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\n\u201cI think a laborer feels that he\u2019s the low man. Not so much that he works with his hands\u2026\u201d said Carl Murray Bates, a stonemason, speaking to Terkel. \u201cMany that works with his hands takes pride in his work.\u201d\u00a0Although they were often physically tired by the nature of their work and the long hours that they spent doing it, the work allowed people to have a better life.<\/p>\n
Shifting from college-focus<\/h2>\n
In America, the education system vacillates between ends of the spectrum for any issue that one would care to name, returning to the center on occasion. This is evident in the recent emphasis on ensuring students have multiple pathways to post-graduate success, whether in a traditional college track, certification and training for career fields, or supports for joining the military.<\/p>\n
This shift away from the promotion of the traditional college track to the near exclusion of any other alternatives, even for those students who expressed zero interest in doing such a thing, is a good thing indeed. One hopes that such a focus on ensuring school serves the needs of its students remains at the forefront.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOur school system doesn\u2019t need to create kids who are good at school,\u201d writes Shelley Wright at MindShift. \u201cInstead, we need to create an environment that engages learners, fosters creativity, and puts responsibility for learning where it belongs — with our students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of the issue stemmed from cuts to education budgets across the nation. When funds are scarce, anything not directly and clearly tied to activities that will increase test scores tends to be fair game.<\/p>\n
For decades, the forerunners of the modern career and technical education (CTE) courses, then known as \u201cvocational education,\u201d were tracked for the mechanically or technically gifted. But they were also perceived as courses of last resort for students identified as academic strugglers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Disappearing act<\/h2>\n
So as funds tightened and the need for improved test scores in core academic subjects skyrocketed, many states cut back or completely eliminated CTE courses that had been a mainstay for decades. Wood and metal shop, automotive repair, cosmetology\u2014all staple CTE courses that led to careers for the students who took those courses, enjoyed them, and realized that they could make a career out of doing what they loved–were eliminated or severely curtailed.<\/p>\n
Students were pushed towards a more traditional academic track, with a traditional academic outcome to follow: the four-year college and a pathway to a white collar job. Which worked for spme, but left many excluded from the American dream.<\/p>\n
Degree is no longer a guarantee<\/h2>\n
\u201cThe problem is, they\u2019re trying to meet the future by doing what they did in the past, and on the way they\u2019re alienating millions of kids who don\u2019t see any purpose in going to school. When we went to school, we were kept there with a story which is if you worked hard and did well, and got a college degree, you would have a job,\u201d said Sir Ken Robinson, an expert on fostering creativity in schools, in his TED talk on the subject. \u201cOur kids don\u2019t believe that! And they\u2019re right not to, by the way. You\u2019re better having a degree than not, but it\u2019s not a guarantee anymore, and particularly not if the route to it marginalizes most of the things that you think are important about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, as we approach 2017, we\u2019re right to know that what we\u2019ve been trying simply doesn\u2019t work for a large number of our students, and that even with a college degree, success isn\u2019t guaranteed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Talent and skill shortages<\/h2>\n
For some labor fields, this lack of attention and support have led to critical staffing shortages now and in the near future, unless things continue to change. Take for example the average age of a master plumber in the state of Texas: 58. Understanding that it takes several years of work experience and additional training to obtain that status, it\u2019s still not sustainable.<\/p>\n