By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.
Broadcast version by Edwin J. Viera for Virginia News Connection reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Collaboration

It's not uncommon for state and local governments to focus on economic development. Attracting businesses and developing industries can provide infrastructure, housing, schools, and more. But the approach and partnership at Hampton Roads Workforce Council in Virginia is bridging government with people, embracing "the human side of economic development."

"We're just the flipside of the coin. We're focused on the talent," says Shawn Avery, president and chief executive officer of the Workforce Council.

"So, when we work with government, we're really working with our economic development departments and our local elected officials to make sure that we're filling the talent needs of the region."

The Workforce Council includes 15 cities and counties in southeast Virginia, an area known for shipbuilding. When a business is new or expanding, the Workforce Council works with government and educators to address training needs.

Their involvement can start as early as K-12, with career exploration and internships. Working with community colleges, they develop certifications and training programs for skilled jobs. At four-year institutions, there's a focus on engineering, manufacturing, management, and finance paths.

"We want make sure that there's no wrong door when it comes to working with our educational institutions," says Avery.

Here's what it can look like bringing together their government stakeholders, businesses, and educators:

• Newport News Shipbuilding - career exploration activities at career and technical education centers for K-12, and a program for welding certifications

• New Horizons Regional Education Center - securing funding from the U.S. Navy to expand its welding program

• Community colleges - increasing the capacity for skilled trades programs including electrician, pipefitting, and ship fitting.

'The strength behind the fleet'


Virginia Ship Repair Association (VSRA) has a similar experience with the Workforce Council helping them service their 319 members. The VSRA is a link between the U.S. Navy and the shipbuilding and repair industry, what association president Bill Crow calls "the strength behind the fleet."


From identifying funding, to developing training to address members' needs and finding the education partner to do it, VSRA estimates the Workforce Council has helped train 3,000 students since 2017.


"We only have three corporate-type companies, but the rest of the companies are small businesses or non-corporate that don't sit on a lot of cash. Trying to develop a workforce for them becomes extremely expensive, so that's a big help," says Crow.


VSRA works with middle schools to expose students to careers early through a digital ship-type competition, and bringing in industry guests to high school technical centers. Through the Workforce Council, VSRA's members can benefit from a cooperative between five local colleges.


Training is often at no cost to the employee or potential hire, who can be college age, high school graduates, military veterans, and people who want to change professions.


Some companies hire employees on contingency and have them go through the training programs. Other trainees are already working and need to upskill. Sessions typically last two-to-five weeks at a time. Companies will allow employees to be out of the shop for the required length of time and return to the job with the added skills.


The offerings include curriculum across six disciplines related to shipbuilding and repair. Three levels of marine trade training and welding enable employers to offer career paths which didn't exist six years ago.


Crow says they're seeking metrics to determine their programs' effectiveness. So far, VSRA is tracking students after they leave training and finding 90% are still on the job after two years.


"The success of the program is not training people who get into the industry for the short term," Crow says.


The Workforce Council continues to evolve with curriculum, investments, and partnerships. Two hundred wind turbines are expected to be installed along the Hampton Roads coast. The increasing demand from offshore wind employers happens to match the same type of skill sets as those for shipbuilding.


"The Hampton Roads region really wants to be an East Coast hub for the offshore wind industry. And so, we want to make sure that we're growing our capacity in the skilled trades, not just piecemealing in and barely meeting the needs," Avery says.


"We want to have an abundance of those skills in our region. You throw in the infrastructure that are coming, the bridges and the tunnels that we have in our area, that's also going to be a drain on the system. We need to make sure that we're overproducing what we need in those skilled trades."



Victoria Lim wrote this article for WorkingNation.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Nearly a dozen changes could be made to the Kentucky Community and Technical College system, under Senate Joint Resolution 179, passed by lawmakers earlier this year.

The system's Acting Executive Vice President and Provost Phil Neal said the Board of Regents' recommendations are aimed at improving the process to obtaining two-year college degrees, and expanding options for students.

He said one major change includes collaboration between schools and the state Department of Education, to make it easier to offer dual and transfer credits.

