VOCATIONAL EDUCATION HOLDS KEY FOR FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY

Vocational education is more than just a passing fancy. In a society that is advancing technologically by leaps and bounds, vo-tech will become an increasing necessity for many high school graduates. It will also provide essential training for those long-out-of-school who want to better their current jobs or find new ones.

It is this growing importance that has placed a new vocational-technical school at the top of the list for both the Cape Girardeau School District and Southeast Missouri State University.

Two Cape Girardeau lawmakers are asking the state to pay half the cost of a proposed $6.3 million, 90,000-square-foot vocational-technical school. Many local taxpayers would no doubt like to see their hard-earned tax dollars return to this part of the state for such a venture.

Both Sen. Peter Kinder and Rep. Mary Kasten have written letters to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requesting such funding for the next fiscal year.

If voters approve, the local share will come from a $14 million bond issue that the Cape Girardeau School Board is considering for April. If state aid could be secured, it would lighten the burden on taxpayers and increase the chances for passage of a bond issue.

The local vocational-technical school isn't limited to Cape Girardeau. The program reaches out to several area high schools with technical training. It also offers education classes -- both training and recreational -- for thousands of area adults each year.

Increased vocational and technical training is gaining more support statewide. Southeast is considering construction of a new technical education center to increase its vo-tech training for students. The university hopes the new center would complement a new high school vo-tech center.

At a recent higher education forum at the university, Commissioner of Higher Education Kala Stroup said Missouri needs more technical education. She pointed out that highly skilled, technical jobs are going unfilled because of a shortage of trained workers.

Delivery of increased technical education programs will involve a cooperative effort: from high school vo-tech schools to community colleges to private career schools to four-year universities such as Southeast.

It would certainly be a boost if the governor or legislature included this partial vo-tech school funding in their budgets for the coming year.