Phill Casaus: Sometimes, it's the certificate, not the degree, that makes a difference
Feb. 18—Forgive me, dear reader, for I have sinned.
My confession: The following isn't anywhere close to a groundbreaking, sunrise-over-the-Sangres insight.
In this newspaper alone, I'm barely on the medals stand. The New Mexican's editorial page plus real estate columnist Kim Shanahan have recently and loudly praised public education's newfound commitment to vocational and trades education.
It's a trend that may not immediately raise test scores or send more Santa Fe kids to college — but might very well keep the wheels turning on the economy. Just as important, it'll give many young people a reason to be productive and stay in their own hometown.
What conked me over the head — again — on this topic was a news release last week from Santa Fe Community College, which announced its automotive technologies program had received accreditation from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence through 2028.
That's not just a framed certificate to tack on a wall. It's a big deal — a validation both of the college's advancing automotive technologies program and a pathway to a career for students who'd like to live in Santa Fe, earn enough money to do so, plus have a skill that will last a lifetime.
All around the city, you see springtime buds like this popping up.
Santa Fe Public Schools, for example, is partnering with local businesses — hotels, restaurants, Los Alamos National Laboratory and others — to create internships and training opportunities, the kind that lead to meaningful careers. And the district's Early College Opportunities high school has an automotive service pathway as well.
The community college, as you'd expect, has similar classroom-to-workforce pathways as leaders recognize career and technical education — for old fogies like me, it used to be called vo-tech — may be the only way to keep the city from caving in on itself.
Vo-tech. For a long time, educators feared the term.
Why? For many years, it was long-believed schools steered kids, particularly minorities, into shop or trades classes, options that sometimes tracked them into careers that by their very nature paid less. To many, it was a subtle (or maybe not so subtle) form of racism that left districts vulnerable to claims of educational inequity or worse.
Sensitive to the perception, many school districts throughout the country deemphasized or even abandoned vo-tech, focusing on the great god of a four-year college degree — and almighty test scores that would at least make it appear a kid was college-ready.
Which, of course, was folly. Not every kid should go to college. Not every kid wants to go to college. A lot of them could give a flip about the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, but would desperately like to become a chef, a welder, a surveyor and, yes, an auto mechanic.
Actually, mechanics are more likely to be called technicians these days, in part because your Subaru, Chevy and Ford probably have more technology than Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins took with them on Apollo 11.
Unlike what once was the stereotype, your automotive technician makes some cash, particularly if they reach master status. Zach Brandt, the third-generation owner of Capitol Ford in Santa Fe, says master techs earn six-figure salaries. How did they get there? They got into accredited training programs like the one at SFCC.
"You know, we have open houses just so I can get in front of parents to let them know it's OK to go to trade school," Brandt said. "You don't necessarily have to go to a four-year university."
To be clear: Brandt, who has a political science degree from the University of New Mexico, isn't saying a kid shouldn't dream of attending UNM, New Mexico State or Harvard. He's just saying it's not the only way to find a job that pays well and feeds the soul.
"What I'm saying is so frustrating because we're talking about the shortage of technicians," Brandt says, referring to a 30,000-person hole that exists today in the auto industry. "I mean, how about the shortage of truck drivers that deliver my parts? I mean, it's insane that they can't fill a $100,000-a-year job right now.
"For us, what I really like about being part of this program [at SFCC] is that just because these kids who are going through it are interested in mechanics today doesn't mean that's what they have to do," he continued. "I mean, I need parts people. I need sales people. I need estimators. I need service advisers, finance people. It will open the door like that."
In the end, that's what education is about, isn't it? Opening doors? Creating possibilities? The paper within the frame can say technician, draftsman or doctor, but their societal value — and monetary worth — are closer than ever today.
And maybe that's the way it should be.
Phill Casaus is editor of The New Mexican.
