Vocational Technical Education

Massachusetts is home to 89 high schools offering Chapter 74 career technical education (CTE) programs. Because of Massachusetts’s rigorous Chapter 74 standards, these are well-respected programs, but they lack the capacity to accommodate all who want to attend.

Currently, there are more than 6,000 students on waiting lists to be admitted into vocational-technical programs in Massachusetts. Underserved communities and gateway cities, like Worcester and Lawrence, have experienced disproportionate waiting periods for students to access these educational programs. Consequently, the waiting list restricts economic growth in these communities.

Worcester Technical High School offers Chapter 74 Career Technical Education Programs

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in demand for skilled workers. Eighty-one percent of Massachusetts employers claim that it is important to improve CTE schools and training in their regions. Approximately twenty percent of high school students in the Commonwealth participate in some form of career technical education (CTE). Additionally, seventy-four percent of Massachusetts high school graduates were employed in Massachusetts within four years of graduation. This suggests that because of the high retention rate of graduates in the Commonwealth, investment in CTE programs in Massachusetts would directly benefit the State. 

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, through its involvement with the Alliance for Vocational Technical Education (AVTE), has advocated for more investment in Massachusetts vocational programming. Advocating for and implementing the following initiatives will help students on long waitlists and help employers find new qualified workers. In collaboration with AVTE, there are established priorities set in place to achieve the desired CTE school expansion in Massachusetts.  

Legislation:

AVTE called for Legislative, Administrative, and State Budget reform outlined in the two following bills:

  1. An Act to expand the capacity of career technical schools and programs in a variety of different ways: (HD 1435 and SD 1303)
    • A major bonding authorization to renovate, expand, and build new vocational-technical schools
    • Establishing a Career Technical Education Funding Commission to advise on the best ways to proceed with renovating, expanding, and/or building new schools
    • Allowing longer-term leasing of facilities available so schools can move quickly to expand
    • Establishing a Deputy Commissioner of Career Technical Education and an Office of Career Technical Education at DESE
    • Eliminating the current one-year delay in state funding to cover the costs of increased enrollments in regional vocational-technical schools
    • Empowers communities in a regional vocational school district to add school building debt payments above their levy limit so they do not have to choose between modernizing these schools and other budget needs
    • Expand seats on the School Building Authority’s Advisory Committee to include representatives from AVTE and the MA Association of Vocational Administrators
  1. An Act to increase student access to career technical education schools and programs which are aligned with regional labor market needs: (HD 946 and SD 470)
    • Establishing a Career Technical Education Funding Commission to advise on the best ways to proceed with renovating, expanding, and/or building new schools
    • Establishing a Deputy Commissioner of Career Technical Education and an Office of Career Technical Education at DESE