Editorial: Technical education center a wise investment

Across Idaho, thousands of young men and women will set off next month to launch their four-year college careers. But for every one of them, six or seven of their contemporaries will be seeking their way into the work force along different, uncertain and often less rewarding paths.

That could be a two-year college, a military enlistment, an apprenticeship program. For many, though, the conventional institutions of learning are done with them, even though they remain unprepared for the future.

Meanwhile, certain businesses clamor for employees with skills that won’t be found in a baccalaureate program – welders, auto mechanics, construction and health care workers. Shortages in such fields restrict local economies and limit the ability of a community’s sons and daughters to build a future close to home.

In Kootenai County next Tuesday, voters in three school districts have an opportunity to address the unmet needs of both industry and youngsters not bound for college.

If patrons of the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts approve, a $9.5 million plant facility levy will pay for construction of a 50,000-square foot Kootenai Technical Education Center on the Rathdrum Prairie. High school juniors and seniors would be able to enroll there, earning dual credits while learning critical skills business leaders have identified as needs.

The ballot proposal is the outcome of eight years of study and deliberation among educators and business and community leaders. As envisioned, it ultimately will adjoin a new Lakeland High School and North Idaho College’s planned professional technical education facility.

This vision reflects an awareness that jobs once dismissed as trades to be learned on the job are increasingly demanding. Yesterday’s shade-tree mechanics are no match for today’s high-tech automobiles. Competent welders have been a nationwide need for several years now.

The proposed Kootenai Technical Education Center’s 20-acre site near Lancaster Road and Highway 41 already has been provided through generous donations of land and other resources. Construction funding for the facility would cost property owners 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in the Coeur d’Alene District, 36 cents in Lakeland and 40 cents in Post Falls (Post Falls patrons would merely be replacing an expiring levy).

The purpose here is to pair meaningful learning opportunities with demonstrated workplace needs. Some studies indicate the availability of this kind of training keeps would-be dropouts in school.

The measure needs 55 percent approval in each district to pass. It’s a solid investment in the future, and one that voters should approve.