"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 09:34:16 -0400 in rec.boats, JohnH penned the
following thoughts:

Bill, those classes still exist. But, the government mandates what the
educational requirements are, and we still don't have a 'vocational' track
in the system. The public high school just down the road from me has a
great set of vocational classes. Although called an 'academy', it's just
part of the high school.

http://www.fcps.edu/EdisonAcademy/courses.htm

In most parts of the country this just is no longer true. The
machinery has been sold off, the labs/shops converted to classrooms,
and if *anything* of vocational nature remains, it would be one of
those silly, pointless, babysitting "career exploration" classes.


One reason for this is that the loss of behavior control at the
teacher's level made for a more dangerous experience. Wimpy
administrators, unwilling to do the right thing with respect to
behavior, found it much easier to close those rooms and turn them into
"college bound" classrooms... lowered the insurance bills and kept the
more affluent parents happier, anyway.....

I was amused by one direction that this thread had taken... Think
about it: If we are going to send all of those mundane low paying jobs
overseas and keep those high paying computer jobs here..... you know,
do what we do best..... why shouldn't we do away with technical
programs?...do we really need anything but college prep classrooms?

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.


Very good column on Voc Ed in to days loacl newspaper.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/tribune/ci_3697382

And to see why we can not boat the rivers at the present time,
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/ci_3697320

No boats except for emergency workers. Stops the wake from causing more
danger.