[quote=CA renter] . . . I think we need to bring vocational tech back to high schools in a big way. We need more people who can **DO** things, rather than just think them up.[/quote]
Completely agree, CAR. Regional Occupational Program “ROP” is VERY REASONABLY priced at all the CC’s and CAN BE FREE if you qualify. You can also begin it in your senior year of HS. The programs range from 1-2 years in length.
I am COMPLETELY AGAINST kids taking out worthless student loans only to enter an oversaturated (employer’s) market in the end as a “reward” for their hard work and diligence. They are mortgaging their young lives away in the form of “student loans” (still with no house/driving parents old car) with nothing to show for it.
The professions that ROP teaches pay well and are needed everywhere so your kid doesn’t feel they have to relocate initially or every few years just to have a job.
It’s astounding to me how many local young people had to leave SD for college (or work after college) and never came back due to oversaturation here of every degree imaginable. Most of the recent grads still here are either unemployed or vastly underemployed.
For example, what’s wrong with being a manicurist/pedicurist? It’s a skilled job and close to home. It can be good money for less than 30 hours per week.
For instance, Sears pays well for alignment professionals and can offer full-time work with full benefits.
These large employers of late are NOT getting good deals on health insurance anymore and are charging their FT employees a fortune for it out of their pay and the co-pays are now very high. If you’re young and healthy, why not just get an individual plan for about $100 per month?? The co-pays are the same as that of a large employer and they pay 100% of all preventative care. The only difference is that the policyholder would pay the first $5K to $8K of potential hospitalization, which, IMO, is a chance worth taking at that price.
I don’t think “FT careers” are all their cracked up to be anymore as the *new “professional” paycheck* is just decimated with deductions in the form of taxes, health insurance and high retirement contributions (if gov’mt) that my generation did not have.
