As a teacher in a career-and-tech magnet school, I have seen firsthand how a) practical and diverse “career and vocational education” can be, and b) how much it can motivate kids to come to school, be focused and willing to learn, and c) how it encourages teachers to be pragmatic with career-track students.

In our English department, we might still borrow from a college-prep curricula, but we definitely are conscious of how ee might infuse workplace writing experiences for students in, say, our auto or our plumbing program (business writing, invoices, letters!)…. I really think more schools could benefit from more career and tech program choices