Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced what he called a "transformation" of vocational education through a proposal to create a new competitive fund of $1 billion to increase the number of vocational education programs, or career academies, by 3,000 -- serving 500,000 more students.
Proposals for greater vocational education to keep youngsters interested would be unveiled in the coming weeks, Ms Kelly added.
That proposal curtails federal aid to vocational programs whose former students have a loan repayment rate of less than 35 percent or a high debt-to-income ratio.
The government has accepted the proposals for diplomas but only for vocational subjects.
They had to submit proposals to use the money for either vocational training or materials for a skilled job, but once they got the grant, there were no requirements on how to spend it.
State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills released a proposal yesterday intended to improve academic standards at vocational schools and make them attractive to students who would not otherwise go to four-year colleges.
"If you say, 'We want to invest in gang prevention,' everyone would say, 'Sure.' " Late last month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a proposal to dedicate $11.5 million to after-school programs, vocational training, educational efforts, and counselling services as part of an initiative to combat MS-13.
At the SFCF, Witham takes hope from the added "vocational" requirement, though she wants clarification on the clause about proposals that do not need additional capital funding.
But it will do little to end the division in education between a high status academic route and a low status vocational route, one of the central objectives of Tomlinson's proposals.
It said the Mr Gove's proposals risked "widening the divide between academic and vocational learning".
