
Steve Navarre releases his vision of how to prepare Plano ISD schools and students for the 21st century by providing a 21st century education that creates 21st century jobs.
Building on the lead of State Senator Florence Shapiro through her Senate bills 1312 and 1313, Steve believes that Plano ISD can create an environment that promotes technology education that leads to high paying jobs.
If passed, SB 1313 will reward the development of high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs while SB 1312 creates a pilot program at the community college level aimed at targeting high school dropouts and those needing developmental educations. CTE offerings range from auto mechanics to biotechnology, computer assisted drafting and countless other offerings. Steve’s plan targets those CTE that create high paying technology jobs.
As the new 9th -10th grade high school in Murphy opens, the high school boundaries will be redrawn leaving Williams High School with a lower student population in the most economically disadvantaged area of Plano. To ensure that Williams High School is fully utilized and that the bad reputation of Williams from the late 1990s does not return, Steve believes that Plano needs a Magnet style technology high school that serves 2 distinct functions:
1. Provides a technology based Distinguished Achievement Program education for 4-year college bound math, science and engineering students.
2. Vocational training and certificate programs for technical jobs for student entering the workforce after high school graduation.
Williams High School would remain the home school for those within the Williams boundary for 9th and 10th grade but also be the home for the new Williams Tech High that would be open to any student in the district through an application process much like the Magnet schools of Houston and Dallas.
Steve was accepted and attended
Booker T Washington High School and the High School for the Engineering Professions his freshman year of high school while living in inner city Houston before moving. The educational foundation he received at Booker T Washington started him down the path that led Steve to be the recipient of the Texas A&M President’s Achievement Scholarship. Steve studied Nuclear Engineering while at Texas A&M.
Steve believes that learning from, and perhaps modeling after, the New Tech High of Coppell ISD would teach education and business leaders how to make the new Williams Tech High successful. Steve has arranged the opportunity for small groups of Plano parents and leaders to take a tour of Coppell’s New Tech High over the coming weeks. If you are interested, please contact Steve at 469-878-8923 or through email at steve@idvote4steve.org.
In addition, a partnership with Collin College fully utilizes the strengths of SB1312 to make sure that each Plano child has the opportunity to not only graduate, but have high paying skills when they do.
To pay for this new program without raising taxes, Steve recommends creating the Plano ISD Technology Foundation, a nonprofit group independent of the PISD to work with to corporations to provide equipment and software. The new Plano ISD Technology Foundation would also work closely with other foundations for securing grant money for the school. In addition, Texas Education Agency has a grant funding for expanding technology and CTE programs in schools that PISD can apply for.
Lastly, Steve recommends that Williams Tech High School students in the 4 year college program include summer internships and job shadowing in 11th and 12th grades. For those not bound for college, Williams Tech High would work with job placement firms to provide jobs for graduating seniors so that they may enter the workforce as productive adults.
Political advertising authorized by Steve Navarre