Debate Over Student Pay Dominates Portion of CTE Budget Hearing

Whether high school students should be paid for on-the-job training became a central point of discussion during Thursday’s budget hearing, as members of the Legislature engaged with the Virgin Islands Board of Career and Technical Education over the financial and motivational aspects of school-to-work programs.  The conversation arose when the board appeared before the Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance to defend its budget request on Thursday. Senator Blyden wondered whether the Board considered it beneficial to have students train alongside contractors and “have an opportunity to work with these individuals as we build our territory.”  “It makes a tremendous difference. But the problem is, who's going to pay these students?” replied Joann Murphy, the board’s chair. “Many of these companies, they can't afford to pay our students working during the summer.” Senator Kurt Vialet responded. “There was never no paid component to get a student to go into a school-to-work co...