Trade courses on chopping block

College prep overshadows vocational education

William Walker spends second period among the sound of drills and the smell of motor oil, building a half-sized tractor-trailer.

So far, the South Johnston High School junior and his classmates have cut the cab of an 18-wheeler in half, welded a mini sleeping area onto it and installed a homemade dashboard. And Walker has loved every minute of it.

"It's why I come to school every day," he said of his automotive technology class as he paused from running air tubes to the vehicle's seats and brakes this week.

Such hands-on trade courses remain a staple at state high schools, especially at rural schools such as South Johnston, situated among cropland and pastures in southern Johnston County. But some fear vocational programs are losing ground in an educational system increasingly focused on preparing students for college.

"It's just a matter of time," said Mike Bridgers, who teaches a construction course at the school. "I'm feeling more and more like what I teach is considered second-rate."

Federal funding for vocational programs has seen the chopping block several times. This year, President Bush's budget proposal cut their funding by nearly half, which could mean $21 million less for North Carolina, according to estimates by the Association for Career and Technical Education. In 2003, Bush proposed cutting the largest federal vocational program entirely.

In North Carolina, new graduation requirements have proponents for vocational courses, officially called career and technical courses, up in arms.

Approved late last year, the new rules require all students to complete courses once required only of the college bound -- adding a course in advanced math and two in a foreign language.

State educators say the new requirements are meant to ensure all students graduate from high school ready to enter a four-year college or university.

"The major premise is to make sure that all students have the options to be ready for the future," said state Superintendent June Atkinson. "In the 21st century, there is a core of knowledge that all students are going to need."

College not for all

But critics say the intense focus on college readiness that guides such reform efforts often blinds policymakers to the merits of vocational programs, such as preparing students for careers and providing courses that are relevant to everyday life. Statewide, only 48 percent of graduating seniors say they plan to go straight to a four-year college or university.

"We need to ask if we are giving students the full and rich education that they need in order to meet their career goals and other goals in life," said Steve DeWitt, policy director for the Association for Career and Technical Education.

Courses in demand

In North Carolina, students enrolled in nearly half a million vocational courses last school year. Career and technical courses make up the largest academic program at South Johnston and account for about a fifth of the school's teachers.

Students in a childhood development course staff an in-house day care and shadow teachers at a nearby elementary school. Construction classes build and auction off a full-scale house, including class-made cabinetry, every year. Sports marketing students partner with the school's booster club to promote school events and merchandise. Those teachers worry that the new requirements will cause their jobs to be cut, and their district bosses say it is likely.

"We're going to have some elective teachers in place with the demand for those courses reduced," said Keith Beamon, the district's curriculum director. "So the question will be, where will those people go?"