Bringing the market to students: school choice and vocational education in the twenty-first century.

• Author: Epperson, Lia
• Position: Symposium: Educational Innovation and the Law

[T]he very best service which any one can render to what is called the higher education is to teach the present generation to provide a material or industrial foundation. On such a foundation as this will grow habits of thrift, a love of work, economy, ownership of property, bank accounts. Out of it in the future will grow practical education, professional education, positions of public responsibility. Out of it will grow moral and religious strength. Out of it will grow wealth from which alone can come leisure and the opportunity for the enjoyment of literature and the fine arts. (1)

INTRODUCTION

Our national aspirations have long championed the value of education as the gateway to life opportunity. It is the avenue through which all Americans, regardless of their geographic, economic, or ethnic origins may have an opportunity for economic advancement. In truth, however, some may argue that scholars, practitioners, and policymakers face a lack of political will to critically examine and address persistent educational disparities in opportunity that further entrench employment and wealth stratification. Countess scholars and educational advocates have called for a major overhaul of our education systems, and indeed, in previous articles I have discussed the critical role that federal political branches play in shaping educational opportunity--alternately ameliorating and perpetuating deeply entrenched inequities. (2) It is abundantly clear, however, that no single educational policy suggestion will yield the kind of comprehensive, multidimensional solutions necessary to address the myriad ways in which geography, race, ethnicity, wealth, and income too often serve as determinants for access to quality education and thus life opportunity. We must also look to places of political will and practical expediency. One area that is ripe for analysis is the potential of "federally encouraged" educational innovations that may partially alleviate some of the intractable educational disparities that capture our collective consciousness. One such educational innovation that federal policy has alternately aided and hampered is the role of vocational education, more recently known as career and technical education, in expanding educational and employment opportunities. This form of skills-based learning has sustained criticism for creating or maintaining systems of educational and economic stratification. Yet, is it possible that if such programs were well conceived and structured for current academic and employment needs, they might be more effective in providing marketable skills to those students who might otherwise struggle to remain in the education system? If so, there may be some normative implications in examining the role of vocational education in shaping how we conceive of multi-layered responses to persistent educational disparities.

This Essay suggests we may have a critical opportunity to improve the human social capital of the American workforce by reviving and reimagining vocational education that is designed to prepare students for today's global, knowledge-based economy. (3) A current focus on college preparedness alone "ignores the reality that most students will not immediately go to college, and will instead enter the workforce." (4) An examination of historic trends and current possibilities in vocational education may illuminate some of the ways in which long-standing vocational educational structures have negatively impacted the most vulnerable populations. Due to historic racial, ethnic, and income segmentation in American education, the most vulnerable students who historically have been underserved by vocational education may be better served by examining the historic failings and current possibilities.

At the same time scholars, educators, and advocates have argued for increased focus on academic achievement, school choice mechanisms have gained prominence as effective tools to attain such goals. School choice mechanisms include a host of educational options allowing students to take advantage of less traditional educational structures such as charter schools, magnet programs, and vouchers. Some school choice mechanisms have been widely criticized for the potential to threaten traditional public education systems while simultaneously disadvantaging the most vulnerable student populations. (5) Nonetheless, equitably constructed school choice mechanisms may be strong vehicles to create more comprehensive vocational educational opportunities. (6) Providing different learning paradigms through school choice programs may facilitate a multi-modal distribution of technical skills that better prepare a diverse student population for both post-secondary education and employment success.

This Essay proceeds in five parts. Part I examines the history of vocational and technical education in our public schools, examining federal legislation, as well as some of the strongest criticisms of such programs. Part II examines the current state of educational attainment, college matriculation, and employment status among young people. In doing so, this Essay suggests that the current educational and employment crisis may be due in part to a mismatch between our nation's economic and industry needs and the current K-12 and college curricula. A reimagined and reinvigorated focus on career and technical education may partially address this mismatch. Part III examines the evolution and development of school choice programs to suggest such programs may be a helpful way to consider expanding career and technical education programs. Part IV sets forth some potential suggestions for the ways in which career and technical educational programs may respond to the needs of our changing economy. Finally, Part V addresses the normative implications of a focus on vocational education, and examines some of the remaining concerns with the impact of such educational programs on the most vulnerable student populations.

1. HISTORY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

   1. Federal Legislation

      Congress first created legislation supporting and funding vocational education long before introducing other broad-based education funding laws. As the nation transitioned from an agricultural to an industrial based economy, and at the dawn of the First World War, Congress passed the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917. (7) The Smith-Hughes Act introduced the concept of skills-based learning to address the vocational needs of students entering the labor force. The overriding goal of the legislation was "to fit [students] for useful employment." (8) Thus, in the early twentieth century vocational education provided skills necessary for farm, trade, and industrial work. The Act required state and local governments to match the funds provided by the federal government, and as a source of training, (9) the program achieved overwhelming success. Programs responded to the needs of the economy and the political pressures of the times. For example, many programs included a focus on labor market participation to boost war efforts during World War I and II. (10) Federal programs developed to provide training for students and adults in the workforce to contribute to the war industries. (11)

      Under the leadership of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, vocational education programs stressed increased skills building for low-income and marginalized communities. (12) In 1963, President Lyndon Johnson signed the successor to the Smith-Hughes Act. The Vocational Education Act of 1963 (13) ("VEA") expanded federal funding for vocational education and increased the types of employment training that could be considered "vocational education" for purposes of the Act. (14) The VEA provided coverage for training in white-collar fields such as accounting and finance. (15) In addition, 1968 and 1976 amendments to the VEA focused on more vulnerable student populations, including the disabled, bilingual, and other traditionally disadvantaged groups. (16)

      The most recent legislation addressing the provision of vocational education, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, passed in 1984. (17) The Perkins Act consisted of two fundamental objectives. First, the Act aimed to create a more skilled labor force and increase labor market participation. (18) In addition, the Act aimed to provide more equal opportunities and address the needs of at-risk populations. (19) Congress has since amended the Perkins Act several times. (20) The Perkins Act increased the legislative focus on the educational needs of disabled and disadvantaged students. (21) In addition, later iterations of the Perkins Act shifted the focus from a purely career training model to one that emphasizes academics in addition to skill development. (22) Congress passed the current legislation, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act, (23) in 2006. Also known as Perkins IV, the Act is up for reauthorization this year. The Perkins IV Act increased the emphasis on combining academic and employment skills in vocational, or career and technical education. (24) Part of the reauthorization included highlighting the important connections between secondary and post-secondary education and improving state and local accountability. The hope of this most recent legislation was that an emphasis on integrating academic and career and technical instruction, coupled with greater accountability mechanisms, would yield greater employment and opportunities for economic advancement to high-skill, high-wage occupations. (25) The question remains how successful such legislation has been (26) in providing increased opportunities, particularly to those at the bottom of the economic and educational ladder. (27)

   2. Historic Hazards and Current Criticisms of Vocational Education

      Much of the criticism of vocational education programs throughout history centers on the notion that such programs...