V.I. students are not being given the skills they need to graduate and get a good job. That was the consensus of senators Wednesday during an Appropriations and Budget Committee hearing to review the V.I. Technical Board’s outlook for fiscal year 2011.
Lawmakers told Board Chairman Daniel McIntosh that kids – especially the ones who pass on taking the college route – are woefully unprepared to enter the job market.
Sen. Sammuel Sanes said he’s seen evidence that some local young people can’t fill out a job application or dress for a job interview – much less contribute to an emerging highly technical field, like green technology.
“We’re like 20 years behind,” Sanes said. “We’re playing catch-up.”
Sen. Carlton “Ital” Dowe told McIntosh that he has seen the shops where students are supposed to learn technical skills, and they are in deplorable condition. He said students need to feel motivated in order to learn, and students want to learn – given the right equipment.
“We can’t continue saying we have these shops, and don’t put resources on the ground levels,” he said.
The Board is requesting a budget allocation of $801,000 for fiscal year 2011. That number represents a 12.7 percent increase over what they received last year.
McIntosh said $245,000 of those funds will go towards the continued support and enhancement of the Career and Technical Education Center’s Craft Training Academy.
The program, which graduated its first students in June, teaches the skills needed for employment at a refinery.
Another $25,807 will go to the purchase of training aids. McIntosh said he and the rest of the board were able to tour V.I. schools recently and saw how old and damaged the schools’ equipment was.
The remainder of the money is slated to go toward staffing needs.
McIntosh also asked that senators help make the board its own entity – as opposed to its current status within the Department of Education. He said the board currently has very little power and very little to do with how technical students get educated.
“What we have is a split-headed snake that is going off in two different directions,” Sen. Patrick Louis Hill said.
During Wednesday’s hearing, senators also heard from Judith Wheatley, executive director of the V.I. Taxicab Commission. Wheatley said her organization is frustrated by the many dollar buses and gypsy taxis operating throughout the territory – especially on St. Thomas.
She said the gypsy taxis and buses are operating illegally, without set prices or schedules, adding that rider are sometimes treated badly.
She said sometimes tourists don’t know whether they are riding in an illegal cab or a taxi commission-approved automobile.
Sen. Wayne A.G. James said that it was tough to know what to do because many locals depend on the illegally operating vehicles, because of the lack of government-funded transportation options.
“How unjust would it be that we shut it down, and then you have all the citizens on the roadway trying to get home,” he said.
The taxi commission does not receive any government funds.
Also on Wednesday, lawmakers heard from members of the V.I.Carnival Committee. The governor has suggested a General Fund appropriation of $250,000 for the committee – the same amount they received last year.
Committee members also heard from members of the Magen’s Bay Authority. Chairperson Aubrey Nelthropp said the group would need funds to continue improvements at Smith Bay Park – including bathhouses and a better road into the beach. The Authority is semi-autonomous and does not depend on V.I. government to supplement its annual budget.
In attendance Wednesday were Sens. Craig Barshinger, Carlton “Ital” Dowe, Hill, James, Terrence “Positive” Nelson and Sammuel Sanes.
