Porcelli: To Be, Or Not To Be – CTE? (3/30)

That’s the major question this column explores each week. How can William Shakespeare help students find the answers they seek?  Several of his characters offer a great deal of wisdom on the subject.

In one of his most famous lines, Hamlet says, “To be, or not to be, that is the Question.”

Consider how Shakespeare can help students answer this question today… To Degree, or not to Degree – That, is today’s question!

Hamlet uttered that famous line while contemplating his future. Many students today, primarily those in secondary schools, struggle to find their ideal educational path to their future. Unfortunately, most still do so without sufficient career guidance from their schools.

We all know numerous friends and relatives who suffer with various degrees of career dissatisfaction, and debt, caused by following the conventional, “college for all” advice.

Each year, countless high school grads enter costly college degree programs that they may not be suited for in terms of their talents, abilities, and timing, causing them to miss out on their best career opportunities.

Another character in Hamlet, offers these fitting words of wisdom to his son, as he departs for university: “This above all: to thine own self be true.”

For students in Shakespeare’s day, or 21st century students to be true to themselves… they must first understand themselves. In other words – understand their own truth. How can they best know what makes them “tick,” what talents and abilities they possess and what career paths those traits lend themselves to?

In Hamlet’s time, there were no career assessment tools. Today’s students have the advantage of the availability of a wide array of sophisticated assessment techniques that can guide them to their ideal careers. Such tools suggest occupational choices based on candidates’ skills, personalities, values, and interests, and offer crucial insights into the type of job that would best suit each individual, and the type of training required.

Regrettably, many schools still do not utilize these methods to properly guide students.

Fortunately, the internet now makes such testing available to all students and their families, and much of it is offered at little or no cost. Students interested in determining what their best educational paths are, should try googling these words: “free career assessment tests.” The search will return over a half million results, in less than half a second. Astounding!

Schools should offer this type of testing at every level. If they don’t, students should seek it themselves.

ADVICE TO STUDENTS:

Follow the recommendation of Career Advisor, William Shakespeare:  To thine own self be true…  when determining whether to – “suffer The Slings and Arrows” of our archaic education system – or chart your own career course when deciding… To Degree – or CTE! Or, best of all, BOTH!


Academic & trade education are two sides of a coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

 

Mike Porcelli is a life-long mechanic, adjunct professor and host of Autolab Radio. He is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late.

Porcelli: CTE, Our Time Is Now! (3/9)

A slogan that could also be the theme of this column. I’ve seen proof it’s now gaining widespread momentum.

Last week, I heard this message from dozens of students, faculty members, and parents, when I had the opportunity to observe the SkillsUSA student competition, at Thomas Edison CTE High School in Queens. There, hundreds of CTE students from across the city competed in various tests of their technical and job skills taught by their outstanding faculties.

In their annual SkillsUSA regional competition, students demonstrated their newly acquired abilities in areas like: automotive, electrical, carpentry, photography, computers, and several other career tracks. Not only did the students compete with one another in their respective areas, I am told, they also organized the entire event themselves. Every aspect of the day was most impressive, and all the participating students, faculty, and administrators, should be extremely proud of their accomplishments.

SkillsUSA, the largest organization dedicated to preparing students for technical, skilled and service careers, has been an integral part of career and technical education since 1965, with a mission of improving the quality of our skilled workforce.

Their goal is to help students achieve career readiness through partnerships with dedicated teachers in CTE schools. They team up with those schools to ensure that students have opportunities to grow their skills, learn how to be world-class leaders, and are prepared to reduce the growing job skills gap.

SkillsUSA organizes events, conferences, and programs to provide opportunities for students to grow their skills in many ways. Students learn essential job skills and other work essentials, by developing and showcasing their abilities through regional SkillsUSA Championships.

The program’s learning expectations are based on the skills sets needed by industry. This includes personal, workplace, and technical skills grounded in academics. Participating students develop all the skill sets needed to make them valuable members of the workforce.

