Quote:Marco Rubio has in fact addressed that, but it kind of goes back to his idea regarding K-12 education.  A large part of his idea is the fact that we graduate kids out of high school that are not prepared to either go on to higher education, or enter the job market or a trade school.  His point here is that we should not focus solely on preparing kids for college, but also prepare them for careers as an electrician, a plumber or a welder, all of those being good paying jobs.

 

One other point that he talks about is turning certain skills and experiences into "real" qualifications for positions.  As an example (much like my personal story) what if a person got educated though non-traditional means?  What if they have experience through military service, took a few of the many free online courses and learned skills on their own?  Is it not reasonable to package that experience and knowledge up into something meaningful to assist them in getting good employment?

 

As I said, my own personal story is an example of that, and I'll share part of it here.  As a teenager and young adult I did many jobs ranging from working in a restaurant, to working as a deputy sheriff, to working in radio broadcasting.  None of that was really what I wanted to do, so at 23 years old I entered the military.  I learned a lot about electronics and computers (hardware), and I also learned a lot about leadership, responsibility and accountability.  After my years in the Navy I worked at a couple of jobs briefly that used very little of my knowledge, and I ended up going to work for a company that deals with aircraft simulation and trainers.  Now backing up a bit, during my years in the Navy, I was also introduced to Unix and Linux (this is when the internet as we know it was very young).  Part of using an Operating System like Linux back then involved learning how to write scripts, and how to modify source code for programs, so I did a lot of reading and taught myself how to program in many different programming languages.  Since then I have been fortunate enough that some companies have hired me based on my actual skill, even though requirements for the job listing required a degree in either electronics or computer science.  I don't hold either, but have worked and still do with a lot of people that actually do posses a degree.

 

With all of that being said and the reason that I share something like that is it should be easier for someone to "package" skills up and be able to call it something.  I am fortunate in that it was relatively easy for me to get hired on at all but one job only because of "who I knew".  Those people have known me or "knew of me" based on prior experience and work.  It should be easier for someone educated the way that I was to have something to show for it, and have that something make an employer want to hire such a person.

 

Bernie Sanders on the other hand just wants to tax people that achieve, and promise that education will be "free".

I could easily be as dismissive of Rubio because I don't agree with a free market choise as you are being of Sanders, I am not. Try not to be as well. A discussion was your idea after all. 

 

Education is very important and trades can be taught outside of trade school in community college. Those without education and not just kids but adults as well ought have avenues to get the education they need that will allow them to market themselves. His point is higher education should be easily accessible and I agree. 

 

How does Rubio propose you separate out the kids who are destined for higher education and those that should be put on trade pahts? Is there a clear plan for this or just we need to do better at the levels it's already free at.

 

My current job I have due to knowing people. It's good to know people and have your skills valued. I do think in a lot of areas to much restriction is put on the paper and not on the experience. That is an idea that many fields need to change their viewpoint on. However it's not a replacement for the education system. How many people are going to naturally acquire the the knowledge and experience for sciences, engineering even teaching at some levels for that matter?

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