What’s the state of Arkansas education as a new academic year nears? Schools are emphasizing workforce education opportunities, offering mostly in-person instruction rather than educating students remotely, and trying to be safer and more secure in the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The programs are part of an emphasis in Arkansas schools on workforce skills. The state helps fund 30 career center programs like Saline County’s, which is affiliated with Arkansas State University Three Rivers, and Fort Smith’s, which is affiliated with the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
When Gov. Asa Hutchinson took office in 2015, 54 school districts were not served by a program. Only one, the Piggott School District, remains, but a satellite center managed by Black River Technical College will offer manufacturing and welding starting in January. Those classes will be especially useful in a part of the state where manufacturing, particularly the steel industry, is growing.
