The Death of Vocational Education and the Demise of the American Middle Class - Top Per... - 0 views
-
Jeff Bernstein on 26 Jan 12Few Americans are aware of the extent to which our civilian economy used to depend on the breadth and quality of the vocational education system in our Armed Forces prior to the inauguration of the voluntary service following the Vietnam War. Millions of young people who were taken in by the Army had basic skills that were a bit shaky and very little in the way of vocational skills. They were trained as truck drivers, diesel mechanics, aircraft engine maintenance workers, road builders, computer system managers and quality system analysts. After their tour was over, they entered the civilian economy, ready to be far more productive than they were before they entered the Army. The services still train the people they recruit. But now, they aim to keep them, and the rate at which they become available to the civilian economy has been drastically reduced.