Check out this New York Daily News column about career and technical education (formerly vocational education).
Not only is career and technical education nothing to laugh at, it's a way to replace the unrealistic "college for all" bias of public schooling with a greater degree of practical preparation for lucrative and rewarding careers in fields like nursing, desktop publishing, computer networking and the building trades.
This is encouraging:
And here's the kicker: Two-thirds of CTE students go on to college, and when they do, there's research suggesting they outperform other students. Those that go straight into the world of work are generally getting jobs in fields where the pay is good and demand is strong.