Across the country, students in SkillsUSA chapters participate in their Chapter Excellence Programs, where they receive invaluable experiences through planning and executing activities by applying the essential elements they learn in class.

The theme of SkillsUSA, “Our Time is Now,” conveys to students, now is their time to develop employability skills, demonstrate those skills, and take every opportunity to develop themselves into powerful skilled workforce leaders.

Their message to students: Training opportunities are available to you, so reach out and grab them NOW!

My message to school administrators: Make Career and Technical Education learning opportunities available to every student who wants to… reach out and grab them – and DO IT NOW!

End the skills gap now – CTE for ALL!

More here: https://www.skillsusa.org/

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (2/9)

CTE Shop Class:  NOW – IT’S HIGH-TECH

Celebrate today, own tomorrow!

By Mike Porcelli

Each February, CTE Month is organized by the Association for Career and Technical Education. Their theme is: “Celebrate Today, Own Tomorrow.”

To me, this slogan represents celebrating every opportunity to learn skills today that will allow people to own their tomorrows. This is the mission of all CTE programs. https://www.acteonline.org/why-cte/cte-awareness/cte-month/ 

This annual celebration of skills education is becoming increasingly important to the future of our workforce, as demand for workers with trade skills grows daily.

As a result of the high cost of college tuition and the lack of high-paying jobs for recent graduates of higher four-year institutions, CTE programs have rightfully gained in popularity among the families of many students. Recent statistics show how CTE graduates of high school and community college or trade schools, learn job and life skills that set them on a path to highly successful careers. Many of them who gain advanced certifications in their fields will earn considerably more than the average college-grad, who fell into the “college trap,” and got an expensive, mediocre degree, an unsatisfying job and huge debts.

I’ve repeatedly applauded the NYC Department of Education for its efforts to restore and expand CTE programs citywide. Their pilot program, FutureReadyNYC, teaches labor market-aligned skills to prepare students for successful futures. The program is intended to provide students with, “real skills, a strong plan for after high school and a head start for where they are going… college credits and/or industry-aligned credentials.” I commend DOE for this initiative and urge it be offered to the entire school population as soon as possible.

Recently, I was pleased to participate in DOE’s professional development presentation intended to improve the adoption of their Career-Pathways CTE programs throughout the system. It was an excellent opportunity for teachers to learn the value of CTE for students. Hopefully, it will be a step toward increasing enrollment in these programs, for all students who can gain the most benefit from them.

Last week, I was also pleased to participate in a CTE Black History Month program at Thomas Edison High School in Jamaica Hills, where many graduates of this excellent CTE school come back to their alma mater to share how their CTE experiences led to their highly successful careers. Whether they later earned college degrees, or gained trade certifications in their respective fields, they are all success stories, thanks to the Career and Technical Education provided by their outstanding teachers at Edison.

DOE is certainly on the right path with their CTE programs. But it appears to be missing an opportunity to promote their “new & improved” version of trade education during CTE Month.

Unfortunately, I could find no mention of CTE Month on their weekly blog:  https://morningbellnyc.com/ or on: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/ . You can learn all about CTE at DOE here: https://cte.nyc/web/welcome 

The DOE is on the right track, but should do more to promote CTE in all media outlets…now – during CTE Month!

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (2/2)

CTE Shop Class:  NOW – IT’S HIGH-TECH

Consider all career options

By Mike Porcelli

To the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” – consider this: it is always best to weigh every option available in terms of your own personal characteristics. Do not just rely on advice from the “experts,” who don’t really understand you.

The “college is the best path for everyone” concept, created and perpetuated by school counselors and administrators, who were themselves indoctrinated by their own college experiences, is based on several myths that have led generations of students into costly college programs that did not work to develop their maximum potential – leaving them in debt, without valuable job skills.

These education professionals generally have little or no experience with the abilities and earning capabilities of skilled trade workers. For the most part, they themselves have no trade skills and have little appreciation for those who possess them. If their career views are so essentially biased, how can they then give effective career advice?

