Sustaining a School-to-Career Initiative
The School-to-Work Opportunity Act provided seed money for school districts to start up school-to-career programs, but it is now up to those districts to keep their programs going. In southeastern Louisiana, they have found a way to do that by creating a strong partnership with the business community.
MetroVision is a partnership of business, education, labor, government and civic organizations working cooperatively to create jobs, market the New Orleans region and assist developers and business location specialists in decisions regarding the region. MetroVision represents 10 parishes and supports a school-to-career initiative in seven of those 10 parishes.
As part of the MetroVision education partnership sustainability efforts for the local school-to-career initiative, a five-year business plan called for total inclusion of education in smaller learning communities such as academies and ninth-grade houses.
According to Dianna Dyer, the school-to-career director for Jefferson Parish Public Schools, their school-to-career program is based on a model from Louisville, Ky. "Business partners and educators are linked by an intermediary," explains Dyer. "Our intermediary was the regional chamber of commerce."
The Louisiana program has a consortia coordinator who works for the intermediary and is paid by the business partners. The coordinator organizes internships and apprenticeships, but teachers also go into the business community and work for 16 days?for which they are paid $100 a day.
Why would the business partners be willing to put up the money for a school-to-career program such as this? Dyer says it?s because they know they will be getting good employees in return for their investment.
At the 2001 ACTE Convention in New Orleans, Dyer and one of those business partners?Paul Hasney, senior vice president and manager of corporate education for Hibernia Bank and Trust in Metairie, La.?explained the process and outlined a business plan for use by other areas. They also made a copy of a $2.5 million grant for smaller learning communities available to anyone who was interested. Dyer and Hasney noted that industry support, grants and collaborative efforts are the key ingredients in their work to sustain their school-to-career initiative.
Their presentation also looked at the business perspective on sustainability, noting that to engage the business community, the paradigm should change "from donations to relevance." That relevance is shown through job shadowing activities, internships for both students and teachers, classroom involvement, advisory board participation and curriculum development.
Dyer also notes, "We created a strong relationship with the local community college. With an articulation agreement, students can work during the summer and get both credits and experience."
Students work in fields such as legal studies, construction and banking and finance.
Sustainability efforts also involved a public relations campaign that included television, radio and print media.
Career academies are flourishing in Jefferson Parish Public Schools, and in December, students from the Jefferson career academies attended the Future Connections Program held at the University of New Orleans. Sponsored and paid for by 55 business partners, the conference featured presentations by community leaders and five breakout sessions with business leaders. Jefferson Parish students from four career academies?Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Travel and Tourism, and Health Sciences?participated in the event.
Jefferson Parish teachers participate in the School-to-Career Summer Institute in which they work with business, labor and government to develop curricula that demonstrates the relevance of education to the future workforce. They also gain real-world experience through internships in hotels, banks, insurance agencies, hospitals, convention centers and tourist attractions.
Even with its successful track record, the Jefferson Parish school-to-career program almost died last year. When a sales tax referendum did not pass last July, all funding for school-to-career was cut, and Dyer?s position was eliminated. That?s when the business community stepped in once again, and business representatives pled the case for the school-to-career initiative.
"My position was reinstated and school-to-career was saved because the business community said they depend on it," says Dyer. "It was unbelievable what the business community did for us."
When its importance to the community was demonstrated, the money for Dyer?s salary was allocated from another department, the Community Education Department, which is a self-funded department responsible for after-school activities.
Sometimes finding the money requires a little extra creativity, and in Jefferson Parish they are trying something quite different. Although it had not yet occurred at the time we interviewed her for this article, Dyer was looking forward to a unique fundraising activity that was to be held January 27-30?a telethon to showcase every school in the district.
Dyer says, "Every CEO of every major corporation in the area, as well as labor unions, church leaders and parent advisory groups will be involved."
They were also expecting participation by entertainers such as Doug Kershaw and by professional athletes from the local teams, the Saints and Hornets.
Dyer says in amazement, "The involvement goes beyond my wildest dreams."
She has promised to keep us posted on how this unique fundraiser goes, and we?ll share the information with ACTE members. If it is successful, perhaps bake sales could become a thing of the past.
Dyer is also looking forward to the start of another career academy. The new academy will be in government affairs. Since the government is a major employer in the area, the Jefferson Parish Public Schools will be able to provide a source of well-trained government workers.
Dyer and Hasney pointed out in their presentation at the convention that, "Benchmarks within the business community for student participants included increasing participation in postsecondary training, increases in student achievement in math, science and communications, and national recognition for sustainability efforts for school-to-career."
In Jefferson Parish, La., school-to-career is still going strong because of a number of factors working together. Among these are committed educators, good planning, proven results, and a campaign to spread the word about its benefits. But the most important factor contributing to the success of the Jefferson Parish school-to-career initiative is the strength of the partnership the education community has forged with the business community.
It also takes a little faith, because Dyer believes that the funding for something as important as school-to-career can always be found somewhere. After all, they managed to find a way in Jefferson Parish, and since then she says, "I have never looked back. You can?t look back. You just have to keep serving the people you need to serve."
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