By Solvejg Wastvedt

MPR News/90.1 FM

Minnesota schools say they don’t have enough teachers to help prepare high school students for careers, and in the coming weeks lawmakers at the Capitol are expected to step in to help.

The debate about career-focused classes like manufacturing, business and health care has been part of a broader state conversation about changes to teacher licensing.

This session, lawmakers will likely move Minnesota to “tiered” licensure, where applicants can get into the profession with minimal requirements that might not include the current requirement of a four-year college degree. Teachers would move up to longer-term licenses as they add training and experience.

When it comes to career-specific education, a recent Minnesota Department of Education report found that a third of teachers in five fields are currently teaching under some kind of special state permission. Districts can request permissions when they can’t find a fully licensed teacher.

“Especially in agriculture and industrial tech, there just aren’t many universities graduating those teachers anymore,” said Alexandria Area High School principal Chad Duwenhoegger.

Duwenhoegger would know: Alexandria students choose a career interest area to focus on starting in 10th grade. Options include business, manufacturing and health care careers.

The school has state-of-the art facilities including a metal shop, culinary lab, and two greenhouses.

“We’re saying, OK, what are you passionate about, what do you love to do? And then helping them get the skillset to get to where they want to be, be it a two-year school, be it military, be it a one-year [or] a four-year degree,” Duwenhoegger said.