Let’s go for it. Wake County commissioners should get behind the push for a new technical high school to open in 2014. The county school board has asked commissioners to acquire, renovate and outfit a former Coca-Cola bottling plant in South Raleigh for the school. The plan apparently would have the commissioners provide money to lease the building, thus locking it in for 2014.

The school would help Wake high schoolers who don’t plan to go to college. But by the schools working with Wake Tech (which also would use the facility), students who graduated would also get college credit entitling them to a certificate.

Even in tough economic times, the county can’t afford to call off all innovation. This idea’s time has come, and it might well keep some students in high school who otherwise might give up. And it most certainly would provide graduates with an advantage in the job market, with training beyond just a high school diploma.