Idaho still has an underskilled workforce. This program helps students bridge the gap | Opinion

In 2023, Idaho legislators approved the Idaho Career Ready Students program, which aims to fill gaps in career technical education funding with grants that help school districts prepare their students for life after high school.

So far, through grants administered by the Idaho State Department of Education, Idaho has invested about $45 million into dozens of school programs that nurture talents in welding, agriculture, animal science, mechanics, food science and more. It’s a fantastic opportunity for schools to improve their career technical curricula and for students to acquire skills Idaho employers demand.

But there’s more we can do to fill the gaps in Idaho workforce education: raise the number of postsecondary degrees among the workforce and expose students to new career options and ways of working that their parents might not have considered.

According to Idaho Business for Education, only 44% of Idaho’s workforce will hold essential postsecondary credentials next year — a number that a group of state business leaders says should be more like 60%. To help meet that goal, Idaho’s K-12 schools must put greater emphasis on allowing students to amass dual degrees and professional certifications, preparing them both for higher education and immediate workforce entry.

Idaho schools must also create more job shadowing opportunities for students, and promote participation in career technical student organizations, or CTSOs, which allow students with similar career interests to connect and acquire and hone professional skills. That kind of synergy between theoretical knowledge and practical application must be the heart of education in Idaho.

Schools must be careful not to overlook the promise of remote work — a revolutionary trend that allows Idaho to retain some of its best and brightest workers. Our K-12 system ought to be a remote work catalyst, turning students into adept digital navigators ready to conquer dispersed global workplaces — without ever having to leave home.

At the Idaho Technical Career Academy (ITCA), we’ve taken these challenges head-on, threading the needle to stitch a curriculum that equips students not only with technical knowledge but also with essential “soft skills” that all workplaces require.

As Idaho’s oldest online charter school dedicated to college and career preparation, our virtual career technical education program is a blueprint of what a future-facing education model looks like. Our students are not just graduating; they are stepping confidently into a world clamoring for their skills, whether that’s a college campus, trade school or Idaho’s evolving workforce landscape. And many of them do so with abundant college credits under their belts and professional certifications that give them an edge in the workplace.

According to the state Department of Labor, some of the most in-demand jobs last year were in nursing, software, computer occupations, and medical and health care management. ITCA and other K-12 schools are perfectly positioned to provide students with the instruction, certifications and first-hand exposure they need to fill these and other key workforce gaps in Idaho and raise the number of post-secondary degree holders. However, it will take collaboration among state government policymakers, business decision-makers and K-12 educators to make it happen.

The Idaho Career Ready Students program is an excellent first step. And with more focus, we can bridge the workforce gaps, ensuring that every Idahoan is poised to drive the state’s economy.

Monti L. Pittman is the executive director of the Idaho Technical Career Academy, which focuses on career-technical education programs.