All students should graduate from high school ready for college and career. Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an education system that combines rigorous academic classes with industry-specific knowledge and skills to prepare students both for direct entry into industry sectors and post-secondary education. CTE programs offer students the opportunity to explore various career options and then put in place the classes and experiences they need to succeed in the career of their choice.

What is Career Technical Education?

Learn about what is Career Technical Education (CTE) and how it supports student learning and preparedness for life after high school. Explore industries and organizations in the Bay Area, as well as local CTE pathways in San Mateo County. 

This video is part of a series exploring industries, CTE Pathways, and career opportunities in the Bay Area. Watch all the videos on the San Mateo County Office of Education's YouTube channel.

CTE Educator Resources

K12 Strong Workforce Grants

In summer 2018, the California legislature introduced the K12 Strong Workforce Program (K12 SWP) as an ongoing statewide funding opportunity. It is designed to support K–12 local education agencies (LEAs) in creating, improving, and expanding career technical education (CTE) courses, course sequences, programs of study, and pathways for students transitioning from secondary education to postsecondary education to living-wage employment.

Please find information about San Mateo County's Grants and K12 Stong Workforce Resources below.

Flipping the College Decision-Making Paradigm

Traditionally, when students U.S. weigh their educational choices after high school, they consider the college they attend more important than the major they study and the career they choose. This helps us understand why many college students take a few semesters to settle on a major, why the U.S. has the largest college drop-out rate in the developed world, and why so many graduates end up in unfulfilling careers.

Get Focused...Stay Focused! is a program that helps students flip the college decision-making paradigm by helping them understand who they are, what they want, and how they are going to get it.

Sharon Brown

Executive Director, College, Career and Secondary Education

Email: sbrown@smcoe.org

Phone: 650.802.5354

Terri Aiello

Administrative Assistant III

Katia Sturtevant

Administrative Assistant II

Email: ksturtevant@smcoe.org

Phone: (650) 802-5481

Fax: (650) 802-5503