Defying the Odds: A Crash Course in Entrepreneurship

Volume 35

Number 1

Spring 2004

CareerTech Vital To State's Education and Business

By Dr. Phil Berkenbile
State Director for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

As the new director of the state’s Career and Technology Education Department I see challenging and exciting times ahead. While some say we have lost sight of our original mission, I like to say we have remained true to our original mission while changing to meet the demands of the people and industries we serve. Our mission is “to prepare Oklahomans to succeed in the workplace.”

We have done that since the early 1900s and are doing that today. The difference today is that the workplace has changed. We are educating and training people to use new technology. We are retraining people who have lost their jobs, and we are preparing young people to use a variety of skills to succeed in a global economy.

Dr. Phil Berkenbile

I have also heard the criticism that we are not serving a large number of high school students. Last year more than 1,200 programs were offered in seven occupational areas at 565 school sites in Oklahoma. In fact, in fiscal year 2003 our enrollments for high school students increased more than 7,400 over enrollments in fiscal year 2002. Our total enrollments in grades 6 through 12 in fiscal year 2003 were 131,246. These students are provided opportunities to explore and experience potential careers with hands-on learning and must meet the same graduation requirements as all high school students.

Our state’s system of career and technology education is an essential part of the total education system and critical to the success of business and industry. These programs and services directly benefit the state’s economic development. Sixty-eight percent of the enrollments in our technology centers are for business and industry training. Adult and career development is another 25 percent.

Last year adult enrollments in customized training programs were 231,835; part-time adult training enrollments were 85,506, while full-time training consisted of 12,674 adult enrollments. Workforce readiness is at the very core of career and technology education and its educational initiatives, such as High Schools That Work and Tech Prep.

But there is more.

Our Skills Centers provide occupational training programs and related services for adults in prisons and juveniles in detention centers on 25 campuses. In fiscal year 2003 our Skills Centers school system served 2,080 students. Studies have shown that inmates who have technical and academic skills are much less likely to return to crime. Only 3.5 percent of graduates in 2003 returned to prison and in the past five years, more than 66 percent of those completing Skill Centers programs were placed in training-related jobs.

The past year has been one of tremendous change for Career and Technology Education in Oklahoma. Issues of accountability have come into question. Our board has made it a priority to address these. We are conducting random audits of technology centers. Our staff, legislators, superintendents, education partners and state board are working on a Code of Ethics to be adopted by every technology center. We are asking the legislature to give our board the authority to call for investigative audits of school districts and we are working on more substantive rules for “live work,” or applied-learning (hands-on) work that is completed by students in technology centers.

As we continue into 2004 we will look for new and innovative ways of serving the people of Oklahoma – from the high school student enrolled in a family and consumer sciences course to the unemployed worker who needs to learn a new skill to get a job. We will help Oklahomans succeed in the workplace, in education and in life.