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Surge in NC career credentials pays off for teens and teachers

North Mecklenburg High has an auto shop where students can learn job skills.
Ann Doss Helms
/
WFAE
North Mecklenburg High has an auto shop where students can learn job skills.

The number of North Carolina high school students earning credentials that prepare them for careers has rebounded from a pandemic plunge, state officials told the Board of Education this week.

A huge drop in the 2020-21 school year — from about 241,000 credentials earned to about 126,000 — came partly from the disruption of in-person education and partly from changes in how the state tracks career-technical credentials.

In 2021-22 the number nearly doubled, to about 239,000,

“We do see a significant jump due to a couple of main reasons,” Nancy Cross, from the state’s office of career-technical education, told the board. "Obviously, getting back to in-person instruction was a huge help. But also funding from state legislators of $15.8 million for credential use, for credentialing our students, which was a huge jump. The prior year was a little over $8 million.”

The credentials certify that students have the skills needed for careers in fields such as nursing, welding and computer programming.

Offering career-tech classes requires not just hiring teachers with expertise but often creating special class spaces where students can work on cars, style hair, run high-tech manufacturing equipment and learn other such workplace skills. In order to award credentials that employers recognize, districts also have to get certified to offer testing.

The state also rewards career-tech teachers whose students earn credentials. They collect $25 or $50 per student, with the higher reward for credentials most likely to lead to employment and good wages. The maximum bonus is $3,500, and the average was just over $800.

The state surveyed teachers who earned bonuses in 2022. Twenty percent said the bonuses motivated them to change or expand the classes offered, and 38% said the extra money influenced their decision to stay in teaching.

NC Department of Public Instruction

The report on credentials shows that Wake County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the state’s two largest districts, saw especially large recoveries, with more credentials earned last year than before the pandemic. Union County, which led the state in credentials the previous year, was second only to Wake in 2021-22.

Wake students earned almost 16,489 credentials — and Wake teachers collected $197,650 in bonuses for their students’ career-tech accomplishments. Wake students earned almost 13,000 credentials in 2019-20, falling to 5,600 in 2020-21.

CMS students earned 8,980 credentials, up from 3,256 the year before. That brought a total of $95,200 in teacher bonuses.

Union County led the state in credentials in 2021 and continued to grow in 2022. The total of 11,135 credentials was second only to Wake, but the bonus total of $89,150 was below CMS.

NC Department of Public Instruction

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Ann Doss Helms has covered education in the Charlotte area for over 20 years, first at The Charlotte Observer and then at WFAE. Reach her at ahelms@wfae.org or 704-926-3859.