WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) yesterday emphasized the value of apprenticeship programs in American education during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions subcommittee hearing on “Getting America Ready to Work – Successful on the job, apprenticeship training programs to help workers and business get ready to work.” During the hearing, Senator Tuberville spoke with Noel Ginsburg, Founder and CEO of CareerWise, about how apprenticeship programs promote positive educational experiences and increased retainability rates in the workforce.
Excerpts from Sen. Tuberville’s line of questioning can be found below and the full video can be found here.
On the Senator’s Experience in Education:
TUBERVILLE: “I spent 40 years in education. I’m here today because of education. I ran for the U.S. Senate, for the State of Alabama because the last 20 years, I’ve seen our education going in the wrong direction.”
“We could be much better. For some reason, we won’t change. We won’t do the things that we need to do to make it better for the kids that are coming up.”
“Now, we have cyber, we have computer science. We have all those things going along with it. But the main thing that we need to do, in my perspective of watching over 40 years is what Ms. Curry said a little earlier: we’ve got to expose people to something that they want to do. Because when I got up every day after I graduated from college, and I went to work coaching and teaching, I loved every minute of it and enjoyed it. I think I did a pretty good job at it because I liked it, and that’s what we have to do with these kids nowadays.”
“When I ran, I talked to groups all across the state of Alabama home builders, road builders, bridge builders. ‘Coach, we can’t find people to work.’ Well, you better start educating your own because our education system doesn’t educate people anymore. We indoctrinate, we bring them in, and we don’t teach the things they need to teach to use their hands.”
On Apprenticeships helping Students see the Importance of Learning:
TUBERVILLE: “It [apprenticeships] gives them [students] an opportunity to continue their education and really enjoy it. Probably our panel up here doesn’t really understand some of our education. If you look at the direction we’re headed in public schools as we speak today, half the kids cannot read over the sixth-grade reading level, and apprenticeships will teach them and encourage them to continue to learn to read, to learn to write, and do all those things.”
GINSBURG: “Senator, you are right on. You are hitting the nail on the head. What we are seeing with our apprentices that are not reading at grade level, sometimes many grade levels below is once they start an apprenticeship and they can see where that math is important, that reading is important, how you write an email or professional letter. They come up to grade level faster than they would in the classroom. So, you’re a hundred percent right. And you’re also right–students when they find their passion like you did, like I was fortunate to do– it accelerates their life and the potential that they have as a young person and a contributing member of our country, of our society.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
###
