Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that several educational institutions in North Texas would receive more than $3.5 million in state taxpayer-funded grants.
A total of six schools will split eight Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) grants to provide career and technical education (CTE) training for 1,164 students. The taxpayer money is intended to assist in the development of qualified workers within high-demand fields.
JET grants are available to a wide range of schools at various levels, including junior, state, and technical colleges, independent school districts, open-enrollment chart schools that have partnered with a public college, and the Windham School District, which educates students under the supervision of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The Texas Workforce Commission’s website explains that the funds are supposed to be used to “purchase and install equipment necessary for the development of [CTE] courses or programs that lead to a license, certificate or post-secondary degree in a high-demand occupation.”
The six North Texas institutions to receive the eight JET grants are as follows:
- Collin College received $332,365 for its HVAC training program.
- Commerce ISD got $301,544 for farm equipment mechanics training.
- Farmersville ISD scored two grants — one worth $702,240 for marketing managing training and another $746,743 for the equipment necessary to train students in agricultural engineering.
- Grayson College secured $349,999 to teach industrial machinery mechanics.
- Lovejoy ISD got $446,763 to develop facilities to teach electronics engineering to students.
- North Central Texas College earned the last two grants, with $331,827 for 130 nursing students and $300,117 for teaching 126 students welding.
In a statement provided to The Dallas Express, Gov. Abbott said, “Texas continues to support our next generation of highly-skilled workers and boost our state’s growing economy through career training grants.”
“These grants will provide schools in North Texas the opportunity to purchase and install equipment that will train over a thousand students for good-paying careers in farm equipment mechanics, nursing, electrical engineering, HVAC, and more,” he explained. “I thank the Texas Workforce Commission for their collaboration with these schools as we help North Texas students prepare to join our workforce in these high-demand industries.”
Similarly, TWC Chairman Bryan Daniel added, “The Jobs and Education Texas grants provide opportunities for schools across the state to create training for high demand jobs in their area. Six North Texas-area colleges have made the step to train more than a thousand students in the region to support local employers and bolster the economy.”
Other local institutions have recently received taxpayer-funded state education grants, including Dallas College, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Gov. Abbott’s announcement comes at a time when career-readiness metrics are flagging at big school systems like Dallas ISD. According to the latest Texas Education Agency accountability report, only 10% of qualifying students earned an industry-based certification, compared to the statewide average of 19%.
