Youngstown Daily Legal News

Bill would expand apprenticeship programs

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: January 22, 2016

In testimony that was personal and passionate, Rep. Christina Hagan has asked lawmakers to join her in supporting a bill that would create a subprogram of the College Credit Plus Program that permits students to participate in certified apprenticeship programs.

In stumping for House Bill 274 before the House Education Committee, Hagan, R-Alliance, said she is proud to be a product of College Credit Plus.

“It is vital to the success of the state and future generations to expand our vision of higher education to encompass not only what is taught in the classroom but also what is gained from real life experience learning on the job site,” she said.

“As you can imagine, this generation is technologically literate; technology has always been a part of their life, which makes them a valuable asset to take part in global competition. The problem is that for far too long, we have been short-sighted, recognizing the value of higher education, and the road to success, only routing through the classroom and not allowing or encouraging the development of our skilled workforce.”

Hagan said today’s manufacturing environment is not similar to that of previous generations.

“There are many highly technical and highly skilled opportunities existing and emerging in our ever growing manufacturing and skilled workforce job market. In order for these options to become attractive to my generation in a meaningful way we must educate not only the student but the parent about the value of this work and its detrimental contribution to the state’s competitive viability,” she said.

“To achieve this goal we do not need to reinvent the wheel.”

One way, Hagan said is to expand already existing options for students.

HB 274 would establish an umbrella program of the CCP, beginning with the 2016-17 school year, that would allow eligible students to participate in certified apprenticeship programs.

“The American dream is the ability to aspire, achieve and defy the odds. The odds have been stacked against my generation,” Hagan said.

“We have been stripped of basic knowledge that once encouraged financial prudency and literacy. We have not been encouraged to work with our hands but only with our minds. I know of many men and women who feel embarrassed that they have not achieved a college diploma but work incredibly hard for what they have and have succeeded in their own right.”

As a complex society, Hagan said it is absurd to think that earning a college education is the only path to success.

“I would argue that we have hindered many by leading them down a path to high debt and low or no job placement in their area of study. Our generation is great and I believe with options we can achieve much more,” she said.

In referencing national debt, home foreclosures and burgeoning student debt, Hagan said community leaders have a responsibility to change the tide.

“We simply cannot afford to experience a debt bubble such as the magnitude of debt that we harbor from college debt. I am blessed to be the daughter of a small business owner, a plumber and a former legislator who was never afraid to work in any environment, whether it be shaping policy or going on a midnight call to service a furnace,” she said.

“I am also fortunate to have a mother who got me my very first job as a waitress at a very young age and reminded me through all of my years that there is no work that is not honorable as long as you are glorifying God in all that you do.”

In holding the lessons from her parents close, Hagan said she has chartered a different career path than her siblings.

“While I am the youngest-serving female in the history of the Ohio Legislature, I am also the youngest female in my immediate family and the only of my siblings not to own a home or have started a family sooner due to financial constraints,” she said.

“Student loans and my college diploma set me apart from my brothers, however, I do not believe that they are any less successful and I would suggest they are achieving things that, under my circumstances, may take a decade longer to accomplish.”

If the bill is enacted, the State Board of Education must adopt rules that include a process by which students may secure an apprenticeship, an approval process, a method for determining actual costs to a business for participation in the subprogram, including workers’ compensation, insurance costs and training costs and a method for making payments to participating businesses.

Hagan described HB274 as a short and simple bill that provides a path to great-paying jobs.

“Statistics show that if we invest in our youth through internships, apprenticeships and co-ops they are more likely to reinvest in our communities and become happy, active and contributing Ohioans,” she said.

[Back]