Kirsten, your article raises so many good points.

I have always been suspicious of private vocational schools, and of the narrow, privately-determined courses that community colleges are now starting to offer (e.g. Microsoft and Cisco "certification" courses). On the other hand, community colleges do offer some excellent opportunities.

I think it is up to us to create a society where "vocational" and "technical" skills are deemed just as important as "academic" skills. I think it is also up to us to create a society where one's abilities are more important than the name of the school one attended.

There is room for apprenticeship programs, community college programs, and university programs in California's educational landscape.