PORTLAND, Ore. -- Millions of Americans are unemployed, and community and technical colleges could be key to getting them back to work. But one hurdle is a lack of data on the programs schools offer to retrain folks for new jobs.

To overcome this barrier, Opportunity America is surveying 1,100 institutions on the non-credit workforce development programs they offer to create a first-ever list of options nationwide.

Tillamook Bay Community College president Ross Tomlin said colleges such as his will be crucial to the retraining workers. He offered an example of his school's truck-driving course.

"With a month of training, they can go out and get a job making $50,000 or more - huge living-wage job," Tomlin said. "So those are the kind of things that community colleges can do, and we're built to be flexible and responsive to industry needs."

Tomlin said community colleges can start up programs within a matter of months depending on industries' needs. Tillamook Bay also offers manufacturing and industrial-technology programs that partner with local industry, such as the Tillamook Creamery.

President of Opportunity America Tamar Jacoby said there's been a revolution over the past decade in how colleges, high schools and employers train people for the workforce, streamlining the way folks go through programs.

"Don't make the people necessarily sit here for two years and learn a lot of stuff that isn't relevant," Jacoby said. "They can come back later if they want a degree, but right now, they need a job. It's about making sure that the institution is actually preparing people for jobs in demand."

Jacoby hopes the survey data will be helpful to state lawmakers, who are making education-related budget decisions.

"If we can give you that information, that could generate funding for more of these kinds of programs, it would help learners, it would help the college, and it would help the businesses that need a new kind of worker," she said.

Oregon lawmakers head back to the Capitol on Jan. 11.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.




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Gov. Kathy Hochul has approved a new law, requiring schools to consider installing a silent, panic-alarm system.

Approval of what's known as "Alyssa's Law" comes in the wake of several mass shootings, which have made many elected officials consider more strict gun safety and school safety laws.

Andy Pallotta, president of New York State United Teachers, believes the new provision in school safety plans will quell some of the anxiety students and teachers feel about whether they can be safe in the classroom.

"Well, I think that we are in a position where we support anything that can make students feel safer and staff feel safer," Pallotta explained. "And then, the entire community feel that everything is being done to keep their schools as safe as possible. So, this makes sense."

The bill passed unanimously. The law is named for Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old who lost her life in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.

Pallotta thinks after hearing input from students, parents and teachers, school districts across the state will find ways to adopt new methods to urgently call first responders.

"In a state like New York, which just came through with a very good budget for education, I think that there are ways they can come up with different methods of making this happen," Pallotta contended.

New York is the third state to approve Alyssa's Law, following its approval in New Jersey and Florida in 2019 and 2020, respectively. It has also been submitted for votes in the state legislatures of Arizona, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia, as well as a national version in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A program in Oregon aims to ramp up the number of technicians in aviation just as the industry is predicting a major shortage.

Over the next two decades, according to a report from Boeing, the United States could have 192,000 fewer aviation technicians than it needs. The two-year Aviation Maintenance Technology Program at Portland Community College could help address this gap.

Thomas Laxson, faculty department chair of the program, saw the effects of the shortage and said it could benefit students.

"I have employers calling my desk phone daily asking to come and speak with our students to offer them jobs," he said. "It's manifest in the way that the majority of our students have job offers before they've even graduated the program."

This year, the program partnered with Horizon Air, sister company to Alaska Airlines, to create the Horizon Technician Development Program. It provides more than $12,000 in scholarship money and a guaranteed job after graduation. Laxson said technicians can start at $30 an hour.

The industry also needs more pilots. The same Boeing report projected the North American fleet will need an additional 208,000 pilots by 2040. Laxson said he believes one reason for the shortages of pilots and maintenance crews is that technical education has been de-emphasized.

"An entire generation of people - frankly, my generation - whose parents all told us, 'University, university, university,' and we didn't see a lot of people entering the trades," he said. "And so, there's this generational skip that's happened. And as a result we've got this very strong, current need for additional folks."

Portland Community College also is trying to fill this gap by reaching out to high school students, such as with its Oregon Aerospace Careers for Everyone Program. Laxson said the program isn't just an opportunity to learn about airplanes and how they work, but also how to think inside of the aviation industry.

"It is really a remarkable industry in the sense that it changes you," he said. "For you to be successful in it, it's going to change you. You turn into a checklist person, and you turn into a very detail-oriented person."


Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Tennessee high school graduation rates have been declining over the past few years, and some experts believe providing more opportunities for vocational and tech training could help reverse the trend.

State data show around half of high school seniors are choosing not to attend college or a technical college after graduation.

Chris Sinacola, co-editor of "Hands-On Achievement: Massachusetts' National Model Vocational-Technical Schools," said vocational training in high school can guide students into good-paying jobs.

"These tech schools are actually taking their juniors and seniors and placing them with companies in the community, where they're getting paid real wages for real work," Sinacola explained. "Very often, this leads directly to a career as soon as they graduate."

Sincola pointed to research showing the number of jobs paying $55,000 a year or more which do not require a traditional four-year college diploma is on the rise nationwide. Critics of early vocational training argue they can "single-track" individuals who may have otherwise acquired and cultivated a solid academic foundation and multiple skill sets needed to retool and adapt to a fast-changing economy.

Shortages of workers in fields like construction and automotive tech are also contributing to the surge in interest in technical and vocational training.

Sincola pointed out work-based learning programs, already being implemented in Tennessee, can help guide young adults into self-sufficiency, especially if schools developed strong ties with local businesses.

"It's giving these kids the opportunity to earn money, gain experience and move directly into a field that can pay really well," Sincola emphasized.

Sinacola added in states like Massachusetts, between 50% and 70% of students in vocational-tech high schools have gone onto some kind of postsecondary training.