On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 11:00:43 GMT, Glen
wrote:

F. George McDuffee wrote:
On 5 Aug 2006 07:27:58 -0700, "Too_Many_Tools"
wrote:


SNIP

In
addition to creating a generation that has no knowledge of how
things work, the abolition of the vocational classes has lead to
a huge upsurge in male dropouts who were attending school only
for the vocational classes.

SNIP

Oh my God! Does this mean all my woodshop classes for next year
(2006-07) at the high school where I teach have been dropped? Does this
mean I am now out of work? Are my fellow IA teachers who teach masonry,
auto shop and computer repair also out of work? Do we now hold our
department meetings at the unemployment office?

The scenario you present might be true in some places, but not in all.
I have been asked (along with a few of my cohorts)to work on a funding
grant to expand our vocational offerings in our school, and maybe the
district as a whole.

Glen
=======================
You are very fortunate in that your schools appear to be run by
educators and not administrators. The students and community are
fortunate in that the board members are acting in the best
interest of the majory of the students and community and not
responding to the latest fad or buzz-word.

My guess is that you leadership is very senior and approaching
retirement. When your educators are replaced with administrators
that conduct per pupil class cost evaluations, legal risk
evaluation of possible injury, and avoidance of things that make
noise or a mess, your vocational programs will die the death of
1,000 cuts. I note in passing that far more students are injured
and injured more seriously in contact sports than vocational
education.

Most universities have dropped their Industrial Arts teachining
options because of the falling demand for their graduates.

Fearless forecast -- as your vocational programs are scaled back,
your student retention and completion problems will increase.
Following normal administrator logic, additional vocational
programs will be eliminated to make funds available for
retention/completion activities and remedial education that are
then required to keep the now totally academic programs filled.


Unka George
(George McDuffee)

....and at the end of the fight is a tombstone white
with the name of the late deceased, and
the epitaph drear:
“A Fool lies here, who tried to hustle the East.”

Rudyard Kipling The Naulahka, ch. 5, heading (1892).