The wind recently swept me down to Oklahoma to learn more about their career and technology education ecosystem on behalf of the ECS team. While states reconsider their career and technical education programs, Oklahoma has been preparing students for new industry jobs for over 60 years. A 1966 constitutional amendment established the state’s technology centers, setting the foundation for Oklahoma's robust career technology education landscape of today. Alongside CareerTech State Director Brent Haken, Campus Director Khaaliq Salim led Haken and me through a tour of one of these centers: the Francis Tuttle Danforth campus in Edmond. Under 30 minutes outside Oklahoma City, the Danforth Campus is one of the 62 campuses that comprise 29 technology center districts. For those doing the math, that’s a little over two campuses per district on average.
Brent Haken has been in his current role with Oklahoma CareerTech since 2023. With experience as an agriculture teacher, assistant principal, principal and district superintendent, the Oklahoma native found himself leading one of three career tech agencies in the country. In his eyes, Oklahoma's CareerTech system is “built to be focused on demand.”
The Demand Is Strong
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, applications to participate in a CareerTech program increased by 40%. CareerTech provides comprehensive school programs in 394 PK-12 school districts in addition to concurrently serving over 20,000 students annually in post-secondary education in their 29 technology center districts. It’s an opt-in model: with the State Board of Career and Technology Education’s and voters’ approval, school districts can join a technology center district after a proposal from the school district, the county commissioner or a petition of the people.
High school juniors and seniors, and occasionally sophomores, from participating districts can enroll in workforce development programs or academies for free. To increase course accessibility, the legislature passed H.B. 3021 this session, ensuring CareerTech courses will count toward math, science and elective graduation requirements by 2030.
In addition to academies, full-time workforce development programs are offered to high school juniors and seniors and adult students. These programs align with industry credentials and prepare students for the field’s licensing exam.
Deciding which programs are offered is based on the needs of business demand and the boarder community. With local taxes funding campuses, CareerTech tracks placement rates and enrollment data to adjust which courses are offered. In addition to student interest, they also align with Oklahoma’s critical occupations list and use Lightcast to track labor market data. Through this collaboration, the Danforth Campus offers Academies on biosciences and medicine (BSM), engineering and computer science. Workforce development programs at Danforth include automotive service technology, cosmetology, digital media design and welding.
Pathways Beyond Just Workforce Demand
Oklahoma CareerTech doesn’t only see their programs as a funnel into the workforce. Courses are a way for students to explore career options available to them in their community. Academies are designed for students to get a taste of a field of study before deciding if it’s one they truly want to enter. An engineering student will try their hand at electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering. A BSM student will get a taste of being a medical doctor as well as a veterinarian. Similarly, not all workforce development students are looking for these pathways to be their ultimate career aspirations. For example, a cosmetology student may not have their eyes set on becoming a professional cosmetologist but are seeking to use the skills as supplemental income during further schooling. What better way to ensure an economically stable future than participating in a program with a 100% pass rate on the license exam?
51% of Oklahoma high schoolers participate in a CareerTech program — and that’s with a waitlist. As things stand, high school students are bussed from their home high school to campuses for a morning or afternoon cohort. High school students cannot enroll in the evening courses that adult students attend. “Why can high school students only receive instructions between the hours of 8 and 4?” Haken asks. He’s working on legislation to open night programs to high school students, expanding limited slots for waitlisted students. He’s aiming to have that legislation passed in the 2027 session. Over his tenure, Haken would like to serve 65% of Oklahoma’s high school students.
Oklahoma CareerTech takes advantage of their opportunity as the only statewide career tech agency. They do without the pomp and circumstance, honing their attention on how to be better tomorrow. They won’t forfeit quality for quantity — if it’s not serving their students for the better, it doesn’t make the agenda. It sure smells sweet.
