For decades, students getting their first taste of health sciences careers at Duncan Polytechnical High School have had to practice patient care or CPR in barnlike classrooms that were originally built for middle school shop classes. But that's about to change. The Fresno Unified School Board is considering a contract...
Fresno Teachers Get a Do-Over Vote On Union Fee Proposal
A plan by the Fresno Unified teachers union to charge members an extra $5 monthly to bankroll a new union-run foundation will be up for a revote this month after a legal challenge by dissident members put the plan on hold. The Fresno Teachers Association was ready to start collecting...
Clovis College Is State's Fastest-Growing Community College As Enrollments Top 13,000
Enrollment at Clovis Community College, the state's fastest-growing community college, continues to grow as new pathways and majors are added, President Lori Bennett said Tuesday morning at the second annual President's Breakfast. This year's enrollment is expected to top 13,000 students, nearly doubling the number of students served in just...
How to Meet Workforce Demands? Duncan Poly Leads the Way.
For years, there has been a nationwide shortage of workers in vocational and technical careers, largely caused by society adopting a more college-going culture. According to Adecco, an estimated 31 million career tech jobs will be left vacant by the year 2020 due to Baby Boomer retirements. Fresno Unified, the fourth-largest...
Area Colleges Promise Big Results from Half Billion in Spending
A large crowd gathered in October for the groundbreaking of a $5 million Agriculture and Technology building at Madera Community College Center. It was the first project to emerge from a nearly half-billion-dollar bond measure, approved by voters, benefiting State Center Community College District. “We have the honor of breaking ground here, but...
Students Can Make Industry Connections At Wednesday's CTE Expo
Students who want a career right after high school have an opportunity to learn about the good jobs available at the Career Tech Expo on Wednesday (Oct. 17) at Chukchansi Park. For the sixth consecutive year, the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools is sponsoring what it calls the largest Career Tech Expo in the...
Resistance Finally Fading to Career Technical Education
Thirty years ago, vocational ed programs were struggling to attract students and political support. They were stigmatized as "throwaway" classes. Many educators and parents said that college preparatory classes would better prepare students for college and careers. That's not the case today. The label "vocational ed" has been replaced by...
What's Next for Central High West Campus? Candidates Offer Ideas.
To prevent the Central High School West Campus from becoming a "ghost town" when the district's new high school opens in 2021, a school board incumbent and several candidates discussed the possibility of turning it into a magnet school for Career Technical Education. "We envision that we turn it into...
60 Years Later, a High School Diploma for Fresno's King of the Road
The newest recipient of a Fresno High School diploma has quite a story to tell. He's mowed lawns, delivered newspapers and pumped brands of gas you don't see anymore: at a Signal station on Broadway and a Norwalk on Belmont Avenue. He also served a hitch in the U.S. Army, founded...
Ashjian Can Be His Own Worst Enemy. And a Student's Best Friend
Brooke Ashjian is not the simple attention seeking politician that some of his critics assume him to be. Rather, he's a complicated man largely shaped by a hard-scrabble upbringing, his Mormon religion, Armenian heritage and strong embrace of the First Amendment. He has said a thousand things I wouldn't say....