Education Week reported in November that youth apprenticeship programs have exploded since 2010.  For American youth, ages 16-24, the number taking part in an apprenticeship program has gone from just under 19,000 in 2010, to over 40,000 in 2020.

However, EdWeek also reported that Black and Hispanic youth were less likely than White youth to participate in apprenticeship programs, and female youth were even less likely.  White youth accounted for 63% of youth apprentices, while females represented only 7% of all youth apprentices.

AFCSME Local 566 President John Walton has a solution which would place Hartford Public Schools directly into the apprenticeship explosion, assist in alleviating the racial disparities found amongst youth apprenticeship programs, while building relationships that are mutually beneficial.

Speaking at the Board of Education’s February Regular Meeting, Mr. Walton said that HPS hands out millions of dollars in contracts to outside vendors, yet they do not require that these vendors provide job or internship opportunities to HPS students.  “If you’re going to take millions of dollars from our tax payers, then you should provide an opportunity for the people who live here and the students who go to school here,” reasoned Mr. Watson.

Mr. Watson linked his proposal to what ails Hartford, crime and violence.  “Because our students do not have opportunities,” said Mr. Walton, “they’re in the streets doing things that present better opportunities for them to make money “– selling drugs, robbery, etc. – “all the things that make Hartford one of the most dangerous cities in America.”

Mr. Walton stated that his proposal would require vendors to give students the opportunity to make better choices.  An opportunity stated Mr. Walton, which was the purpose behind his union’s investment in Hartford’s youth programs.  Mr. Walton and his union are not just talking to hear themselves talk, they are walking the talk.  HPS, the Board, parents, and the community need to adopt this practice. 

Mr. Walton also called out parents in Hartford.  “We cannot affect change by working independently,” he said, HPS and the Board must “galvanize” the parents into getting involved, to form a “coalition” for building a structure of opportunity and change.  The community at large should embrace Mr. Walton’s idea and join his “coalition.”  We can start by emailing members of the Board and tell them of your support for this opportunity building proposal.  Tell your Board to walk the talk.

This is not like adding a new program that will cost the district a budget dent, the vendors are in place and the opportunity is there.  Each school in Hartford has vendors contracted to provide services such as facility maintenance, transportation, communications, advertising, IT, food services, and security services.  Additionally, there are a plethora of outside organizations providing social services, before and after school programs, and educational services, such as tutoring.

ReadyCT is a perennial vendor of services to HPS, being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to provide career pathway opportunities for HPS students.  As part of their service, ReadyCT leverages their state business network to place “hundreds” of HPS students into internships with Connecticut businesses from the American Eagle Credit Union to the YMCA.  Thus, HPS has an in-house internship “expert,” and that expertise ought to be leveraged to provide opportunities to HPS students with vendors that are in the house, while taking on a few themselves.

Mr. Walton’s proposal would change the vendor culture in HPS.  Rather than seeking out a vendor based on a cost analysis consideration, the cheapest deal possible, this would  personalize the vendor-school relationship.  Vendors would feel more connected to the school and more willing to support the school, having access to an eager and knowledgeable student body workforce in return.  This is a cultural changing idea in that it would result in HPS partnering with vendors who truly want to give something back for the opportunity they have been given, rather than for a simple, pure profit endeavor.

Students interning in the same school in which they are attending would likely feel more of a connection to their school, and to their classmates.  Witnessing their peers actually receiving an opportunity rather than a mouth full of rhetoric, other students would likely gravitate toward the program, rather than the streets.  The Superintendent’s Culture and Climate Survey would likely show that more than 53% of students like coming to school, as is currently the score.

In the news, in periodicals, and at every Board meeting, we are reminded of the staffing shortages wreaking havoc with school services across the country and in Hartford.  Mr. Walton’s proposal presents an opportunity for HPS to plug some of the uncertified position shortages they may be struggling to fill, something a Missouri school district began doing in 2021.

Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez would like to, in fact, says it is necessary, to reimagine education and to reimagine how schools work.  Mr. Walton’s proposal aligns nicely with her aspirations on so many levels.  Let’s see how HPS runs with this innovative proposal.