In Tampa on Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced a series of changes to workforce education.

Among them, an audit of workforce training classes to ensure they match business needs, raising money for internship programs, pushing for legislation to allow computer science to qualify as a science requirement, a ‘last mile’ program to help students complete degrees, and awarding associate’s degrees to students who complete 60 credit hours regardless of the type of school they attend.

One young man at Tampa Bay Technical High School says the education and training he’s gotten at TB Tech has already landed him some job offers.

“Next year I’m gonna take two periods of ‘OJT’ [on the job training] so I can leave school early to go start working,” said junior Glenn Wester.

You might say Wester has always been ahead of the curve. His grandmother is a welder at the Port of Tampa, teaches a class on welding, and started himWester out early.

“My grandmother has a very good relationship with the welding instructor here, and I’ve been welding since I was 7 years old,” Wester said.

It’s a path to a job that Gov. DeSantis wants to put more kids on.

“Our goal is we’re 24th in the country now. By 2030 we wanna be #1 in the country for workforce education.”

Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins said matching classroom training to Florida businesses’ needs is a win-win.

“Businesses can be advising them,” Eakins said, referring to certain programs where business leaders serve on advisory groups. “They can also be recruiting. They can do all those things to feed their workforce. So it’s a perfect marriage.”

Wester said the education he got at TB Tech has put him on a career path long before most of his peers have figured out what they want to do.

“This school sets me a foot ahead of other students who graduate and then they start looking for something to do,” Wester said. “I’m perfecting my craft while I’m still in school to work out in the field, so right after I graduate I can go straight out on a job.”

DeSantis said he will make more announcements regarding education reforms in the coming weeks.