Giving Hawai‘i Students More Career Choices

AP Classes Meet CTE Courses!

About 10 years ago, Ted Dintersmith, Ph.D., one of the nation’s leaders on innovation and education, visited 200 schools across all 50 states, including Hawai‘i. He set out to find out what educators were doing to break through obsolete education models and inspire their students.

His book, What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America, captured the stories of teachers doing extraordinary things in elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and places not often thought of as “school.” His believes education could be better and more equitable if schools challenged students with real-world problems. He encourages ending our nation’s singular focus on “college-ready” curriculum tied to high-stakes tests of low-level skills.

A new documentary, Multiple Choice, now airing on PBS, is based on the What School Could Be movement that Dintersmith started. The film challenges our long-held notion that all high school graduates should go to college and that high school seniors have only two career choices: expensive college or low-wage jobs. The increasing use of AI is also changing the job landscape.

Multiple Choice highlights Winchester Public Schools in Virginia and its forward-looking superintendent Dr. Jason Van Heukelum and the Emil & Grace Shihadeh Innovation Center. The students at the school spend their day combining core academic classes such as math or AP physics with Career and Technical Education (CTE) such as welding or mechanics. The integration of real-world skills with academics prepares both college-bound and workforce-bound students for the rapidly changing workforce.

Recognizing that college is not for all, the economically-challenged community in Virginia established a career-based learning center. The school blends traditional subjects with practical hands-on training in real-world professions and prepares students to enter the workforce ready to fill higher-paying jobs. Watch the entire video by clicking on the button above.

The SFA believes Hawai‘i could benefit from exploring similar opportunities to bring together public charter schools, developers, and other stakeholders through innovative public-private partnerships to expand career and technical education facilities focused on the skilled trades. Such partnerships could help address workforce needs in Hawai‘i’s construction industry, which remains a cornerstone of our local economy. As the upcoming legislative session approaches, there may be opportunities for policymakers and community stakeholders to consider how these types of facilities could be delivered efficiently, cost-effectively, and on an accelerated timeline. Expanding access to career training in the skilled trades could help create pathways to high-paying jobs, strengthen Hawai‘i’s workforce, and provide more local residents with opportunities to build their futures here at home.