SPRINGFIELD – Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, training programs focusing on advanced manufacturing technical skills would be implemented in at least six Chicago area high schools under a program proposal advanced out of the Illinois Senate Education committee today by State Senator Omar Aquino (D-Chicago).

If passed, House Bill 5062 would order the Illinois State Board of Education to facilitate job training programs for advanced manufacturing technical skills in at least 12 public high schools in areas throughout the state where the youth unemployment rate is at least twice the national average. Six of those schools would be located in Chicago.

The aim is to provide useful job skills to populations of underserved students that have traditionally been deprived of resources necessary for finding good-paying jobs after high school, while helping to meet the labor needs of the Illinois manufacturing industry, Aquino said.

“Tech skills in manufacturing are undoubtedly relevant to the workforce, and would allow students to find and maintain gainful employment directly out of high school,” Aquino said. “This is an opportunity for us to invest in Chicago’s students who are most susceptible to the negative effects of widespread unemployment.”

Due to the prevalence of computer-assisted machinery, there is an increasing demand for tech-skilled labor as traditional manufacturing skills are phased out. Manufacturing is the second largest industry in the Illinois economy.

“In order for Illinois to remain at the forefront of American manufacturing, we need to keep up with the industry’s evolving demands,” Aquino said. “This bill will help cultivate skilled workers to fill those demands.”

HB 5062 now moves to the Senate floor for consideration.