Must have been a slow news week, because Governor Richardson is taking credit in the New Mexico Business Weekly for creating stuff that already exists:
Governor Bill Richardson said the state will award $10 million to pay for the creation of 18 career technical-vocational education centers across New Mexico.
Silly me, I thought we already did this in 2004. I wonder where I got that idea. Oh, I know. I got it from the Public Education Department website:
The Public Education Department (PED) and Commission on Higher Education (CHE) have launched a joint initiative to help high school juniors and seniors transition into college career programs and technical careers. CHE will allocate $10 million in capital funds to plan, design, construct and equip new career-technical centers to be developed in conjunction with existing two-year institutions. PED will allocate $225,000 to the centers in January to launch a vocational high school model at selected sites.
So, what do you think? Does this qualify as deja vu? Jump forward from October 2004 to last Friday:
“These centers will work toward my goal of keeping New Mexico’s young people in New Mexico by helping to create high-wage job opportunities and providing the training required to access those jobs,” said Richardson in a news release.
The funds will be used to build 18 state-of-the art centers to prepare high school juniors and seniors for the successful completion of high school and the transition into college — or entry into technical careers.
Freaky, it’s like entering the twilight zone. Now, I have just one question. Isn’t the whole purpose of our high schools “to prepare high school juniors and seniors for the successful completion of high school and the transition into college — or entry into technical careers?”