The primary myth about college grads earning more than those without degrees is based on the classic faulty method of comparing apples and oranges. It compares “average” earnings of various careers, but that technique yields a highly inaccurate picture of occupational salary differentials.

A more accurate evaluation of salary data would compare earnings of people with similar levels of training in various jobs. For example, the average worker with a masters degree will usually earn less than a highly skilled trade worker with a comparable, less costly, level of technical training.

Last week, we reported that the average skilled trade worker in New York City earns more than the average Ph.D professional. Additional research shows that, on an hourly basis, academics with Ph.D’s earn near the minimum wage, while the earnings of Ph.D’s in private industry are about equal to the salaries of similarly credentialed skilled trade workers. This will come as a big surprise to those who have been inculcated with the “college is the only path to career success” myth.

Accurate earnings potential research is essential. But remember, money is not the only factor to consider in career selection. Compatibility of abilities and interests with careers, must be the primary factors considered. 

To better understand the intricacies of career selection, try Googling this: “trade-school-college-statistics.” The search will yield many informative sites. One of the most useful is: https://financesonline.com/trade-school-college-statistics/  

Career counselors: Examine the information on this and similar sites, before giving advice to students.

Students: Do the same, as if your future success depends on it – it will!

Make informed career decisions!

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (1/26)

CTE Shop Class:  NOW – IT’S HIGH-TECH

Don’t be fooled by statistics

By Mike Porcelli

Schools should provide education that matches students’ abilities and talents. Many education experts now agree.

Michael J. Petrilli, leader of the Hoover Institution’s education policy think tank, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, says: “Those of us in the policy world have gotten it wrong… thinking that high schools’ only job is preparing kids for a four-year liberal arts degree.” 

I’ve seen how this, “college for every student policy,” has destroyed trade education. For decades, students whose abilities and learning styles do not conform with the opinions of school administrators, have been deprived of their best educational opportunities in CTE programs, and subsequently – highly lucrative careers. 

In 1994, President Bill Clinton said, “We are living in a world where what you earn is a function of what you can learn.”

With that in mind, parents who want their children to achieve success, try to guide them toward their best educational options. Unfortunately for many, especially low-income parents with limited education backgrounds themselves, this is an impossible task. They therefore rely on so-called “experts” for advice.

Since I was in grade school, most giving career guidance have spouted statistics showing that college graduates earn much more than non-grads – leading students and parents to believe that the only path to success is a sheepskin. This has led millions to drop out of colleges – with low skills and high levels of debt. 

Here’s how the experts’ figures are misleading. They generally compare the lifetime earnings of all college grads to those with just a high school diploma. These numbers are distorted by the earnings of people at the extreme high and low ends. For example, most professional sports stars making millions each year, and other top-tier professionals, have college degrees. This tends to skew their income distribution toward the higher end of the spectrum. Conversely, unemployed, partially unemployed and part-time workers lower the average income of those without college.

I suggest that a better examination would assess the earnings of the middle 80 percent of the worker population. When comparing median earnings of most college grads to the same segment with a high school education and some sort of trade-certification, the earnings gap all but disappears. 

Although the disparity in earnings of college graduates and those with only a high school education may be great, when compared to high school grads with trade skills certifications, for most of the population, there is no distinguishable difference in incomes. 

Consider this when choosing schools: Recent statistics show median earnings of Ph.D.s in the humanities were $80,000 and the median earnings for all Ph.D.s are generally $104,000. Most skilled trade workers in New York City make much more than that, working in both the public and private sectors – with little or no college debt.

Who’s smarter now?

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (1/19)

CTE Shop Class:  NOW – IT’S HIGH-TECH

Activating students’ futures

By Mike Porcelli

After decades of advocating for expanding student career opportunities, and training programs matched to their abilities and interests – both academic and vocational – I am pleased to see schools moving in that direction.

