Smart Talk: Encouraging vocational and technical careers; Do veterans courts work?

What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, April 8, 2015:

For young people about to leave high school and mapping out their futures, the world is a much different place than what previous generations faced.  Often, high school graduates could walk right into a family sustaining manufacturing or other blue-collar job.  Many thought college was just for the children of the well-to-do.

That thinking has changed in the past 40 years.  For one, the great majority of jobs or careers require a post-secondary education.  For many, four years of college was the way to go, even if it meant going into debt.

In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of skilled labor and technology jobs have gone unfilled.

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers wants to change that by encouraging young people or providing them with options on vocational/technical educations and career readiness.

Republican State Representative Stan Saylor, who is chair of the House Education Committee appears on Wednesday’s Smart Talk along with HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College President John “Ski” Sygielski.

Also, Democratic State Senator Rob Teplitz and Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico join us to discuss the benefits of Veteran’s Courts.  Courts designed to help veterans accused of non-violent criminal charges have been so successful that Sen. Teplitz wants to expand them statewide.