Demand for Career Technical Education (CTE) Teachers Growing Urgent

Chef Tom Shibley has had an interesting culinary career at upscale restaurants and catering jobs for high-profile events. But he found that the instability of the industry and lack of benefits like healthcare weren’t conducive to supporting a family.

We want to let professionals know that when they’re ready for a career change, schools like ours will eagerly tap their vast expertise for the benefit of students seeking a career path.Share

“Unless I worked at a large chain restaurant – which I didn’t want to do – I knew I needed to find another opportunity and just do culinary part time,” explained Chef Shibley. “But now I’ve found the best of both worlds – immersed in the culinary profession while teaching young people how to explore their creativity through food.”

As a culinary instructor at Assurance Learning Academy, a public high school part of the Learn4Life network in California, Shibley has the stability he sought along with the fulfilling challenge of teaching and inspiring young people.

“This is my dream job that I didn’t really know existed,” he added.

Even as Career Technical Education (CTE) becomes more popular among students,¹ nearly a third of schools report difficulty finding instructors for their CTE programs.² The challenges for schools are many – such as the disparity between salaries in the private sector and public schools.

Then getting credentialed can be tedious. State and local school districts require potential CTE teachers to complete basic teacher training along with demonstrating time and knowledge in a given industry – before they can be hired.

“I went through the state and county websites to provide required information, proof of education and work history, along with letters of recommendation. That enabled me to earn a preliminary certificate – enough for Learn4Life to begin the interview and hiring process,” he said. “Now I’m going through a state-approved online program for my permanent teaching credential while I’m working. It should take about two years.”

Leticia Sanchez, who teaches graphic arts and multi-media CTE classes at Learn4Life Assurance Learning Academy, had a similar experience in her industry. She worked for small design studios and found the project-based work to be inconsistent.

“We had some fantastic 3-D modeling and animation projects, but once a job was completed, we would get laid off and have to start the search again,” she said. “I’ve been teaching digital media arts to high school students at Learn4Life for nine years and every day is rewarding. I’m so proud of my students.”

Learn4Life is a network of 80+ public charter high schools that offers personalized learning, flexibility and job training. Students benefit from a wide array of CTE classes, ranging from certified nursing and dental assistants to business, construction and logistics.

“We want to let professionals know that when they’re ready for a career change, schools like ours will eagerly tap their vast expertise for the benefit of students seeking a career path,” said Chef Shibley. “We will help with the certification process and provide support from the entire education staff.”

February is CTE Month, highlighting the many opportunities for youth and how CTE prepares students for careers and college. For more information, visit https://learn4life.org/about/programs/career-technical-education-cte/.

About Learn4Life

Learn4Life is a network of nonprofit public high schools that provide students personalized learning, career training and life skills. Each school is locally controlled, tuition free and gives students the flexibility and one-on-one attention they need to succeed. Serving more than 64,000 students through a year-round program, we help them prepare for a future beyond high school. For more information, please visit www.learn4life.org.