Topeka ? A Hays businessman and key state officials want to overhaul the way Kansas does technical training.

“The output of our curriculum has to be raised to a higher standard,” said Joseph Glassman, chairman of the Postsecondary Technical Education Authority and president and chief executive of Glassman Corp., the largest mechanical construction company in western Kansas.

“The status quo won’t cut it,” Glassman said.

His feelings are echoed by other Kansans, too.

“The goal is to standardize courses,” said state Rep. Ann Mah, D-Topeka.

The problem in Kansas, according to Glassman, Mah and others, is that the state’s technical schools aren’t providing enough trained workers for the workforce.

Mah said many businesses are sending their employees to Oklahoma for training.

Improving the system has become a bipartisan mission. The House Republican Caucus said one of its top priorities during the legislative session that starts Monday will be restructuring vocational education to meet the needs of the business community.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, signed into law the measure that created the Technical School Authority, and she appointed Glassman.

“In today’s global market, education cannot end at the 12th grade,” Sebelius said.

Glassman said the shortage of skilled workers runs the gamut from carpenters and electricians to bricklayers and machinists. Four out of five Kansas jobs require training beyond high school but not a four-year degree.

Sedgwick County has an immediate need for 5,000 more machinists, many times more than what is being produced in Kansas, Glassman said.

And he said training at the technical schools is too varied. Welding in one school may require 1,000 clock hours while at another 1,900 hours, he said.

“We have many serious issues to deal with,” he said.