Submitted by Bim Tradley, Jan 8, 2008 12:07

After 25 years of teaching the basics of the plumbing trade, promoting interest in trade skills and helping young men and woman find a vocation in life, my plumbing program was closed down due to "lack of interest" and "new technology ". The last time society forgot the need for plumbing skills was the the dark ages. Do we really need to go back to that to realize that plumbers and plumbing education is a required skill for our society. We must have trained,educated, hands-on working men & woman to carry on the basic technology of the past as well as the technology of the future. We in the plumbing trade are very proud of our contributions to society . We need to find smart, well educated young people to carry on the trade. There may come a time when robots will do the job of the plumber, carpenter, welder, sheetmetal, painter, steelworker,HV/AC installer, concrete worker, etc. I do not see it happening in my life time nor in the next generation.

"Vocational education" is not a bad word, it is the type of education that prepares people to work in the real world. "Give a person a fish and he/she will eat for a day......"

Not all students are bound for college, many do not have the money, many do not have the interest, many do not have education background and many are just not smart enough to make it thru a college curriculum. We have "dumbed down" our high schools, now we must "dumb down" our colleges to keep the enrollment numbers up.

Career Education in my state had become an adminstrative boondoggle and a waste of taxpayer money. The adminstration has become so top heavy and self serving that the student is only an inconvence they must endure.

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