Superintendent-Director serves on Governor’s task force
UPTON – Blackstone Valley Tech Superintendent-Director Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick encourages area residents to make their voices heard in a series of public hearings on chronic unemployment in Massachusetts.
The hearings are being held by Governor Charlie Baker’s task force on Economic Opportunity for Populations Facing Chronically High Rates of Unemployment. Chaired by Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Ronald L. Walker, II, the task force represents a collaboration of business leaders and educators charged with developing a strategic plan to assist the chronically unemployed. At Governor Baker’s request, Fitzpatrick joined the task force when it was formed in March 2015 and has offered numerous suggestions regarding public education’s role in promoting employment for all.
“Public schools are ideally positioned to provide our youth the employability skills they need to avoid chronic unemployment,” Fitzpatrick said. “The workforce would be well served by the statewide implementation of programs, models, and practices proven by Blackstone Valley Tech and its sister vocational technical schools to prepare students for long-term employment.”
According to Fitzpatrick, existing programs suitable for statewide replication include mandatory career enrichment courses for all high school students, expanded access to cooperative education employment, and ensuring the relevancy and effectiveness of school curriculum by developing advisory committees comprised of business and industry representatives. Fitzpatrick also suggested an increased emphasis on the vital role health and wellness play in students’ future employability.
“Issues of social-emotional health left unaddressed in adolescence will likely become significant obstacles to employment in adulthood,” Fitzpatrick said. “Helping our students address such issues today will empower them for personal and professional success tomorrow.”
Fitzpatrick noted that in Valley Tech and other schools, early-detection mental health screenings, substance abuse prevention initiatives, and districtwide wellness committees have yielded significant gains in promoting students’ social-emotional growth. Such programs and initiatives could be launched in other schools using existing staff, making them ideally suited for replication across the Commonwealth.
Public hearings on chronic unemployment in Massachusetts will take place from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and are scheduled as follows:
Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at UTEC
35 Warren St., Lowell, MA 01852
Thursday, October 1, 2015 at the Worcester Youth Center
326 Chandler St., Worcester, MA 01602
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum
18 Johnny Cake St., New Bedford, MA 02740
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Boston location TBD
Details on the Governor’s task force on Economic Opportunity for Populations Facing Chronically High Rates of Unemployment can be found on the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development website at [www.mass.gov/lwd].
UPTON DAILY 