These new realities – both the challenges and the amazing opportunities – are among the main reasons we're all working so hard to transform education in the United States.
Teaching and learning must change, in part, because the very nature of work has changed.
High-quality career and technical education is absolutely critical to meeting that challenge. That's why we need the help, support, ideas and expertise of everyone in this room this evening.
At a time when unemployment rates are too high, yet literally millions of high-wage, high-skill jobs still go unfilled, our collective work should have no natural enemies.
They know why their education is important to them.
prepare for careers that both pay well and provide ladders to the middle class.
That is our collective challenge, and our extraordinary opportunity.
CTE must be an essential part of our comprehensive cradle-to-career agenda.
That cradle to career agenda starts with providing every child a strong start in life, with high-quality preschool for all. We must level the playing field, and give our babies a chance in life.
High-quality early childhood education should be the ultimate bipartisan issue.
And, the best thing about this effort is we don't have to wait on Congress. We can move forward ourselves. The goal is to be fast and smart.
Let's be very clear:
Our end goal is preparing students to excel in college, long-term occupational skills training, registered apprenticeships, and employment.
Not tracking, not forcing choices – but simply expanding opportunity
.Tony explains it this way: "Academic education isn't education unless it's vocational, and vocational education isn't education unless it's academic."
The best way to tell if students are truly career-ready is to give them sustained, supported, supervised workplace experiences well before – before! – they enter the job market. And, in today's economy, the best way to ensure that all kids get that exposure is through work-based CTE experiences.