Mike Rowe of Discovery Channels “Dirty Jobs” testified before the Senate about how we are slowly losing our tradesmans to retirement and not replacing them moving forward. This discussion is one that several of my fellow board members in Delaware have raised as our vocational schools have moved from there initial direction towards more of a comprehensive, college focused programs. Then add to the fact that like other comprehensive schools they have to meet the goals of NCLB and RTTT which means those students not wanting college still have to meet the DCAS and AYP that they are struggling with in their home districts. Our Federal and state governments continue to beat the drum that we as a Nation are falling behind other nations as to our technical knowledge and college educations. What they fail to tell you is that these same nations we are comparing too have programs in place for their tradesman that includes testing for placement in higher education or trades schools, and also state sponsered programs for apprentiships and internships. I will testify to the fact that in todays world even tradesman need a good background in language arts,reading, and math, but these need to be focused on the specific trades not a general college focus.
So our students who don’t want college still continue to struggle and as my title suggests are we bound to repeat the mistakes of the past because we are not learning from our past?
Are we forgetting our history, and making a big mistake pushing only college?
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