> Did George W Bush make the decision to kick out the trades or was it the local education authorities? <
I know quite a bit about this topic. I was teaching at a public high school when Bush II’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ came into force.
It’s all on Bush. He signed it into law. NCLB tested for math and English only. And woe to the school (or the school district) that did poorly in those tests. Schools that did poorly were humiliated. Officials there got no bonuses and no promotions.
So it was a matter of self-preservation. Those local officials tried the best they could to meet the NCLB requirements. That meant concentrating on what NCLB tested for. Everything else was secondary, including the trades.
Bush II did not wreck the trades deliberately. It was just more stupidity on his part, and on the part of those in Congress who pushed for NCLB. They did not think things through. Typical of politicians.
And still didn’t work! We continue to fall in math and English scores. I remember reading about some the math curriculum approaches. They seemed to emphasize complexity of method for complexity’s sake then for any pedagogical reason. I seem to remember states or locales could choose to opt out if they wanted but of course they wouldn’t get the federal sugar ($$$) if they did so. The money was too big a draw I’m sure.
And still didn’t work! We continue to fall in math and English scores. I remember reading about some the math curriculum approaches. They seemed to emphasize complexity of method for complexity’s sake then for any pedagogical reason. I seem to remember states or locales could choose to opt out if they wanted but of course they wouldn’t get the federal sugar ($$$) if they did so. The money was too big a draw I’m sure.