US education secretary visits Utah, touts its career and technical education initiatives

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visited Utah to promote mental health and career and technical education education.
He praised Utah's initiatives, highlighting programs like concurrent enrollment and food and clothing pantries at schools.
Cardona emphasized the importance of diverse educational pathways beyond traditional four-year degrees.

SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona spent a day in the Beehive State, traveling between schools to promote mental health and career and technical education programs.

Cardona started his day Wednesday at Kearns Junior High School to participate in a discussion with community-based organizations and the Granite School District about the district's efforts to support student mental health.

"We heard earlier today about food pantries for kids that were hungry, families that were hungry," Cardona said. "I walked into a clothing pantry where I saw diapers. I saw kids' clothes. So, whatever the (student's) needs are, people are going to take care of them. It was beautiful here in Utah."

Afterward, the secretary toured the arts and digital media programs at the Salt Lake Community College's South City Campus before speaking with students there about the importance of career technical education programs.

At his roundtable with Salt Lake Community College students, Cardona heard from a diverse array of students who all took winding paths to find themselves in higher education. He expressed his desire for the K-12 education system in the country to not only better prepare students for the workforce but let them know that a traditional degree from a four-year institution isn't the only pathway to success.

"What I'm hearing is we need more of what they're doing well (in Utah)," Cardona said. "When we have high school students graduate with an associate's degree — not spending $150,000 on a college program that they're not sure that they want to do — that shouldn't be a rare occurrence in the United States. That should be how we do business, and I think we need to evolve quicker ... and more boldly."

In Utah, the push for more career and technical education avenues for students has been strong.

The Davis School District in 2023 formalized a concurrent enrollment agreement with Davis Technical College, creating a first-of-its-kind pilot program that allows students to receive both technical college and high school credit for completing career and technical education courses taken through their respective high schools.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, right, mans a camera beside Jake Dickey, center, an adjunct professor and director of in-camera visual effects, and Dave Lehleitner, an associate professor of film, in a photo and video production studio at the South City Campus of Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City during Cardona’s visit on Wednesday. (Photo: Isaac Hale, Deseret News)

This agreement between a local school district and a technical college — signed by Davis Tech President Darin Brush and Davis School District Superintendent Dan Linford — was the first in the Beehive State.

In August, the Canyons School District approved a contract for the $50 million purchase of the old eBay headquarters in Draper. The 215,000-square-foot facility that sits on 36 acres will be transformed into the district's career and technical education campus.

"We plan to buy the building and then retrofit it and turn it into a high school," said Jeff Haney, Canyons School District spokesman. "It will be a high school that will have programs that train students for careers in industries where we need high-skill workers."

The site could also be used to house a vocational program for adults with disabilities, an employee health and wellness clinic and a child-care center for district employees. The district is targeting a fall 2026 opening of the new facility.

"My takeaway from Utah ... is caring educators who do what they need to do for the students, who work together to make sure that whatever the students need, they get," Cardona said. "That's something that I'm proud of. That's something that I want to continue to support and, I think, needs to be lifted up. A lot of other states could learn from what Utah is doing and what I saw here today."

When asked about the potential looming demise of the federal Department of Education — President-elect Donald Trump, throughout his campaign, has called for dismantling the department — Cardona expressed his support for the work it does and the programs made possible through it.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, center left, talks to Josh Elstein, right, program director for arts and new media, as Cardona tours the South City Campus of Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City during a visit Wednesday. (Photo: Isaac Hale, Deseret News)

He mentioned the many programs he witnessed in Salt Lake City that allow students to go into careers.

"These are the programs that, at the Department of Education, we look to lift up, support (and) fund. What the next administration is going to do, I'll leave it up to them," Cardona said. "I just know that the value of the federal Department of Education to support programs like this (Salt Lake Community College's career and technical education program) and the program that we saw earlier today ... where we saw the mental health supports that students got, it's because of a federal Department of Education that understood the needs and funneled not only money, but guidance, resources and support for those districts that they're able to be successful."

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