Quote:I somewhat agree with you, but refer to my previous post where I don't believe that the federal government should be involved in education.  However, that being said, I will admit that there might be some way for the government to get involved somewhat, and I'll explain what I mean below.

 

I do agree that No Child Left Behind is not a very good idea and should be eliminated.

 

I also agree that students are graduating high school today with no real skills or paths to lead them to success.  I'm all for teaching skilled trades for those that don't have the desire or the means to go to college.  That's somewhat the path that I took, though I learned my current skills and profession through the military.  I have 3 siblings that are all older than me.  All three of them went to college and got degrees.  Today I actually earn more than any of them, and one of them is a registered nurse.  Two of them have masters degrees and only one of them is actually working, though not in a profession having anything to do with his degree.  The other is well.... pretty much useless and surviving off of "assistance".

 

I would support programs that gave graduating kids a path to learn skills and gain knowledge through non-traditional means.  Vocational/technical training provides the skills, knowledge and experience necessary for some to be very successful.  In my case, I chose the military, but that shouldn't be the only path that a graduate can take.

 

Again I'll reflect on my own personal experience.  I joined the Navy as an enlisted man and learned the job of Avionics Technician.  I spent 6 years in a sea-going squadron doing troubleshooting, repair and maintenance on aircraft communications, surveillance and sensor systems as well as computer systems.  I spent another 3 years on "shore duty" as an Instructor for aircraft avionics systems and also wrote and taught a computer systems specialist course.  I learned an awful lot about electronics, computers (hardware mostly) and aviation.

 

I also started using Linux when the OS was in it's infancy and sometimes required compiling certain programs in order to make them run and work.  I did a lot of reading and taught myself first scripting languages, then computer programming languages.  I've since held jobs at different companies and held different titles such as Engineer, and have actually had to train college graduates with EE and/or CE degrees that had absolutely no experience or common sense at all.

 

My point is, I consider myself pretty successful.  I am by no means wealthy, but I earn a pretty good living, am just about debt-free (I owe less on my house than most people owe on their car loan), I have a nice "nest egg" to get me through my retirement years and managed to raise 3 children.  I did all of that without ever having gone to college.

If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley