DeWine-Husted Focus on Career Tech Education and Credentials

This week, Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted discussed at length the negative effects that the pandemic has had on school-aged children and their educational progress. Lt. Gov. Husted said the administration seeks to champion career technical and vocational education and training “to help tens of thousands more Ohioans a year find well-paying jobs without a college education.” To help achieve this goal, the administration’s executive budget includes:

• $50 million to support career technical and vocational education, with $8 million a year going toward providing access to free credential assessments for students (with the goal of 70,000 high school students a year earning a credential).
• $12.5 million a year for the innovative workforce incentive program, which will provide incentive payments to schools for each in-demand credential earned by a student.
• Funding for a pilot program designed to allow students to complete both a high school diploma and an associate degree within six years at no cost to them.

The lieutenant governor cited a recent study that showed the U.S. economy could lose up to $28 trillion over the coming years due to learning losses caused by COVID-19. 2/10/2021