Vocational Education is Not a Second Class Education

In 2011 Mike Rowe, from the television show “Dirty Jobs”, testified before congress on the lack of support for trades education and the effects of that lack of support. He gave startling figures about the number of available trade jobs and explained that there are large funded construction jobs unable to start because of a lack of trained workers. Although Mr. Rowe was speaking specifically about trade workers, such as plumbers, electricians, and metal workers the same ideas about training today’s workers can be applied to many areas of the work force. As a society, it is commonly felt that a college degree is necessary to acquire gainful employment. That may be true in some fields, but it shouldn’t be true for all fields. With a change of thinking, the idea that “college is good” could be turned into “education is good”. Learning, whether in a 4 year college, a vocational school or as a trade apprentice, is worthy. Trade and vocational school are not a second class education. Government, industries and parents must learn how to accept and encourage our youth to seek out educational opportunities in areas in which they show interest and, most importantly, ability.

There can be benefits to a college education, some quantifiable and others perceived. Stated in an online article about the gain of college, “If you give it your best, college can help you learn to distinguish fact from opinion and credible argument from emotional rant, and acquire or strengthen the kind of analytic and reasoning skills that will serve you well for the rest of your life.” By immersing oneself into a college program, you are inevitably going to be around an eclectic group of people. While on the surface this may sound like a chore, it actual has the ...

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...ilt to last and for many people CTE is the means to achieve that success.

Works Cited

Goodwin, Liz. “Vocational education advocates battle ‘enormous’ prejudices”. Yahoo News, The Lookout. June 13, 2011. Web. April 1, 2014.

Goshgarian, Gary and Krueger, Kathleen, eds. Dialogues, An Argument Rhetoric and Reader,

7th ed. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Murray, Charles. “What’s Wrong with Vocational School”. Dialogues, An Argument Rhetoric and Reader. Gary Goshgarian/Kathleen Krueger. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Taft, William Howard. Address to the State Institute and College at Columbus, Mississippi, October 12, 1910. Presidential Addresses and State Papers of William Howard Taft, March 4, 1909, to March 4, 1910. Doubleday, Doran & Company. 1910. Print.

Webber, Lauren. “Do Too Many Young People Go to College?”. The Wall Street Journal. June 21, 2012. Web.