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110th District candidates agree on CTE

HANCOCK – Both Democratic state Rep. Scott Dianda and Republican challenger Greg Markkanen said they support expanding vocational and technical education at a forum held by the Copper Country Association of School Boards on Friday.

Markkanen proposed a two-track system beginning in ninth grade: one where students continue on the Michigan Merit Curriculum, and one where students start vocational training in the ninth and 10th grades.

“Across the planet, there’s corporations like Apple that have to go to China in order to get skilled workers,” he said. “That has to stop … in high school, they can start focusing on that educational track early and become very, very proficient and skilled at that level.”

Dianda backed Rep. Ed McBroom’s bills to expand the state curriculum to include more vocational classes. He said local districts should have more say in determining its graduation requirements to pupil’s needs, such as the manufacturing and medical fields.

“I think that’s a major thing that we lose focus on: What is the job market going to be in the future?” he said. “Local employers, what do they need? Do they need a student that’s going to have two years of a foreign language, and speak Spanish? Some places, maybe in Houghton County, we’re going to need that if they’re going to go to Michigan Tech, they’re going to follow a career path, they’re going to go into international business, I want to see them have the opportunity to do it. I don’t want to mandate it.”

Rather than a millage for career and technical education (CTE), both said state funding could be freed up. Dianda said fixing inequities in district funding could free up the money for programs.

“I can see that we would position ourselves to be able to get the money from the state, and that would be backed up by our scores and how we’re doing,” he said.

Markkanen called for increased education funding in the state, pointed to the increased state revenue.

“We just need to focus on every community’s need and tap into that,” he said.

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