"For example, on the transfer front," said Neal, "one of our recommendations that would be a change is that our eight public universities and our 16 KCTCS colleges, would all have a common course-numbering system for freshmen and sophomore level courses - and that just helps students more seamlessly transfer."

A former chief of staff is suing the system in a whistleblower lawsuit, alleging she faced retaliation for reporting waste and mismanagement.

Last week a Franklin County Circuit Court judge denied a request by the system that the case be dismissed.

A recent audit found a need to improve internal policies and procedures, but found no evidence of fraud or criminal behavior.

Neal said the state's Community and Technical College System has among the most affordable tuition rates in the state, and serves more than 66,000 students.

"We lead the country, number one, in the number of credentials conferred per capita," said Neal. "So the production of people with credentials is right up there at the top. Half of our 16 colleges have been recognized as some of the top performing community colleges in the country."

Americans' views on the importance of a college degree is shifting.

According to a Pew study released earlier this year, only one in four U.S. adults say it's extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree, in order to get a well-paying job in today's economy.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.




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Recent changes to Florida's education laws have removed information on consent, contraceptives and prenatal development from many health lessons at school.

Parents are concerned the Florida Department of Education's policies may leave some districts without vital instruction.

Stephana Ferrell, director of research and insight for the Florida Freedom to Read Project in Orange County, is worried about what she sees as gaps in her children's education, including access to comprehensive health information.

"It's unfortunate that parents have been opted out of these educational experiences," Ferrell stated. "But it's now time for us all to get informed about what our kids are missing and make the extra effort to ensure that our young citizens are armed with this information."

Advocacy groups, including PEN America and EveryLibrary, cautioned overcompliance with state laws may lead to the removal of books on topics like anatomy, teen pregnancy and sexual assault. In a joint letter, they urged Florida school superintendents and school board attorneys to exercise restraint and preserve the resources for students.

Ferrell described a clash between two views: one believing ignorance protects innocence, and another believing being informed is the best way to understand and avoid risks. She sided with the latter, saying education safeguards the community.

"We really are trying to encourage that information to remain available," Ferrell emphasized. "There are lots of nonfiction, well-written and age-appropriate materials that can be made available in the library, and have been made available in libraries in the past."

Florida school districts have struggled for years to determine which books should remain in libraries under laws signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The laws allow parents and others to challenge books deemed "inappropriate," though recent legislative changes limit the number of challenges. This fall, the Department of Education released a list of more than 700 books removed from, or discontinued in, schools statewide.


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New York's Board of Regents approved a Department of Education funding request for climate education.

The board is putting more than $536,000 aside for climate change education and materials.

New Jersey is the only state mandating climate change be taught in all subject areas. Connecticut teaches it as well, but primarily in science.

Emily Fano, director of climate resilience education programs with the National Wildlife Federation, described how climate change can be taught across multiple subject areas.

"There are so many ways climate can be integrated into math class, graphing greenhouse gas emissions for example," said Fano. "Social studies, you can talk about social movements like the youth climate movement that has grown by leaps and bounds all over the world."

She added that health classes could teach the health impacts of air pollution and poor air quality.

The funding allotment faces no opposition, and a Yale University report finds 81% of New York adults feel climate change should be taught in schools. This is higher than the national average of 75%.

If the funding's approved, climate change will be taught in New York schools starting in the 2026-2027 school year.

But, climate education has faced an uphill battle.

A bill establishing a course on climate change in elementary and secondary schools garnered widespread support. But, it failed in the state legislature.

Fano said along with a new climate education bill, more work must be done to make this a reality.

"We'll continue working with the state education department and our partners to make sure that our students are going to get the climate education they need and deserve," said Fano. "So, we will continue working on this issue regardless, but we really hope the Governor understands the urgency of this request."

While this funding request provides a framework for training current educators about how to teach climate change, Fano said she wants this training for people studying to be teachers.

An Education Week Research Center poll finds 18% of teachers don't address climate change because they feel out of their element discussing it.

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