The latest career and technical education (CTE) programs, announced April 21 by Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr., will be available in August for the start of the 2023-2024 academic year. Most of the new offerings are available at the college level. These courses are expected to prepare students for high-wage, in-demand jobs with the greater goal of accelerating the state’s economic development between now and 2030, Diaz Jr. said in a news release.
“These programs were developed with industry leaders at the table in order to help guarantee student success and our collective economic success as a state,” he said. “I am excited for the future.”
All told, the newly approved curriculum is made up of one associate’s degree, one adult education program, one career certificate, three secondary programs and seven college credit certificates. Outside of IT, other programs focus on public service and control-tower operation. The starting salaries for vocations covered by the CTE program range from $40,000 to $100,000, according to the news release.
Florida Department of Education officials did not specify which schools will offer the programs, but according to the department's website, new data science and machine learning courses totaling four credits will be offered to students in grades 9-12. That course list includes foundations of programming, procedural programming, data analytics and database design, machine learning and applications, and a capstone project with industry partners.
Most of the new IT offerings are at the college level, including an associate’s degree in applied artificial intelligence, plus certificates in practitioner of applied artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence awareness, cybersecurity analysis, and cybersecurity operations analysis.
Outside of the IT realm, there are more than a dozen other career clusters within the CTE initiative. In the past four years, Florida has spent more than $5 billion on workforce education, according to the news release. This year, almost 800,000 K-12 students and more than 380,000 postsecondary students enrolled in CTE courses.
“Just this past year, Florida was rated No. 1 in talent attraction,” Henry Mack, state Department of Education chancellor, said in the news release. “This is in part owed to our education system’s ability to anticipate for emerging skills and talent needs. These programs are evidence that our schools and colleges are nimble, flexible and eager to help guarantee Florida’s economic vitality and the mobility of our residents.”