Last week, I received an invitation to an online DOE professional conference titled: “Activate Students’ Futures.”

That was the theme of my message last week, “Student success is the mission;” activating students’ futures is about preparing them for that success.

With that in mind, the mission of the Department of Education and Chancellor David Banks is to “ensure that all students graduate from high school with a strong plan, real skills and a head start towards a life aligned to their passion and purpose with a pathway to economic security.” Their vision is “for all students to be prepared with a rigorous academic foundation, real world work experience, important professional skills, a strong college and career plan and early college credits or industry credentials.”

We could not ask for any higher objectives from our schools. That’s exactly what I have been preaching for decades. Finally, the Department of Education is singing our song.

Hopefully, this end-of-the-month conference will counteract decades of misinformation about trade education and enlighten school leaders on the advantages of CTE programs for many students. Many more students then have had access to such career training, leading to every student obtaining maximum benefit from their education.

Schools providing such educational opportunities is only half of what’s necessary for student success. Students and parents must also seek out and enroll in those programs that will maximize their chances for success.

To achieve their goal of providing the right kind of training for students, the DOE has committed to building an ecosystem that supports career pathways for them. Toward that end, one year ago, Jade Grieve was appointed “Chief of Student Pathways.” Her mandate is to build an ecosystem that ensures all students have access to career pathways in high school, leading them to graduate with a “strong plan and a headstart on a pathway to the middle class.”

The Student Futures Conference is part of that effort to put every high school graduate on the road to success. This should be the goal of every education system – always.

I hope every member of the DOE attends this conference. I would even suggest attendance be mandatory, or at least, viewing a recording should be required.

For their part, to prepare for high school program selection, students and parents should view these DOE links: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/activate-your-futurehttps://cte.nyc/web/welcomehttps://cte.nyc/web/ 

For maximum future success for our city, let’s insist that all school personnel attend the conference, and encourage all students and their parents to visit the links above as soon as possible.

Here’s to the best academic and CTE programs for every student, leading to successful futures for all.

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/ 

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (1/12)

CTE Shop Class: Now It’s High-Tech

Schools redefining the mission

By Mike Porcelli

Student success is the mission

Now that we have resolved to make it our mission to end the catastrophe in American education, by ensuring that schools teach: The Skills They Aren’t Teaching but Must, how can we best accomplish this goal? I suggest we begin by redefining the mission of our schools.

The purpose of education must be to prepare students for both successful personal and professional lives, by providing them every possible opportunity to develop their natural talents and abilities to their highest potential, not the production of “graduates,” with no real life or career skills, as has been the case recently.

This process must begin in grade school, by designing practices that allow young students to demonstrate their interests and learning styles.

Everyone who has ever observed toddlers at play, sees how they exhibit what they are interested in, what gets them excited and how they like to explore their world.

In their first school experiences, kids must be allowed the freedom to show how they like to learn and what they want to be taught. Schools must study these indicators and tailor education programs that match each student’s unique characteristics. This is where students can be identified as academic or CTE candidates – or both.

Early in life, children exhibit what sports and hobbies they like to participate in. Schools have always been very good at identifying the physical and other attributes that suggest what sports students are best equipped for. That’s why there are no 300-pound linebackers on the gymnastics team, and why tall students do well in basketball. Schools must use that same logic in guiding students into their best areas of study.

Middle school is the place where students should have the opportunity to expand their areas of interest and explore all possible career fields that might be appropriate for them. Only then can they have the information needed to understand if their natural talents match the requirements of those professions and begin to select the high school program that’s best for them, just as they chose their ideal sports teams.

As I have reiterated many times, high schools must provide both academic and vocational training programs that develop each student’s individual abilities, with the goal of maximizing their personal potential. High schools must abandon their objective of pushing every student they can into the college-debt-trap, which causes half of them to drop out. School “productivity” has been measured by how many students register for college, not how many of them get degrees. This has to end now.

