My child had struggled in a school environment that wasn’t adaptive to his vigilance and attention needs. Once we have had supports in place, and especially in classrooms with teachers who thoughtfully implement 504 and beyond, he’s been successful. And - he has a good shot at free tuition. Unlike many of his peers, he wouldn’t be going into debt for a four year degree. I was perplexed, then, when this kid went into a full-on rage when he reported that his ‘assessment’ pointed him away from college and trade to a program with test and licensure and I told him to slow down. ‘You’re less supportive than my teacher!’ He declared. I was frustrated. I just wanted to eat dinner. Hadn’t they told him that a four year degree would matter to securing a business loan, that as a black man in America he’d already struggle to get a loan? Of course not. The career exploration/future readiness Wizard had spoken. And now we are deprogramming.

Apparently it’s not just us:

Have You Heard? explores CTE and the narrowing of the broad purpose of education:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/123-schooling-the-workforce/id1080145136?i=1000539285734