by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
When mayoral candidate and City Council member Ginger Soud released the final report from the City Council Task Force on Education last week, there were three full pages of recommendations. Topping the list was the creation of a Mayor’s Commission on Education.
The rest of the list looked familiar to many: reduce class size, consider splitting the massive, 129,000-student Duval County school district into subdistricts and urging government entities to interact more in an effort to produce better schools and better students.
Almost lost in the shuffle was the subtle suggestion that perhaps it’s time to take a hard look at creating more vocational academies for those students who show little to no interest in academics. A pretty liberal idea from Soud, a Southern Baptist who’s very much Republican.
“We need more of them,” said Soud.
Studies and conversations with educators indicate the problems with academics start in middle school and, if not addressed, permeate into high school. By then, it’s often too late to impress upon the student the importance of homework, reading and studying. Soud says these children need to be identified at an early age and then encouraged to attend a vocational academy where they will receive years of training in various vocations — all of which they will eventually be able to apply in the working world.
“Those that go to the vocational academies will be a combination of all three,” said Soud of children who want to go, those whose behavior dictates they need an education that allows them to see something for their efforts and those whose academic performance dictate a vocational track. “We need to get them in early on, ideally. We need to test their aptitudes and inclinations.”
Soud stressed that in no way is this recommendation to be construed as discriminatory. Rather, vocational academies that provide training, apprenticeships and, ultimately, jobs will simply serve as an alternative education for the academically disinclined.
“We will not drive them to the vocational academies,” she said. “But we will help the child and the parents make the decision that is the best use of the child’s aptitudes.”
Soud believes an increased focus on vocational training will eventually create a work force that can fill voids in such areas as nursing, construction and technical and computer fields.
If this recommendation is adopted by the school system and the Duval County School Board, funding will, once again, be at the forefront of debate. Soud says the funding answers can be found both within the area and nationally. Locally, Soud believes there are more than enough properties available that could be converted into vocational academies — specifically strip malls with big vacancies and other, large empty stores. The need to build new, she says, doesn’t really exist.
The other answer may be Chancellor Beacon Academies, a charter school management company with ties all over the country.
“They are the second largest educational management company in the United States,” said Soud. “If we build them, they will secure the property, hire the teachers and manage the schools.”