My school never split off trades classes into their own school. They just stopped hiring teachers for those classes.
But also, yeah I feel your second point. My old highschool still has an entire wing of the building filled with a full machining shop, a very well stocked wood shop, a CAD lab, and an automotive shop which all sit there entirely unused. They didn’t even sell the machines off or move them. They just shut the lights off and stopped using those rooms.
I wonder if it’s really hard to recruit shop teachers now. If the trades are so desperate for people, would it be more lucrative to go into the trades or teach at a school. Also I think most states require a college degree plus credentials to teach at all. So if you worked in the trades until you’re 50 and then wanted to go into teaching, it’s like 5 years of schooling before you can do that. Schools have a lot of trouble getting and retaining male teachers at all at this point and I wonder if that contributes too. If you don’t see male teachers and there’s a stigma attached to men wanting to work with kids, it isn’t going to be something boys aspire to.
My school never split off trades classes into their own school. They just stopped hiring teachers for those classes.
But also, yeah I feel your second point. My old highschool still has an entire wing of the building filled with a full machining shop, a very well stocked wood shop, a CAD lab, and an automotive shop which all sit there entirely unused. They didn’t even sell the machines off or move them. They just shut the lights off and stopped using those rooms.
I wonder if it’s really hard to recruit shop teachers now. If the trades are so desperate for people, would it be more lucrative to go into the trades or teach at a school. Also I think most states require a college degree plus credentials to teach at all. So if you worked in the trades until you’re 50 and then wanted to go into teaching, it’s like 5 years of schooling before you can do that. Schools have a lot of trouble getting and retaining male teachers at all at this point and I wonder if that contributes too. If you don’t see male teachers and there’s a stigma attached to men wanting to work with kids, it isn’t going to be something boys aspire to.