High School Career Push: For Whom and For What?

Are public school students pushed into aligning their futures with career and technical education (CTE) instead of college to fit business needs, or college instead of CTE? Career education has been politicized and driven by school privatization for years. It doesn’t have to be this way.

The CTE versus college debate is unnecessary. Both are critical, and students should be able to explore both options.

CTE is more sophisticated than the old vocational education, which also served a vital purpose. However, four-year colleges in the U.S. are the envy of the world (even the National Review thinks so). Unfortunately, college attendance has become unaffordable, and the application process is daunting for low-income and underrepresented groups. This has made college elitist and a crisis for the nation.

Rising college costs began years ago, but Donald Trump also hurts colleges by demanding his conditions and targeting critical contracts, grants, and diversity programs, many of which are crucial for the well-being of Americans. Now he’s threatening college attendance for international students, many of whom become American citizens and do vital work after graduation. As president, Trump should bolster higher education. Why?

In 2022, NBC reported college attendance was down, noting in their subline:

An “alarming” number of people are rejecting college — and it could widen the fissures already polarizing American society.

And:

The United States has already fallen from second to 16th since 2000 among developed nations in the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees. Countries ahead of it have increased their bachelor’s degree attainment during that time by an average of 177%, an analysis by an institute at the University of Pennsylvania found.

Manipulating students’ career choices has been a part of the school privatization movement for years. Here are a few examples.

Remember “Every Child-Every Day, College Bound?”

In 2006, Memphis school superintendent Carol Johnson advanced “Every Child, Every Day, College Bound.” Johnson saw this as a civil rights issue and wanted every child on the pathway to college. It bothered parents who knew their children didn’t wish to attend college, because they had other skills.

During that time, America was embroiled in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Students who couldn’t afford college might have found the military another route to college attendance and a career. However, some soldiers, sadly, would not survive.

Pushing college for all became part of a larger nationwide initiative focused on standards, college prep, firing principals, and making teachers reapply for their jobs. High school charters used career themes to attract students.

Johnson eventually included community colleges and trade schools in her narrative. She moved to Boston to further promote a controversial school reform agenda, and like in Memphis, closed many schools.

Should High School Be College to Save Money?

During the 1990s, AP courses allowed some high school students to take a few advanced college classes for college credit. High schoolers are pressured to take as many AP classes as possible today. AP might save on college costs, although not all AP courses work with every college.

AP is a program from the College Board, the so-called not-for-profit that sells high school assessments. In 2023, the College Board held $1,775,694,188 in Cash and Investments.

Dual Enrollment

Dual Enrollment involves high school students simultaneously enrolling in college courses. Like AP, students and parents might believe high schoolers should take college courses for college or a career to qualify for a job early. This could save money, but students might feel pressured and unprepared. It also might not be what they want.

Few Americans question the developmental appropriateness of making students earn college credit in high school. Who cares about rushing kids?

“Stop Trying to Make Everyone Go to College!” says AFT President Randi Weingarten (2025)

In April, AFT President Randi Weingarten said that higher education was under attack. Now, in a recent New York Times op-ed and on Amanpour, Weingarten advocates “aligning high school to both college prep and in-demand vocational career pathways.”

Aligning is like former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s messaging from 2022. Some find the idea of aligning students to anything a bit troubling.

Weingarten recently discussed bridging work programs with Russlyn Ali, who co-founded the XQ Super Schools, now called the Institute, with Laurene Powell Jobs to rethink high schools. Most of these programs rely on partnerships with community businesses.

The Trump administration, with Linda McMahon, also focuses on aligning schools with business. Are students rushed into career choices too early, aligned to businesses, and could they be used as cheap labor?

To Weingarten’s credit, good high school counseling appears to be at the heart of what she’s describing. Public schools need more career counselors. She also doesn’t seem to be against college, but how much CTE should high school students get, and should CTE be favored over four-year college attendance? And then there’s that word, alignment.

In 2022, Bryant and Hillman in The Progressive wrote:

Aligning school curriculums to the demands of big businesses is no doubt helpful to these companies. And their efforts are bolstered by the fact that these courses are enormously popular in U.S. public schools. 

However, career and technical education programs funded by major companies tend to narrow student learning to the needs of specific employers and can be harmful to students’ long-term employability, limiting their future opportunities.

To Sum Up

CTE can introduce students to valuable jobs that keep them focused on school and could lead to employment if students show genuine interest. CTE can be a lifeline for students. Life skills and broad CTE courses might appeal to all students.

But college prep coursework in algebra, geometry, calculus, biology, chemistry, physics, physical science, English and foreign languages, American and world history, geography, literature, and civics, not to mention the arts, has always existed, and should never grow old.

Inside Higher Ed reported in 2024 Most ‘Good Jobs’ Will Require a Bachelor’s Degree by 2030s. Many careers already exist. A 2024 report indicated a continued shortage of physicians. Other high-demand areas include engineering fields like biomedical and aerospace, math, physics, computer science related to AI, and machine learning. Robotics and healthcare professions are also needed.

Most of all, high schoolers are still kids. They deserve an education that offers a variety of subjects and activities that provide joyful learning experiences, where they learn about who they are, not for them to fill the needs of industry, or be pawns in the push to privatize public schools, or what others choose for them.

In the meantime, where’s the public policy to make universities more affordable and provide easier access for capable students who would choose them?

Reference

Weingarten, R. (2025, May6). Opinion: Stop Trying to Make Everyone Go to College. The New York Times, Retrieved from https: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/opinion/college-technical-vocational-education.html