SD Board of Education approves free job training for huge corporations

The South Dakota Board of Education was in Mitchell on Monday and decided to approve this:

The South Dakota Board of Education approved Monday the implementation of a new program next fall at Mitchell Technical Institute.

The board gathered at MTI’s south campus for its November meeting, after which the board toured the facility.

MTI proposed a farm power technology two-year program to provide skilled workers for farm equipment dealerships.

The program will train students for entry-level positions. Existing agricultural courses will play a significant role in the program, pushing students forward to work at businesses that build, service and sell farming equipment.

“It’s a growing industry,” said Mark Wilson, director of the office of learning and instruction at the South Dakota Department of Education.

“It’s a good opportunity for Mitchell Tech to utilize existing programs for some of the course work and to provide specific training for an area of need.”

MTI President Greg Von Wald said the program will provide many with good careers and skills, even to take back to the family farm.

For the last two years, ag equipment dealers have been corresponding with MTI about starting this type of program, because there is a shortage of farm equipment mechanics, Von Wald said.

According to the proposal, students will gain skills in repair, diagnostics and troubleshooting while taking classes in electronic controls, GPS, hydraulics, harvesting equipment, service management and customer service, among others.

A projected budget for the 2012-13 academic year is $183,500, which includes $60,000 for salaries/benefits, $100,000 for equipment and $23,500 for supplies, travel and marketing.

So South Dakota's state budget had to cut education, put there is still enough money to subsidize Big Ag. Why shouldn't John Deere and other huge manufacturers of Ag equipment pay the costs of training their service technicians?

Comments

[Stace Nelson]

A young friend of the family in fact went to the John Deere diesel school, which JD paid for.

Was there an indication that these students would not have to pay or am I missing it?

[Steve Sibson]

I debating the issue with the MTI president by saying that the manufacturer of the equipment should be responsible for the training and hwo it was unfair to make students go in debt for two years versus getting paid for on the job training. I was told, this is how capitalism works.