Every school must offer each student the educational experience that best prepares them for future success in higher education, careers and life. Their mission must be to maximize each student’s potential for success in every path they take after high school. The school’s success should be judged on their effectiveness in meeting this goal, not by how many college-bound graduates they produce.

Let’s value quality over quantity and effectiveness rather than productivity.

Judge schools’ success by that standard.

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/ 

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (1/5)

CTE Shop Class: Now It’s High-Tech

Trade ed New Year’s resolutions

By Mike Porcelli

Every New Year, most of us make resolutions. This year, what should we resolve to do about trade education? Hopefully, we can agree to implement the ideas expressed here each week.

In the years I’ve been advocating for CTE, I’ve discovered that I am not alone.

Every day, more people are speaking out on the need to bring back trade education.

The leading voice among them is Mike Rowe, who I call “the patron saint of trade education.”

His 20-year media campaign has a positive impact on many who are starting to understand the importance of CTE.

Mayor Eric Adams, DOE Commissioner David Banks and many of their staff members have stated that they are bringing back modernized CTE programs. 

But can they do it in time to meet all students’ needs? Not without private sector help.

One of the most gratifying things I’ve discovered is the number of philanthropic leaders who are denouncing the despicable state of our inner-city schools and promoting CTE as a prime solution to the problem.

Many of those providing private funding to restore trade education have been highlighted here. But are those programs as effective as they could be? Not yet.

A major factor that led to my current work to restore trade education was a 2016 article by former mayor Mike Bloomberg and Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase, entitled, “The Skills Schools Aren’t Teaching But Must,” in which they wrote: “Economic growth depends on having a strong middle class open to all Americans, not just college graduates… That’s why vocational education is crucial.” This is even more true today.

They went on to explain how the solution to most of our social and economic problems is training young people for good jobs by reinventing vocational education.

Implementing those ideas is even more crucial today, especially after the decline in education performance because of the learning losses resulting from the pandemic.

In his recent interviews and speeches, Jamie Dimon refers to the “national catastrophe in American education.”

Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase.

He talks about the deplorable state of our schools, and constantly refers to the low inner city graduation rates, and how poorly students who do graduate are prepared for jobs or college.

He outlines his philanthropic efforts to restore trade education and encourages other business and political leaders to also provide more support for such programs.

In response to the ideas Bloomberg & Dimon expressed six years ago, I wrote: The question now is: will school systems make the changes required to bring back the excellent job training programs they offered in the past – with new technologies to train workers for the future?

My answer then was… I hope so.

My hope now is that the public and private sectors not just resolve to provide modern CTE programs for every student who can most benefit from them, but they do it this year.

Let’s resolve to teach: The skills schools aren’t teaching but must… now.

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/ 

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (12/29)

CTE Shop Class: Now It’s High-Tech

Who makes the holidays happy?

By Mike Porcelli

Workers put up the first Rockefeller Christmas Tree in 1931. (Photo courtesy of Tishman Speyer)

As we celebrate our many year-end holiday traditions and enter a new year and a new chapter in our lives – let’s teach our children, and many adults, about the many skilled workers who make the holiday season possible.

“Tis the season to be jolly” …we greet each other with, “Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays.” But do we ever consider what it takes to make the holidays happy? Most people don’t think about all the things we take for granted, and the skilled trade workers who help us enjoy the holidays.

For example, the symbol of the season in this city – the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. It is a brilliantly decorated emblem of the spirit of the holidays.

This tradition, originated by the construction workers who built Rockefeller Center during the Great Depression, continues to attract millions of admirers each year. How many skilled workers did it take to build Rockefeller Center, and how many more are needed to recreate this iconic attraction every Christmas? Starting with the farmers who grow the tree, to the many workers who cut it down, load it onto an oversize trailer, transport it over highways others build, and use huge cranes to lift it onto a stand built by others…not to mention those who use more cranes to install millions of lights and decorations that make it the national representation of the season. Don’t forget the electrical workers who power those lights, and countless other skilled tradesmen.

