Increasingly, technical careers are being seen as preferable to high school graduates who are wary of their chances for gainful employment following a traditional four-year liberal arts degree.
While we would be the last to contend that such degrees have diminished worth in a modern society, we understand the reality of the current and near-future workplace that appears to be starved for people possessing specific technical skills.
Thus, we were heartened this week to see news that the Warren County School District is likely to enter into an agreement with a Pennsylvania technical institute to provide a dual enrollment program similar to that being offered to students through St. Bonaventure University.
The proposed program is initially geared to students in the welding program at the Warren County Career Center, where they would continue to be taught by members of the WCCC staff, but with guidance from faculty at Penn College, a division of the Pennsylvania State University. The students then would receive credit toward a degree at Penn College.
Ultimately, the program could be expanded to other technical fields, like electrical, constrruction and automotive technologies among others.
Working with representatives of area business and industry, the program could enhance a local labor pool that has suffered as the result of long-term losses in manufacturing. At first blush, there doesn't seem to be a down side to the proposal and we hope the school district pursues the opportunity.