Senator: Trade jobs better for inner-city kids than college

[hollowdweller]

16. No matter where you live

If you can do sheetrock, plumb, or do electrical work you can have a job.

I have 2 college degrees and worked at a job that required a degree and 2 years of training to be proficient. But I know plumbers and electricians that make way more than I ever did.

In between college semesters I had a summer job working in the maintenance dept of a paint plant. Helped them construct a water treatment plant. My boss was a mine electrician who was working there while the UMW was on strike. He took an interest in me and taught me to wire stuff, plumb, and do other stuff. I can't tell you how much money that saved me.

Now writing off inner city kids as only able to do technical jobs is wrong. But the idea of teaching kids practical skills is a good one.