Friends of Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education,
Very interesting piece from the Contrarian Boston yesterday. Please take a moment to read this piece written by David Mancuso, President of Mancuso Communication Strategies.
“trade-based apprenticeships have standards for students like a command of math and reading skills, a commitment to attendance, and a positive discipline record to ensure a safe work environment, that are not unlike the current admission standards for vocational schools.”
“Should a kid entering high school with the aim of being a plumber or electrician never dare to consider becoming an electrical or hydro engineer instead?”
“The pro-lottery coalition, on the other hand, makes it sound like vocational schools should exclusively be churning out tradespeople like a workforce development program out of a Charles Dickens novel.”
David
Setting the record straight: Sorry alarmists, but voke schools are hardly the only pathway to solid careers for students seeking to learn a skilled trade
By David Mancuso
Reading the leaders of the Vocational Education Justice Coalition’s (VEJC) recent opinion piece in the Boston Globe, it would be easy to come away with an alarming message.
In particular, after reading the advocacy group’s op-ed, one might come to the dispiriting conclusion that students who have an interest in careers in the trades have no alternative but to attend a vocational high school. That, or their dreams will be dashed.
Not so.
In Massachusetts the trades themselves do an exemplary job of providing students with a direct path to careers through robust apprentice programs that teach needed skills, provide practical experience, and even a provide a paycheck while learning that trade – all for free.
Frank Callahan, president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, told Contrarian Boston that a conservative estimate of the building trades’ annual investment in apprentice programs is around $60 million dollars.
Callahan also said those programs are expanding, taking advantage of dollars available in the Biden administration’s bipartisan infrastructure funding, and working to ensure there are more slots for apprentices to join the trades each year. According to Callahan, 79 percent of all apprentices in the construction business are being trained by programs in the trades and that these apprentices are landing jobs afterwards.
Ironically, trade-based apprenticeships have standards for students like a command of math and reading skills, a commitment to attendance, and a positive discipline record to ensure a safe work environment, that are not unlike the current admission standards for vocational schools.
The VEJC, and the state lawmakers who support their call for a random lottery to function as the only admissions criteria for voke high schools, would likely be loath to admit that the standards at the voke schools they have so many issues with simply reflect what employers are looking for.
One thing the building trades council and pro-lottery proponents share is the concern that kids going to vocational high schools may move on to college rather than enter the trades directly after high school. Is that really a bad thing?
Callahan told Contrarian he’s not against college at all, but he also wants to make sure the trades have the workers they need and that kids who genuinely want to work in the trades can do so.
That makes sense.
The pro-lottery coalition, on the other hand, makes it sound like vocational schools should exclusively be churning out tradespeople like a workforce development program out of a Charles Dickens novel.
Among the many weaknesses in the VEJC position is its assumption that an eighth grader knows exactly what they want to do for the rest of their lives by the time they leave high school.
Should a kid entering high school with the aim of being a plumber or electrician never dare to consider becoming an electrical or hydro engineer instead?
Perhaps the real issue that the pro-lottery folks are trying to address, albeit unknowingly and unintentionally, is the failure of comprehensive schools to engage all students in learning.
Whether the path to the trades goes through a vocational high school or trade-based apprentice programs, the burden of building a student’s foundation for all careers starts in K-8 schools, long before students decide what sort of high school they wish to attend.
Well-meaning, if misguided advocates like the VEJC and solutions like lotteries for vocational school admissions will only cover up the real issue.
Meanwhile, it’s time to give the trades-based apprentice programs the respect and attention they deserve and remind students interested in the trades that they have options beyond vocational high schools.
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
DavidFerreira
