All the talk about the need to step up the area’s technical education could shift toward action today, as the Sedgwick County Commission decides whether to issue $39 million in revenue bonds for a state-of-the-art training complex at Jabara Airport. The bond issue vote comes just days after Cessna Aircraft Co. and Spirit AeroSystems announced plans to invest $1.05 million each in equipment and scholarships for the facility. Officials say a total $5 million will come from the private sector, and the Wichita City Council has committed the land. Federal and state funding also will be sought. These are big investments in a big project, but this cooperative effort seems essential to positioning the local economy and work force to be competitive for decades to come.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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9 Comments
When I read that this place could be turning out 1000 A&P’s a month, I was highly impressed. Do you know what that can do to Wichita? It would be enormous.
This needed to be done yesterday. When I went to WATC for Aircraft Instruments (no longer offered) we shared the same building with the A&P people. At most, with a morning class and an evening class, they had less than 20 people going through the A&P program. In instruments we only had 6.
This area is greatly underserved for skilled aviation workers.
Correction: 1000 A&P’s a year, not a month.
In 1996 a proposal was made to link together WATC (might have been Vo-Tech then), WSU, and four area Comm Colleges into a network and to upgrade our “non-traditional” post-secondary education.
Unfortunately, I found that the only thing anyone wanted to talk about was abortion – so WATC was aborted.
Now, a decade later, after the evisceration of WATC in the past few years, perhaps they will become serious.
Great idea, but why just for aircraft? There’s a lot more industry in Wichita than just aircraft. Some pays almost as well.
Not everybody is college-bound. We need to train for crafts (no, I’m not talking about basket weaving) and skills. Hi-tech is taking hold in Wichita and would be a great subject for training.
XXX – the proposal in 1994 (I mistyped 1996 above) was for a comprehensive “Vo-Tech” program; not just aircraft.
How long before the county commission goes to Topeka and ask for money for this project?
How will this project be different than the one that ripped off the taxpayers a few years back when the owners spent money wrong. The state got out of it and the county continued funding it. They did not look at what was going on there.
How do they bond for something when they do not know the details? Don’t you need to know what will be taught there before you build the building?
Why do we need all of these community colleges from outside Sedgwick County when we have WSU and the Vo-Tech school already here.
Probably another build it they will come for the business folks.
Thanks for the info, Ben. I stand corrected.
Still, I contend that the area needs to persue tecnology, medium manufacturing, crafts and trades. Machinists are in demand all over the country. IBEW has one of the best training programs going for electricians, but they don’t have a lot of capacity. That’s a great trade. And Technology is still one of the hottest and best-kept secrets in Wichita. Tech is going nowhere but up.
This facility should be located somewhere near the center of Wichita to serve Wichita’s population equally. It also should be centered among the various Wichita high schools.
Who will operate the school — the county or USD 259? Will this school be part of the Community College system in Kansas?
Regarding the proposed $39 million in revenue bonds … what is the source of the revenue to pay off these bonds? Will these bonds be guaranteed by the county taxpayers if adequate income doesn’t come in to make the payments? Will the income be from students or from industry users? There will be many other expenses for staff, teachers, utilities, maintenance etc.
Which vocations will be studied there? As someone else said, there are a lot of industries besides the aviation industry. A Vo-Tec school is a good idea but don’t jump in without some expert thinking to avoid building another white elephant.
XXX – JWink – I agree with both of you. Also, I don’t really think you are “corrected”; my reference is to the 1994 proposal, not what they are doing today. The 1994 proposal was centered around the existing Vo-Tech campuses and would have covered everything from aircraft to heating/air to med tech. That is NOT what the County is doing today.
Ruby – the reason for my inclusion of the 4 colleges is that they are a part of “Greater Wichita” and bring resources to the table. Not INSTEAD of WSU and Vo-Tech but IN CONJUNCTION with them.