Everyone agrees that a quality education should be the right of all students. But what they disagree about is its definition (“A way forward for top-tier high schools: Expand the number of academic options in Queens, introduce an admissions lottery,” New York Daily News, Feb. 23).
What I mean is that a quality education is being restricted solely to an academic curriculum. But what about a vocational curriculum? Why doesn’t it qualify? Only in this country does vocational education occupy such a low status. In Germany, for example, students who lack the interest or aptitude for university are accorded great respect when they pursue an apprenticeship as part of their secondary education.
The bias against vocational education does a grave disservice to countless students who have been told that without a four-year college degree they have a bleak future.
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Limiting K-12 emphasis to traditional academic subjects also screws up the economy generally (too many white-collar workers, not enough skilled blue-collar workers) as well as creating adults well-educated re academic subjects but relatively dysfunctional re other aspects of adult life.
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Labor Lawyer: That is correct. The need for highly trained workers in the trades requires far greater emphasis and respect for vocational education. Only in this country is vocational education treated so shabbily.
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