Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

Election 2017: New Jersey Bond Issue Edges Closer as Vo-Techs Make Case for Urgent State Funding

10/26/2017

0 Comments

 
Trenton, NJ — John Reitmeyer reports on NJ Spotlight that New Jersey voters will decide on November 7 whether the state should take on more than $100 million in new debt to pay for library capital projects.
 
But even as the fate of that proposed borrowing has yet to be determined, lawmakers are already starting to explore the next big bond issue that could go before voters.
 
Reitmeyer reports that a bipartisan group of legislators that is looking at ways the state can better support an ongoing rebirth of the New Jersey manufacturing industry took testimony on October 17 from representatives of the state’s 21 county vocational school districts, who are seeking more funding to help keep pace with a rising demand for technical training that’s being driven, in part, by the manufacturing sector.
​This year, the vocational high schools had to turn away nearly 60 percent of their applicants due to a lack of available classroom space, even as companies across the state have been complaining that they can’t find enough workers with the right technical skills to fill all available job openings.
 
To fill the void, the lawmakers are considering floating a new state bond issue to help the vocational schools build new facilities, expand current classroom space, and update equipment. And they learned from the vocational school representatives yesterday that it could take nearly $900 million to fund the projects that the 21 school districts have on their wish lists.
 
A final draft of the proposed bond issue is still months away from being prepared, and it almost certainly won’t be enough to cover the full amount that was outlined yesterday during a meeting at the County College of Morris in Randolph.
 
But the vocational-school officials also made the case that as the job market is starting to tip more toward workers with technical skills, and as the cost of going to a four-year college continues to rise, it makes sense for the state to invest more heavily in career and technical education.
 
New Jersey has raised more than $12 billion in bond sales to help fund K-12 school facilities throughout the state over the last two decades.
 
Another $750 million in bonds were sold in 2012 to pay for capital improvements at four-year and two-year colleges and universities.  But only about $150 million has made it to the 21 vocational schools for capital investments, even as they’ve seen interest among students soar in recent years.
 
Judy Savage, executive director of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools, said that of the nearly 30,000 students who applied this year to attend a vocational school, only a little more than 12,000 could be accepted due to space constraints.
 
Savage’s organization also just conducted a statewide needs assessment, and only two schools said they had no need to expand facilities or build new ones to keep up with demand. In all, the council determined there’s a need for $891 million in spending to meet the construction, renovation, and equipment needs across the state.
 
And while some people still consider career and technical training to be “a lesser option” compared to a four-year degree, Savage said many vocational schools are now working to meet the training requirements of some of the hottest sectors in the state economy, including logistics and distribution, and advanced manufacturing.
 
The lawmakers also learned about a partnership between Morris County’s vocational school and the county college, which involves high school students getting instruction inside labs on the college campus. Many are also graduating from the vocational school having already earned college credits.
 
And officials from both schools are also coordinating with local manufacturers to ensure the students are learning skills that can be applied immediately after they graduate, or with just a year of additional training at the college.
 
For Reitmeyer’s full story, click here.
 
Follow John Reitmeyer on Twitter @johnreitmeyer.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Health Care
    Healthcare
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Home   Coalition   News   Resources   Events   Join Us
Picture
Innovation New Jersey Coalition
10 West Lafayette Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
732-729-9619