THE Public School System’s Career & Technical Education Program “really needs help” in building a local workforce, program director Jessica B. Taylor, Ed.D. said on Tuesday.
She was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Saipan’s luncheon meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Giovanni’s Restaurant.
In her remarks, she talked about the Career & Technical Education or CTE program through which PSS is building career pathways for high school graduates.
She said PSS has been working really hard to build not only pathways but also partnerships with businesses in the CNMI.
One of the career pathways, for example, is construction for which PSS is working with the Northern Marianas Technical Institute. “But I want to share that we really have a difficult time recruiting,” Taylor said.
She said initially, about eight students showed interest, but after they completed a summer program with the Department of Public Works, “they just kind of, you know, stopped.”
However, she added, there was one student, an eighth grader, who continued to show interest in construction.
“So we really need assistance with the construction program. If there is a need for construction [workers] here in the CNMI, we need to get our students involved [but] it has been a challenge,” Taylor said.
PSS has funding for a construction training program that allows students to take classes at NMTech.
“But the question is, when they are done with that program, where do they go? … I really need help [with] recruitment,” Taylor said.
Partnership
She reiterated the importance of a partnership with the business community.
“It is one thing for us to go out and really have this conversation, but if a business does not see that vision, it is very hard,” she added.
Rotarian Donna Krum said when she had the privilege of going with the officers of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce to Washington, D.C. in 2018 to convince U.S. lawmakers about the CNMI’s need to extend the CW-1 program for foreign workers, “it was very obvious that Washington [D.C.] thought we were doing nothing.”
But the U.S. Congress and then-President Donald Trump approved the extension of the program until the end of 2029.
“So the big challenge going forward to 2029, is flooding them [U.S. officials] with facts that we are doing something just like the programs that [Taylor presented],” Krum said.
She said she wants to make sure that this information gets to the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, which can keep Washington, D.C. informed about the CNMI’s ongoing efforts to build a local workforce.
According to Bisnow, a digital platform serving the commercial real estate industry: “Construction labor [in the U.S.] has long faced a generational challenge finding enough skilled workers. But the second half of 2022 may see that long-term problem really take its toll as inflation, federal spending, an aging workforce and persistent shortages combine to drive up costs, wages and the overall price of building anything in the United States.”
What students want
Taylor said, “We really need to get our students on board these…programs and get them into the workforce.”
But what is the message? she asked. “How do we get them into these [jobs] especially in construction? I know students want to get into automotive…but what I’m hearing [is that we need] construction [workers],” she said.
Taylor is hoping that there will be “a lot of conferences and meetings…with the Department of Labor, industry partners, Northern Marianas College and NMTech so we can really come together and talk about what has been done, what we are currently doing and what else needs to be done as partners.”
Public School System Career & Technical Education Program Director Jessica Barcinas Taylor, Ed. D. holds the certificate of appreciation as she poses for a photo with Rotary Club of Saipan’s officers during its luncheon meeting at Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Giovanni Restaurant on Tuesday. From left, Rotary’s President-elect Irene Holl, Sgt.-at-Arms Marion Valentino, Rotary President Wendell Posadas, Taylor, Rotary Vice President Jessy Loomis, Secretary Joann Aquino, Club Service Director Mary Grace Bautista and Treasurer Charles Cepeda.
