Candidates: Mississippi should focus on vocational education

CLINTON, Miss. (AP) – Candidates for Mississippi governor are saying the state should strengthen vocational education programs to boost the economy.

Republican Lt. Tate Reeves said Monday that he’s proposing the state spend $100 million to try to improve job skills. Reeves said $75 million of that would go to community colleges for workforce training. He had a news conference in the Jackson suburb of Clinton, at a factory that makes generators.

Speaking later Monday to a Republican women’s group in Jackson, former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. and state Rep. Robert Foster both said the state needs to ensure students are prepared to work after high school graduation.

A Democrat running for governor, Attorney General Jim Hood, has also said people can earn good money with vocational skills.

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