In addition to the millions of visitors admiring “The Tree” each year, millions more use every means of conveyance to travel home for the holidays. How happy would this season be without the cars, trains, and planes that transport us to holiday family dinners? Without the people who build those vehicles and keep them running, many of us would have a very lonely holiday.

As children, we believe the toys delivered by Santa come from the North Pole. As we grow older, we learn how goods and services are really produced. But for decades, many schools have misled students with another fiction – that the skilled trades are not valuable careers, and they must be college educated to become successful.

Unlike the myth of the North Pole – this one is harmful…depriving many students of rewarding careers.

Children know that without the skilled elves who build the toys and load them onto Santa’s sleigh, there would be nothing under their trees. In the real world, it’s time for schools everywhere to begin promoting the value of trade education and celebrating the work of the millions of skilled CTE graduates – by producing more of them. Schools MUST provide more CTE training, before those who make our holidays happy are gone.

Use this holiday season to teach young children the importance of Santa’s skilled worker elves and teach adults the value of all real-world skilled trade workers. Our New Year’s resolution should be: Create more CTE programs for all students who can benefit from them.

Enjoy the happy holidays provided by our skilled trade workers. We need: many, many more – and then some!

Teach them – now and in the future…and tools make great gifts for many of us!

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/ 

Porcelli: The Other Side of Education (12/22)

CTE Shop Class: Now It’s High-Tech

Education and economy – A new look

With all the talk about revamping education, try viewing the relationship between education and the economy through the eyes of an engineer.

Think of the economy/education model as a 2-tower suspension bridge, over the dangerous waters of global competition, where the suspended roadway represents our economy.

The road is the path society takes from our past to the future. It is supported by our educational institutions – in this case, the two supporting towers.

The foundation of the bridge is our basic education system, in which primary schools lay the groundwork for future learning – represented here by the bedrock and footings that the towers are built on.

One of those towers is the traditional college & university system, while the other represents community colleges and trade schools. 

The towers support the main cables, anchored on the shores of the past and the future. Those cables are all the careers within the economy.

People climb the towers of education to train for those careers that produce economic growth. Workforce development is about strengthening the main cables by continually raising the level of expertise in each career-path and training individual workers. Those workers are the suspension lines hanging from the main cables to support the roadbed… the economy.

Driving over the road is society, as it moves from the past to the future, above the dangerous waters of economic competition.

For this economic bridge to move us from past, to present and beyond, it must be built on a solid foundation of primary education – a period where students should learn what their aptitudes and strengths are and how to develop those abilities to their maximum potential. Only then can they know which tower will lead to their most successful career paths.

The choices students face when deciding which tower best suits them should not be hampered by lack of resources in those areas. The towers of education must provide the assets needed to meet the needs of all students to achieve their potential for maximum success – whether they choose a conventional college path, or trade education, or both. Yes, both!

For most of our lifetimes, we have shortchanged the material needed to strengthen the trade education tower. This has led to a reduction in the number of wires in the main cables… the loss of skilled trades.

The reduction of trade training led to the skilled worker shortage. In this case, the missing suspension cables that no longer hold up the roadbed.

Even non-engineers can understand what happens to a bridge with a weakened tower and missing cables. It begins with economic decay, leading to a catastrophic collapse.

Our economic/education bridge must be rebuilt with equally strong towers of trade and academic infrastructure – or economic collapse is imminent.

The restoration of trade education is now critical. The skilled worker shortage is the greatest danger facing our bridge.

 

Don’t let it collapse.

Academic & Trade Education are Two Sides of a Coin. This column explores the impact of CTE programs on students, society, and the economy.

Mike Porcelli: life-long mechanic, adjunct professor, and host of Autolab Radio, is committed to restoring trade education in schools before it’s too late. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-porcelli-master-mechanic-allasecerts/ 

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