OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma is turning its classrooms into career launchpads. Governor Kevin Stitt made the announcement online.
“I’m always talking about classrooms to careers,” Governor Stitt said.
Stitt announced Friday that he wants to prepare every student for success in the workforce.
“It’s incumbent upon us as leaders to really set that stage, and expectations for people that they can accomplish whatever they set their mind to.”
He has some ideas to make this happen, like requiring students to graduate from Oklahoma high schools.
Stitt also wants students to have to be accepted into a college.
If not college, he says kids should be accepted into a CareerTech.
Otherwise, Stitt says a student would have to be going into the army.
“You have to have some kind of plan post-graduation to go get a great job.”
He also wants high schools to put a bigger focus on teaching kids about financial literacy.
“Trying to help those young people get ready for the future.”
Joe Dorman with the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy says he likes the idea of getting students ready for life after graduating high school, but he says there needs to be some exceptions.
“There are children out there that are not capable,” Dorman said. “You’ll have children with special needs, and other categories. It will be difficult for them to be able to move into the workforce.”
The former lawmaker says state leaders should give students more opportunities through classes to better prepare them for their future.
“You have so many children these days that are graduating that don’t know how to do a load of laundry. They don’t know how to use an oven. We’ve got to make sure that these kids have those life skills classes in place. You have to have those opportunities for children to do some type of apprenticeship, or have opportunities for them to learn about other jobs.”
Dorman says while lawmakers often think about reading, writing and arithmetic, they also need to focus on how children can survive on their own once they graduate.
“You really have to provide those tools for understanding how to pay bills, how to balance a budget, how to go shopping at the grocery store and what coupons are. If you have some type of foundational support there in place, that’s going to help these children thrive.”