By Motoko Rich, New York Times News Service
The administration has proposed a 20-percent reduction in its fiscal 2012 budget for career and technical education, to a little more than $1 billion, even as it seeks to increase overall education funding by 11 percent. The only real alternative to public schools for career training is profit-making colleges and trade schools, many of which have been harshly criticized for sending students deeply into debt without improving their job prospects. A little more than one in 10 students in higher education attend a profit-making institution. Proponents of career education in public high schools and community colleges point to apparent successes like Kelly and other research to demonstrate that their courses serve a group of students at most risk of being left behind. Without high school, much less college, many young people — particularly men and members of minority groups — end up doing low-skill work, relying on their youth and brawn. Those types of jobs were slashed during the downturn, and job prospects often fade altogether as workers age..
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