Vocational Training Is Back as Firms Pair With High Schools to Groom Workers

A growing number of big-name companies are helping educators create skills-based programs and, in turn, future job candidates, reports the Wall Street Journal . Direct ties between major employers and high schools, in particular, are multiplying. For instance, Volkswagen is assisting schools in Tennessee modernize their engineering programs. Tesla, meanwhile, is partnering with Nevada schools on an advanced manufacturing curriculum. The renewed popularity of career education programs marks a step back from the notion that all students should get a liberal-arts education designed to prepare them for college. In Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo recently redirected funds from lower-performing training programs toward newer ones in engineering, information technology, and welding. The state has partnered with such companies as CVS, which helped establish a curriculum at Davies High School that trains students to become pharmacy technicians.