Most American high schools phased out vocational education years ago, motivated by complaints that it was used as a tool to "track" African American and Latino students into low-paying careers.

Budget preview
The Governor expressed his appreciation for the Coalition’s willingness to reestablish a constructive dialogue about sufficient funding for K-12 education. Secretary Bersin shared the following oral summary of the proposed budget:

Getting students ready for the world of work

By Kristi Garrett (California Schools Magazine: CSBA Quarterly)

CAROCP Board Highlights – September, 2005

A drafting program involving Georgetown Divide schools and Sierra College offers a model for vocational training in California.
By Walter Yost — Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, November 17, 2005

One of the few - very few - bright spots in an otherwise dismal 2005 legislative session was approval of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's down payment on restoring California's sadly neglected vocational education programs. Vocational education - which has been renamed "career technical education" (CTE) of late - uses a lot of precious classroom space and requires teachers who both can meet educational licensing standards and are skilled in their fields.

For much too long, California has had blinders on when it comes to vocational education. Technical trade classes have been given short shrift in schools for decades, neglected nearly into extinction. Much of California’s economy may now depend on the production of ideas rather than physical commodities, but somewhere along the line our leaders in education and government seem to have forgotten that an economy of ideas can only function if there are skilled hands-on technicians to operate the tools bringing ideas into reality.