RE: Question 1: School to work

Marilyn hits at the heart of the insidious moves to disenfranchise and devalue those who, for whatever reason, do not choose to, or cannot, go to college and make the big bucks.

The sentiments that are presented by option #1 in Marilyn's response are behind the recent moves to not allow students who do not have plans for college to walk across a stage and recieve their diploma.  Some of these students worked very hard to get where they are, and some who are planning to go to college did so with relatively little effort.  Denying this honor to all who have earned a high school degree feeds a true new form of class segregation.  Horrific.

I do not agree with the underlying sentiment that those who do not are necessarily penned into low-paying jobs, but it seems likely that for the present a significant minority in our society will be unable to move out of minimum wage jobs.  Giving such persons a meaningful preparation for labor negotiations and a knowledge of the history of organized labor is a very good idea that would serve several important goals.

Every job that is well done in our society carries honor and social utility in doing it.  There are hundreds of thousands of positions currently unfilled in the skilled occupations, on the other hand, that pay well, are interesting and demanding enough to be both challenging and well-paying.  The skilled trades include, for example, machinists, appliance repair, auto/ truck/ small motor repair, electrician, carpenter, equipment operator, computer service and repair, network technicians, and a myriad of others.  

Meanwhile, we have allowed 3/4 of our technology education system to atrophy from lack of support, and the University of California is doing everything it can to decimate what remains (as are specific parts of the Master Plan).  This is all happening with the help of well-intending administrators, teachers, and educators who do not understand that we must prepare ALL of our students.  They are feeding a line of misinformation to parents that implies that all students can and should go to college.  Since we know that does not happen, planning the curriculum that way is simply inappropriate.

The families of the 70-odd percent of our students who will never complete any postsecondary education program are not well-served by a system that tries to prepare 100% of its students for college, at the expense of an effective, proven, and well-designed Technology Education system.