Monday, January 23, 2006

Better vocational education as a solution for some

To continue on the subject of my last post: I was pondering the wisdom of pushing nearly all students to go to college when I stumbled across a Jay Mathews column on vo-tech education. It is mainly an email exchange that he had with an educator who is passionate about improving technical training programs. I found their dialogue extremely thought-provoking. An excerpt:

I am not talking about the old, stand-alone, dumping ground shop classes that are slowly but surely -- and rightly- disappearing from the scene. I'm talking about comprehensive, career prep programs that will culminate in actual professional certification in high need areas that offer solid, middle class $15-$20 an hour wages -- licensed nursing, computer systems maintenance, auto mechanics and culinary arts among others.

There is much more that is very worth reading!

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