Kasich's job training ideas could be modeled here

LIMA — When Judy Wells hears Gov. John Kasich talk about business and industry needing to forecast and tell schools what they need in workers, the Apollo Career Center superintendent knows it's true.

“We hear about the skills gap, the skills gap,” she said. “We hear employees say, ‘Just give me the workers.'”

Kasich said in Tuesday's State of the State Address that Ohio needs businesses to work with schools, especially two-year community colleges, and let them know what kinds of workers they need. In return, schools need to focus students on realistic job options.

Apollo and local businesses have long been communicating with each other. A business advisory committee meets twice a year, along with lots of other informal dialogue. The conversations help shape program offerings, instruction and equipment.

“We are working with business and trying to be responsive to their immediate needs,” she said. “They are eager to come to us and for us to go to them and work together.”

While glad to hear the governor promoting K-12 vocational education, Wells hopes to hear more about adult education and how valuable it is for individuals and communities, especially in regions that have suffered job loss.

“Apollo adult education has this real great return on investment when it comes to putting people back to work,” she said. “It is short-term learning that gets people right into the workforce in a short period of time.”

Local lawmakers said they liked what they heard from Kasich on workforce training. The Senate and House plan to take up the issue this year, said Sen. Keith Faber, R-Celina, and Rep. Matt Huffman, R-Lima.

The education institutions in West Central Ohio can be an example of how to train people quickly for new jobs and how to work among vocational schools, community colleges and four-year universities, Faber said.

“For example, Apollo can help someone get an LPN for a job that averages $39,000 a year for $2,700 in about nine months of training. The problem we have is getting people into those trainings. That's one of the things we need to target. We need to coordinate with employees,” Faber said. “Employers haven't done a good job telling us what they need. We need to coordinate training with the forecasts from employers. We currently have 99 weeks of unemployment available. You can get an associate degree in less time than that.”

Someone should be able to earn a licensed practical nursing certificate from Apollo and roll that into a registered nurse program at Rhodes State College and then a bachelor's in nursing at OSU-Lima, Faber said. It's cheaper, less time-consuming and would keep people in a local community.

Faber used an example from TriStar Career Compact in Mercer and Auglaize counties, in which it offered a program with 10 to 15 spots for welders. Crown needed 70. One person signed up for the night program.

“That's the kind of program we're not coordinating the training with the demand for jobs,” Faber said.

The Senate is also considering a revolving loan fund for people who are under-employed to get training. The funding would come from casino revenue and other sources, Faber said.

Kasich's speech had little to offer in the way of policy specifics, but he did talk extensively about Ohio's improving economy.

Huffman said he heard many details about Ohio's improving economy, but that some of what Kasich talked about could be lost on people who don't know the background of those success stories. Huffman said he is going to revive a manufacturing expo he conducted previously with educators, employers and other officials and also work with Lima Mayor David Berger's Auto Task Force, to take up what Kasich is talking about with job training.

Speaking from Wells Academy in Steubenville, area school officials expected more talk of education. Some even feared the worst.

“We had anticipated we would hear about educational surprises, but there did not seem to be anything presented,” Lima schools Superintendent Karel Oxley said. “It is reassuring. We know we are following the directives at the current time. It is always difficult if there are different sets of mandates imposed on education and we have to move in a different direction.”

Kasich credited Wells for spending money where it should, in the classroom. He said the state needs to be data-driven and study Wells and other successful schools to find out what works. He did not present any plans to do so. School officials expect them to come later.

“We have to wait for the details,” Oxley said. “The pieces that come later that may not have not been revealed today.”

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