Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants public school teachers to see what it’s like to work outside the classroom so they can better match their students to the needs of local employers.
Tucked a third of the way through Kasich’s 3,512-page 2018-19 state budget is a new education mandate. If the Ohio House and Senate accepts the proposal, educators looking to get or renew a teaching license this fall would have to work at or, more likely, tour a local business.
The plan, which prioritizes industry over pedagogy, is part of the governor’s broader plan to drive career education and marry schooling to the needs of the economy.
“It could be as simple as teachers touring local business and having those conversations … to just get a better sense of what those in-demand jobs are,” said Ryan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, which put together the group that developed the “on-site work experience” externships and about 20 other proposals in Kasich’s budget.
Asked how kindergarten teachers might benefit from touring a local business, Burgess said it’s never too young to explore a career. For the next generation of firefighters, he said, teachers who have toured fire stations can work the experience into lessons. “As the governor would say, how do we capture the imagination of young people?”
Industry approved
Kasich’s 27-member Executive Workforce Board crafted the education initiatives. The board contains one superintendent of a career and technical center in central Ohio, two current or former heads of community colleges and no representation from local school districts, whether teachers or administrators. Instead, the group is packed with legislators, a couple of county commissioners, a hospital administrator and mostly company executives.
Created in September, Burgess said the group spent 90 days in their respective communities before presenting several recommendations in December that align Ohio’s education system to a “rapidly changing workplace.”
Proposals include:
• The addition of three non-voting members appointed by the superintendent to serve on local school boards to represent the business community;
• Granting high school credits for students in work internships;
• The Ohio Departments of Education and Job and Family Services establishing a framework for pre-apprenticeship programs;
• And new licensing requirements for career education teachers.
Not among the workforce initiatives, the budget also would require training on opioid abuse prevention in college for prospective teachers.
Out of touch
Teachers are among the few state employees who must continue their education in order to keep their jobs, traditionally through advanced college courses, seminars, workshops and other professional development opportunities. Teachers pick and choose from a menu of options, often paying out of pocket, to meet a required number of training hours needed every five years to renew their licenses.
The state school board and legislators set the rules for teacher training. But as the majority of members on local professional development groups, teachers would have a final say in the new, mandated externship program, Burgess said. Some local groups, he added, could completely replace pedagogical studies with factory tours, if they so desired.
Burgess said the on-job experiences shouldn’t be viewed as better than traditional ways that teachers sharpen their skills. It’s a chance for business to learn, too. “Now, when you have business owners and human resource directors in the same room as educators, they will have a better understand of what teachers go through everyday,” he said.
Still, the plan has drawn criticism from educators who consider Kasich out of touch with teaching.
Becky Higgins, president of the Ohio Teachers Association and a former elementary teacher in Copley-Fairlawn, isn’t opposed to teachers tagging along with students to tour factories. But they would be there to make sure the students are learning, not to learn how to make cars.
What concerns her and members more, though, is the apparent devaluing and extra mandates placed on teachers. “Are there any other licensed professionals,” she asked, “who have to do an externship outside of their area of expertise to get their licenses approved?”
“As a teacher, we are eager to grow professionally. And we understand the importance of seeking job skills required for our students, but working and experience in a job outside the school doesn’t make sense, unless it’s just another hoop they want teachers to jump through by people who are not part of the teaching profession.”
In the next 24 hours, she said Wednesday afternoon, teachers across Ohio would be given talking points on this issue and contact information for the governor — and their local representative, who now will consider the plan.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .