Putting the Spotlight on Skilled Trade and Crafts
The skilled trade and crafts employees are usually some of the highest paid in a school district. They have to meet the same professional criteria as skilled trade and crafts employees who don’t work for a school system. These school employees have to have some form of specialized training in their profession. And since they work for a school district, they also have to know how to work in a school environment and how to communicate with students and staff. In the past, large urban school districts had a variety of skilled trade and crafts positions. Now, many of those positions were the first to be eliminated due to budget cuts.
NEA in its “2002 Status of NEA K-12 ESP Membership Study” has accumulated the following data about skilled trade and crafts employees.
- NEA considers the following classifications to fall under the skilled trade and crafts category: electricians, carpenters, painters/glaziers, plumbers, heating and ventilation or air conditioning mechanics, machine operators, assemblers and inspectors and printing services.
- Skilled trade and crafts employees make up 2 percent of NEA ESP membership. That translates to more than 6,500 people.
- More than 93 percent of skilled trade and crafts employees work full-time.
- More than 75 percent of them have attended professional development training in the past two years.
- Electricians in most states have to participate in apprenticeship or journeyman programs that involve course work and on-the-job training.
- Such apprenticeship programs usually take four years to complete. Candidates have to attend nearly 160 hours of classroom instruction and 800 hours of training per year.
- Plumbers must also be certified and complete a five-level apprenticeship program. This means a minimum of 1,800 hours per level for both classroom and on-the-job training.