On President Obama’s first of a series of outreach visits to talk to everyday Americans about the economy and its impact on their lives, he stopped at Lehigh Carbon Community College and Lehigh Career and Technical Institute in Allentown, Pennsylvania today. The president’s visit to the CTE schools briefly put CTE at least in the backdrop as he talked about economic recovery and the nation’s future.
Lehigh Career & Technical Institute is a secondary and post-secondary CTE school that offers state-of -the-art facilities and programs that provide 50 areas of skills study. The broad range of programs includes focus on electronics technology/nanofabrication, material handling/logistics technology, and advertising.
Lehigh Carbon Community College offers more than 100 degrees and programs, ranging from medical assistant to kitchen and bath to hotel, and resort management.
While Obama has repeatedly expressed clear support for community colleges, he did not specifically mention CTE in his speech today. But perhaps his presence at the Pennsylvania schools signals that he understands the linkages between CTE — secondary and postsecondary levels — and his economic recovery goals.