Secondary education is not allocated through markets. Over 90% of Michigan students in grades nine through 12 attend public schools, and the training services these schools provide are generally not influenced by market signals, such as labor supply and demand and wage prices. Further, there are few, in any, external incentives for school officials to provide the type of skills training that will be of most value to students and their future employers. School districts receive funding based on how many students they enroll, not on how many land high-skill or rewarding occupations.
A specific concern is that high school graduation and diploma requirements are set at the state level through a political process influenced the most by interest groups and politicians, not students, families or the full array of potential employers. If the requirements are inflexible to labor market changes and incentivize more classroom-based or academic learning, high schools will underprovide technical and occupational skills training relative to market demands. This imbalance in the incentive structure toward the academic and away from CTE is exacerbated by the high-stakes testing environment of secondary schools and the general pressure in the education community toward college enrollment for everyone. For example, every high school student in Michigan, no matter their propensity for or interest in furthering their education at a postsecondary school, is required to take the SAT, a college admissions test. Though a universal requirement for similar skills-based or training-focused aptitude test or program would be an analogously blunt tool, that such a requirement does not exist reflects a notable imbalance in emphases.
While academic coursework and general skills are useful to all students — especially in a healthy economy with dynamic labor markets — citizens and policymakers should consider whether the quantity, quality and flexibility of curriculum and graduation requirements are conducive to each student pursuing her or his best career path. One practical solution might include more flexible course scheduling so that CTE-interested students can meet the academic requirements of a high school diploma while pursuing their interest in technical skills training.
Another systematic consideration should be whether Michigan’s school funding structure, including the existing system of categorical grants, can be used to provide incentives for public schools to offer more CTE. Recent state budgets have included something akin to this, but the miniscule amount of funds devoted to it — especially relative to the total amount spent on K-12 schools — is not sufficient to have a meaningful impact on any more than a tiny portion of students.[*] Even considering all the limitations of relying on government-run secondary schools to provide timely skills training, this is worth considering as an incentive for schools to offer more skill-training opportunities to students. To the extent that undue preference is given to academic programming, policymakers should at least consider a better balance in academic and CTE funding initiatives.
High school diploma requirements and the environment in the public school system regarding college readiness have an effect not only on the supply of CTE programming but also on the demand for it by students and families. A key objective of the Marshall Plan for Talent initiative created by Gov. Snyder is to “increase career awareness and exploration,” starting in high schools.[55] Policymakers, but also businesspeople and families, should work to increase awareness of CTE programming and ultimate employment opportunities while decreasing any stigma that may be associated with “blue-collar work” or “failing” to go to college.
This is more easily said than done, and it is difficult to conceive of a top-down, coordinated effort that would make an immediate impact. But perhaps market prices will have an influence here: enrollment in traditional, degree-granting colleges in Michigan has been on the decline in recent years, likely due in part to the rising cost of tuition.[56] So students who might have enrolled in one of these general education programs may be seeking alternative, and more affordable, career training in other programs, such as CTE.
It is increasingly true that wage mobility and lifetime earnings are strongly related to skills, and so it is critical that young people understand the opportunities in skilled trades. But, ultimately, the demand for these programs will need to come from the “consumers” of this training — students and their parents. One strategy to allow for this demand to develop organically is to provide a wider variety of educational opportunities to students. This may include opening up options for students to get state support to enroll in programs that are not directly run or controlled by Michigan’s conventional public school system. Making more options available to students may allow families to recognize the diversity of talents and aspirations in their high school students and to incentivize programming that aligns to the same. One strength of existing Michigan law in this regard is the requirement that school districts must admit interested nonpublic school students to their CTE programs in order to qualify for state grants.[57]
Improving the skills training opportunities at the secondary level is a good place to start, because it has important downstream ramifications. If fewer students are prepared at the secondary level, it reduces their interest and chances for success at the postsecondary level, e.g., union apprenticeships, community colleges, private training programs.
[*] Gross state appropriations in FY 2017-18 for K-12 schools was $14.6 billion, of which less than $30 million appears devoted to CTE programming. “FY 2018-19 School Aid Budget” (Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, June 28, 2018), https://perma.cc/CEX9-FA44.