I was once asked a question by the father of one of my students.  He was running for the local school board and was inquiring what would make my job easier in the classroom.  Specifically, he wanted to know if I needed more computers.  See, his child was in the Academy for Science & Health Professions, the magnet program for which I taught most of my science sections.  I told him new computers would be nice, but that I really needed the vocational programs back.

Even though most of my classes were for the science academy, I taught Integrated Physics and Chemistry for the remedial (not special education) students.  And they hated it.  It was 80% theoretical crap they had no use for in their lives.  Now remember, I’m trained as a biochemist, so I actually love all that theory work.  But they couldn’t see where they would need to ever calculate Newton’s second or third laws in their lives, and the only answer I could give them was that they couldn’t pass the TAKS test and graduate high school otherwise.  At least I was that honest.  But as a result of being chronically bored, these students were often obnoxious and sometimes dangerous in my classroom (think gang threats and shouted obscenities).  I taught IPC 5th period and it generally took until the end of 6th period for my blood pressure to return to normal and the cortisol flush to leave my cheeks.

But here’s the thing.  What if that cohort could spend 4 hours a day in a vocational program of their choosing:  butchery, metal shop, autoshop, woodshop, horticulture and landscaping, home economics, cosmetology, child development, internet technology and computer repair?  They’d be spending 4 hours learning the theory and practical knowledge of a field they were passionate about.  And coming off that self-fulfillment high, they could probably tolerate 3 hours of math, science, history, or English in order to be more well-rounded citizens.  You have to be able to do enough arithmetic to balance a checkbook.  Understanding the course of history helps you to see through the rhetoric and propaganda of political elections.  You need to have a basic understanding of forensic evidence in case you’re ever called to serve on a jury.  Literacy and active reading have been shown to be the best prevention of criminal behavior.  You deserve to understand human health in order to enjoy an active lifestyle.

My biggest problem as a teacher wasn’t a lack of working technology.  Sure, broken computers created headaches.  But my academy kids were feeding their souls in taking specialized science and health courses, so when computers failed, they took it in stride.  My remedial science kids, who spent 7 hours a day frustrated because they were not only bored, but were staring a lifetime of poverty in the face--they were a threat to my safety and well-being.

Not surprisingly, that gentleman never asked my opinion again.  Nor did I see reviving the vocational program as part of a school board election platform.  We’ve pushed free, public, high school vocational programs into private, for-profit trade schools.  Trade schools are cheaper than college educations and can produce qualified employees in a shorter timeframe.  But their tuition requirement still puts them out of reach for a large portion of our population.  It denies even those who can afford it 2+ years of earnings and experience.  I worry that pushing trade school as an alternative to a college education will inspire the federal government to fund them largely through the student loan program--and that is likely to produce yet another cohort saddled with more student loan debt than they can afford after trade school tuitions bloat in response.