some postsecondary training but not a degree were going unfilled.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/New-academies-with-hands-on-training-a-better-fit-15102381.php
