PIERRE, S.D. (DRG News) – U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Mick Zais (zay-ss) toured some of the Career and Technical Education classrooms at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre Thursday morning.

Zais says work is being done at the federal level to make technical education more affordable.

Zais says there’s a big gap between the number of technical job openings and people with the correct education to fill those jobs.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says educators need to get students interested in career and technical jobs at an early age.

Zais is in South Dakota as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s 2019 National Back to School Tour. Yesterday he visited the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City and Oglala Lakota College in Kyle.