By Vin Gopal – The state has taken an important step in training a workforce that can meet the increasing need for skilled, high-tech workers in manufacturing, energy, construction and communications and provide high-paying jobs.
The governor signed my bill to provide project grants under the Securing Our Children’s Future Fund, created through a 2018 bond issue for vocational and technical education at county vocational schools. With a number of massive infrastructure projects in the pipeline for New Jersey, a highly skilled workforce that is readily available is more important than ever. The Securing Our Children’s Future Fund grants will provide important support for infrastructure initiatives across the region, as well as wind and solar renewable energy programs. You will help place New Jersey at the forefront of the expanding green energy economy. Advocates and economists predict that solar power, offshore wind power and other renewable energy technologies will bring thousands of high-paying jobs and billions of dollars to our state.
The Securing Our Children’s Future Fund grants also address the need to provide bright futures for students who are not interested in a traditional college education. Not everyone is destined to go to college or wants to go to college, and the high cost of post-secondary education leaves many graduates with enormous student debt.
Securing Our Children’s Future Fund grants will support programs such as NJ Pathways, a recent development by New Jersey Community Colleges and the New Jersey Business & Industry association to align the state education system to build an innovative workforce. Grants from the Securing Our Children’s Future Fund will also create programs that complement union training initiatives and apprenticeships where the use of technology has increased significantly. A few examples: Plant engineers must learn to operate heavy equipment with GPS controls and to control cranes with computers; Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) workers are required to complete 400 hours of classroom instruction as part of their apprenticeship, in addition to on-the-job training.
Not only will these grants create programs to meet the skill needs of the future, they will help fill well-paying jobs that are available today and help create career paths in industries such as agriculture, nutrition, and natural resource management. More than 77,000 students are currently on such a path, about one-fifth of the high school population. So it’s easy to see that the Securing Our Children’s Future Fund grants are an important investment in the future of our children and our country.
On a much more local level, you can help families in need shop for school supplies for their children by donating supplies to my Senate Office Back-to-School fundraiser. On average, families spend about $700 a year on school supplies. You can help families in our area in need by donating notebooks, folders, glue sticks, crayons, markers, pens and pencils, rulers, calculators, books, staplers, highlighters, erasers, and other supplies at my Senate office at 802 West Park Avenue, Suite 302, in Ocean Township. Drop off your donations Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. or call my Senate office at 732-695-3371 to make other arrangements.
