I almost mentioned No child Left Behind. My 2 sons are now around 50. Neither went to college, but both are successful small business people. The older son went straight into the Army and has now retired after 25 years in Airborne and Special Forces. He says the Army as part of mustering out now provides guidance in useful business information, He also was trained in the skill of managing a group of Apache helicopters, among other things. Second son was a high school dropout in tenth grade. I asked a young business person I had helped to take him under his wing. That relationship made a big difference. Later he took a course in electricity with Adult Education. Only 2 people signed up for the English class, so he took the Spanish electrial training. He now has a successful electrical/construction business in Puerto Rico where the Spanish part of his electrical training has been very useful.
I was pleased to see several people responded to my comment #66. Perhaps we can start asking our politicians to begin putting money into trades education again. Also our elected school board members. At the very least in areas where there is already some interest in manufacturing jobs. And encourage women to get into these fields. My husband took an engine repair course because he had a power boat and wanted to have that skill at sea. This course was mostly women. He said combining his physical strength and their small hands to get into tight spaces was a winning combination in engine repair work.
“Perhaps we can start asking our politicians to begin putting money into trades education again.”
I know in our area there has been a renewed focus on this in the past ten years or so. I live in a nice suburb, full of doctors and lawyers. Our high school is easily the best public school in our part of Massachusetts.
Every day a bus comes to our high school to pick up a growing number of students who are whisked away to the Vocational High School in the next town over. There, these kids learn the trades.
Within 10 miles of my home there are two community colleges that focus on skills based learning. One does a great job with computer networking, electrical, and HVAC training. The other is an award winning facility for CNC machining—working with places like Pratt and Whitney to place the graduates in really good paying jobs.
These programs are full, with decent sized waiting lists.
The environment in our area is changing. There is still a big focus on “college” in my town, but I like seeing that there are more and more opportunities for the trades being promoted. The BIG thing is the kids going into the trade programs are NOT looked down upon by their peers or the teachers. There is a recognition that not everyone is cut out for the college track—and that is OK with everyone.