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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Reading scores for Indiana's grade school students have reflected below average readiness levels on the state's recent achievement tests.

Educators said a software program in some schools is making a difference. The Indiana Department of Education supports a digital reading tool called "Readable English," which makes the English language phonetic with an embedded pronunciation guide, while keeping the spelling intact.

Tammy Miller, chief academic officer of Readable English, said schools have used the program during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years.

"The Department of Education in Indiana funded 27 schools to use Readable English at the middle school level in grades five through eight, and to take a look at that longitudinal data on the ILEARN scores in order to determine if this could be a way to help our students actually catch up," Miller explained.

Several Indiana school districts received the Readable English grant of nearly $350,000, including the Bloomfield School District, Eastern Greene Schools, Mitchell Community Schools, and North Lawrence Community Schools. Schools are also using the program in Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, California, Georgia and Florida.

Miller noted students using the Readable English program increased their reading performance by nearly 10 times compared to their baseline ILEARN scores. Education site Chalkbeat reports ILEARN's 2024 results show 41 % of students were proficient or better in English language arts, up from 40.7% in 2023.

Miller views reading as more than just a required school subject and stressed it prepares a person for life beyond the classroom.

"Being literate is really the great equalizer in our society," Miller asserted. "Our children deserve to be able to read proficiently, and many would say that it is a civil right. It's absolutely critical that we pay attention to the reading issue in our state in order to provide a prepared workforce to our business and corporate community."

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development focuses on increasing the number of skilled workers to fill current job positions, while attracting new domestic and international business to the state.

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In a country where Black men make up less than 2% of the teaching workforce, a program in Jacksonville is working to shift the balance by recruiting 1,000 Black male teachers by 2025.

Led by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, the "1,000 by 2025" initiative seeks to increase classroom diversity, offering essential representation for Black students who often lack role models within the education system.

Danté Jennings, director of strategic initiatives for the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, said in addition to research showing net positive results, he believes the effort is crucial to ensuring students see themselves reflected in the classroom.

"Not only is it positive for our Black and Brown students to see themselves and who they're getting taught, inspired, molded by - corrected by, even - in schools as well," Jennings asserted. "All students benefit from having diverse male presence in their buildings."

Since its launch, the initiative has made steady progress. However, Jennings acknowledged significant challenges in recruitment, including low pay and retention issues. As of the latest count in September, more than 700 diverse male educators have joined classrooms, approaching the program's goal.

Meanwhile, discussions on educational equity and representation are gaining momentum nationally. Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced her "Opportunity Agenda for Black Men," which includes expanding loan forgiveness programs for Black male teachers and investing in HBCU-led initiatives aligning closely with Jacksonville's goal to build a sustainable pipeline of educators.

Despite challenges, Jennings noted the program is reassessing and troubleshooting issues to reach its goals, forging collaborations with local universities, including historically Black colleges and universities.

"The teacher vacancy to teacher discrepancy in the workforce versus the student demographics is not unique to Jacksonville," Jennings pointed out. "It is a nationwide issue. So we wanted to kind of position ourselves as a model for what could be done."

Jennings hopes the partnerships will create structured pathways for students in teacher education programs to enter the profession, providing mentorship and financial support. Research shows Black male teachers, like Black male students, often encounter racial biases, including heightened scrutiny and misunderstandings from school administrators and peers, which poses another challenge for recruitment.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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In the race for New Hampshire governor, the future of public education is on the line.

Democrat and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig opposes expanding the state's private school voucher program, while Republican former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte aims to remove the income cap for voucher eligibility.

Megan Tuttle, president of the National Education Association-New Hampshire, said the goal of the voucher program is to dismantle public schools.

"It is taking money, it's diverting money away from the public schools and it's putting it into a separate education system," Tuttle pointed out.

Tuttle noted more than 90% of New Hampshire students attend public schools, while the majority of students with vouchers were already enrolled in private, religious or home schools. The vouchers have siphoned more than $70 million from public school districts over the past four years.

The next governor will also determine the fate of current state Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, a staunch supporter of vouchers and a so-called Parental Bill of Rights which limits the topics teachers can discuss in the classroom. Ayotte has supported Edelblut's efforts, while Craig said she would immediately replace him.

Tuttle argued Edelblut's disdain for public education has hurt both teacher retention and recruitment efforts.

"It doesn't help anybody who might want to go into education, because they will be going into a profession where they're going to be attacked," Tuttle asserted. "They're not treated as professionals."

Ayotte said she would reward good teachers by improving pay and benefits but ensure they are not bringing politics or gender ideology into the classroom. Craig said she wants to increase teacher pay along with training and professional development.

A 2023 teacher survey found many are leaving the profession due to low pay and what many consider to be a devaluation of their profession.


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