During a tour of the Foster Career and Technical Education Center in Farmington on Friday, Gov. Janet Mills pitched the need to invest in all 27 centers statewide and touted their importance to the state’s economy.
“Jobs in the trades bring with them good skills and good pay, as well as stable, lifelong careers, but it’s been decades since we’ve invested in the upgrades our career and technical education centers need to train students to fill those jobs,” said Mills.
She has proposed spending $20 million on program, facility and equipment upgrades for Maine’s CTEs as part of the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, funded by the $1 billion in federal relief funds allocated to Maine under the American Rescue Plan.
“Investment in Maine’s CTEs is critical to our economic recovery and long-term growth. With newly available funds, now is the time to make that investment to connect our students with rewarding careers and the businesses that are waiting to hiring them,” she said.
Maine CTEs have not received a significant investment from the state government since 1998, according to the governor’s office.
Maine’s public education system has 27 CTE schools that provide Maine students with training for careers, including in welding, nursing and emergency medicine, computer programming and pre-engineering, electrical, heating and cooling systems, building trades, early childhood education, marine trades, automotive technology, horticulture, hospitality and culinary arts.
As Maine attorney general, Mills used funds she obtained through a legal settlement to create plumbing programs at several CTEs, including Foster.
In 2019 as governor, Mills proposed a $5 million bond to help finance equipment upgrades at CTEs, but the Legislature rejected the idea.
“The relationship between Maine employers and the state’s Career and Technical Education Centers is important for Maine’s economy to ensure our students are learning the skills needed to thrive in skilled trades, health care, biotechnology and more,” said Heather Johnson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, in a news release after Friday’s tour.
“The workforce investments of the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, which total more than $100 million, will create new economic opportunities for Maine students and employers.”
