What is CTE and why does it matter?

• A generation ago, we knew it as vocational education or skilled trades training

• Finances and logistics have removed most local schools’ ability to offer it; CTE fills that void

• It’s offered to juniors and seniors at high schools in Beaverton, Clare, Farwell, Gladwin and Harrison

• Students get an opportunity to explore many diverse career fields

• Students learn valuable professional and personal skills that help prepare them for life after high school, whether it’s in college, a career or both

What is the key info the community needs to know?

First and foremost, this request is for a ten-year RENEWAL of the existing millage, which means it won’t increase anybody’s taxes, not one bit. In terms of impact, CTE fills a critical need in delivering hands-on vocational training to about 400 local students from five school districts every year - skills and experiences that are very often used to launch successful careers, very often right here in own communities. From a program perspective, it’s important to emphasize that the millage has allowed CTE to introduce high-demand instruction in areas like welding, manufacturing, agricultural science and diesel/heavy equipment. The millage also helps pay for student certifications and credentials in their respective fields. And here’s one more eye-popping number: CTE participation for juniors and seniors in some districts accounts for as much as 42 percent of a class’s academic load. It’s working, all right.

So what’s at stake on May 6?

That’s the day Clare-Gladwin RESD will ask voters to renew the CTE millage they originally approved in 2016. At this point, we hope everybody in the community is very familiar with the fantastic growth that millage has afforded students for nearly a decade. But with that ten-year millage set to expire, we need to take the case to voters once again and make sure they understand exactly what CTE is all about - its impact on our kids, our communities and our local work force.