"Bob Crantz" wrote
*Why is he calling for more math and science majors?

Because virtually every school district in the US, with PhD'd administrators
who know zero about technology preparation, are ok with vocational schools
filled with special ed students and behavioral problems. The real
technicians of tomorrow will hold engineering degrees. Everyone else will
just be pumping too much grease into zirc fittings because they can't read
the spec sheets.
Ken Gray, researcher at Penn State Univ, preaches against the misuse and
abuse of vocational schools by their sending districts, and argues that the
vocational schools should be populated by the middle 50% (by academic
performance) of students. The upper (gifted) and the lower (learning
disabled) should be left in the hands of the special education teachers, and
not in the hands of the engineers and technicians who've been hired to teach
their expertise. Sending schools do tend to keep the gifted students, but
purge their classes of problematic kids, rationalizing that kids who can't
read and won't do homework can learn hands-on how to build a working robot
or program a CNC milling machine.
I contend that a competent HVAC technician is better educated than most
guidance counselors!
Amen!
Scout