Giving Compass' Take:

• The Urban Assembly High School for Computer Science is opening in South Bronx as the first charter school offering career and technical education in New York City. 

• What are the benefits of career and technical education schools? How will its charter status help this school thrive? 

• Read about why we should invest in students who attend CTE schools. 

When the Urban Assembly High School for Computer Science opens Monday morning in the South Bronx, it will be New York City’s first charter school for career and technical education. It’s an important milestone: CTE is a promising vehicle for students to build successful futures — and charter schools are uniquely positioned to deliver on that promise.

The city’s CTE high schools have more than tripled in number in recent years. Of the roughly 450 city high schools, 47 are dedicated to CTE. These aren’t the “voc-tech” schools of old, into which academically struggling students were often shoved and poorly served. Today’s best CTE schools combine strong academics with work-based learning and industry-recognized skills certification.

The nonprofit Urban Assembly has been at the vanguard of the city’s CTE renaissance. Its first CTE effort was the Harbor School on Governors Island, offering programs in fields ranging from vessel operations to marine biology. Today, Urban Assembly’s 22 middle and high schools include eight CTE schools focusing on everything from health care to emergency management to 3D printing.

The newest addition to the Urban Assembly network, Comp Sci High, will offer a traditional academic curriculum side by side with training in computer science, and students will graduate with both a high school diploma and industry certifications. Partners are still being secured, but the plan is to give students work-based learning experiences in New York’s booming technology sector.

Comp Sci High is already making waves in the South Bronx: The school received more than 1,000 applications for its initial 110-student freshman class. The longer school day and year that charters typically provide allow time for everything that CTE students must accomplish: earn academic course credits, prepare for state Regents exams, fulfill work-based learning requirements, and obtain industry certifications

Read the full article about career technical education by Charles Upton Sahm at Manhattan Institute