Enrollment decreases at career tech centers

Career Tech Director Ann Benson announced Thursday that enrollment in career tech centers by high school students dropped 9 percent this fall from the same time last year.

Benson blames the 1,327-student drop on the elimination of math-science waivers that went into effect this year for high school juniors.

"It's a sad perspective that those 1,300 students were unable to take advantage of the valuable education available to them in our tech center," Benson told the Oklahoma Board of Career and Technology (formerly known as vo-tech) during its Thursday morning meeting in Oklahoma City.

"If appropriate action is not taken, our high school enrollment in tech centers will continue their spiral."

With more than a dozen career tech officials and a handful of legislators in attendance, Benson criticized recent increases in high school class loads, blaming them for squeezing out career tech courses.

"Many students can't go to a technology center because they simply can't fit it into an already crowded high school schedule," Benson said.

Benson predicts the enrollment drops at career techs will double next year, when the math-science waivers are eliminated for high school seniors.

The waivers allow students enrolled in career technology courses to waive some state math and science requirements.

High school student enrollment drops were reported by 22 of the state's 29 technology centers. Benson said some technology centers saw drops much greater than the 9 percent systemwide decline. She reported the Autry Technology Center in Enid saw high school junior enrollment drop 33 percent.

The decline in career tech enrollment coincides with an influx of students at state colleges and universities and efforts by Gov. Frank Keating to increase the high school core curriculum.

Keating's chief of staff, Howard Barnett, didn't dispute that the emphasis on the high school core curriculum might be affecting enrollment in career techs.

"Certainly we're not going to argue with the fact there are only so many hours in a day. I assume in some kids' schedules, something has to give. Kids make choices; they choose what is important to them," Barnett said.

Barnett said claims about Keating's desire to fire Benson - which Keating denies - are hampering efforts to better "mesh" career tech with secondary and post-secondary education.

"We want to sit down and work with career tech. We have ideas we think they will like," Barnett said.

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