Mrs. Linda Romano, teacher at Newburgh Free Academy, North Campus and 2018 ACTE National Teacher of the Year, spoke at a press conference held by U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney. The Press Conference announced a package of bills to promote Career and Technical Education.

A primary component of the bills will be to “train the trainers,” so the teachers who teaching Career and technical Education are up to date with the latest technologies and advances in each field, so that they can best teach our students. The bill will also include: $50M in scholarships, $1M in grant aid to colleges to develop programs, and Perkins Loan forgiveness.

The philosophy behind Maloney’s proposal is that educating the educators and supporting programs like healthcare, science technologies, math, and so on, will allow for sophisticated and technology driven manufacturing processes. It will support growth of those businesses because they will have trained employees who can do these jobs well. Skilled workers keep industries in this area and going.

In addition to Mrs. Linda Romano, US Representative Sean Patrick Maloney was also joined by Harold King, executive vice president of the Council of Industry, and Dr. Kristine Young, President of SUNY Orange.

In the next 5 years, there is expected to be a “silver tsunami of retirement” with an anticipated 2.7 million people at the age of retirement. Additionally, the those who spoke noted that the skills gap is a real and dramatic problem, noting that the need to replace retiring workers and attract skilled workers will come out of Newburgh Free Academy, BOCES, and SUNYs Orange, Ulster, and Duchess.

Dr. Young, President of SUNY Orange noted the emphasis that colleges place on STEM fields and that a focus needs to also be go from doing to teaching. “We have students so busy getting into these fields, that we forget that we need teachers to get them in the field to begin with.”

“I’m looking for my students to work with quality and compassion – because they’re going to be my caregiver and that is what I would want. It is opportunity that makes career and technical education possible. When I went into my nursing program, at SUNY Orange, I might add, that is where the math and sciences I had been struggling with just clicked. That is happening with these scholars too. They are applying their skills. The math, science, etc., they learn and then they immediately apply. It creates a foundation to be a life-long learner, gives confidence to apply, and gives them a means to support themselves.”

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!