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National Association of Trade and Technical Schools, Miami, FL, June 19, 1970
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National Association of Trade and Technical Schools, Miami, FL, June 19, 1970
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D29, folder "National Association of Trade and
Technical Schools, Miami, FL, June 19, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press
Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D29 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TRADE AND
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS, MIAMI, FLORIDA,
Jah
FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 19, 1970.
an WIVES - Memority
-
An Invotion
Virgan
HENRY ADAMS ONCE WROTE:
"NOTHING IN EDUCATION IS SO ASTONISHING
AS THE AMOUNT OF IGNORANCE IT
ACCUMULATES IN THE FORM OF INERT FACTS."
WHATEVER PROMPTED ADAMS' REMARK,
HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT
TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS BECAUSE THE
TOOLS OF THAT BUSINESS ARE LIVELY FACTS,
FACTS THAT CAN BE PUT TO GOOD USE.
I HAVE LONG BEEN A CRITIC OF
OUR NATION'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS BECAUSE I
HAVE NEVER FELT THAT THEY WERE ACHIEVING
Art
EVEN A REASONABLE DEGREE OF THEIR
POTENTIAL.
Out
ONE REASON FOR THIS FAILURE IS
LIBRARY
-2-
LACK OF COMPETITION. ANOTHER IS A
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION WHICH INSISTS UPON
TREATING EVERY STUDENT AS THOUGH HE WERE
COLLEGE MATERIAL AND TENDS TO HOLD THE
BLUE COLLAR WORKER IN CONTEMPT.
I AM HAPPY TO SEE THE GROWING
EMERGENCE OF HIGH QUALITY PRIVATE TRADE
AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS IN THIS COUNTRY.
THIS IS A RESPONSE TO A DEFINITE NEED.
SUCH SCHOOLS ARE FILLING A VOID LEFT BY
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. PRIVATE TRADE AND
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS ARE A NATURAL DEVELOPMENT
IN A PRIVATE ENTERPRISE ECONOMY WHICH IS
DEMANDING THE PERSONNEL NEEDED TO FILL
CERTAIN JOBS IN GROWTH FIELDS AND IS
INSISTING UPON EXCELLENCE.
IT WAS FORMER HEALTH-EDUCATION-
AND-WELFARE SECRETARY JOHN W. GARDNER
WHO SAID: "THE SOCIETY WHICH SCORNS
-3-
EXCELLENCE IN PLUMBING BECAUSE PLUMBING
IS A HUMBLE ACTIVITY AND TOLERATES
SHODDINESS IN PHILOSOPHY BECAUSE IT IS
AN EXALTED ACTIVITY WILL HAVE NEITHER
GOOD PLUMBING NOR GOOD PHILOSOPHY.
NEITHER ITS PIPES NOR ITS THEORIES WILL
HOLD WATER."
I THINK ONE THE ORY THAT WILL
HOLD WATER IS THAT PRIVATE TRADE AND
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS ARE HELPING US APPROACH
EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AND MAKE PROGRESS
TOWARD OUR NATIONAL GOAL OF EQUALITY OF
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY.
IT IS AN INERT FACT OF THE KIND
HENRY ADAMS SPOKE OF -- AND YET A MOST
STARTLING ONE -- THAT 75 PER CENT OF
AMERICA'S YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT GRADUATE FROM
A FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.
FROM THAT INERT FACT WE MUST
07V830
-4-
PROCEED TO THE INEVITABLE CONCLUSION THAT
FAR MORE EMPHASIS SHOULD BE PLACED UPON
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION THAN IS NOW THE CASE.
INSTEAD OF AN ALMOST EXCLUSIVE
CONCENTRATION ON COLLEGE PREPARATORY
PROGRAMS IN HIGH SCHOOLS, THE GOAL SHOULD
BE TO MEET EVERY STUDENT'S NEEDS. THAT
GOAL SHOULD TRANSLATE ITSELF INTO JUST
ONE OBJECTIVE -- EXCELLENCE -- WHETHER THE
INDIVIDUAL INVOLVED IS DESTINED TO BECOME
A DOCTOR OF MEDICINE OR A PLUMBER.
THERE IS ANOTHER CONCLUSION
THAT FOLLOWS FROM THE INERT FACT THAT
75 PER CENT OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT
GRADUATE FROM A FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE. THIS
CONCLUSION IS THAT THE PRIVATE TRADE AND
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS ARE THEMSELVES A GROWTH
FIELD.
THE PRIVATE TRADE AND TECHNICAL
-5-
SCHOOLS ARE IGNORED BY SOME EDUCATORS AND
FOUGHT BY OTHERS.
PERSONALLY SEE THE PRIVATE
TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS ARE IGNORED
BY SOME EDUCATORS AND FOUGHT BY OTHERS
I PERSONALLY SEE THE PRIVATE
TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS AS A GREAT
RESOURCE FOR TRAINING MILLIONS OF
AMERICANS, BOTH THE DISADVANTAGED AND
OTHERS.
I BELIEVE THAT THOSE EDUCATORS
AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS WHO IGNORE THE PRIVATE
TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS SIMPLY ARE NOT
AWARE OF THE HIGH QUALITY OF SCHOOLING
OFFERED BY ACCREDITED PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS
AND THE UNIQUE ABILITY THEY HAVE TO MEET
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS.
AS FOR THOSE WHO ARE FIGHTING
THE PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS, I THINK THEY ARE
LIBRARI
-6-
Spolities
AFRAID OF THE COMPETITION.
Amin
IN MY VIEW, COMPETITION IS AN
INGREDIENT THAT LEADS TO EXCELLENCE. IT IS
ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS, BOTH AMONG
ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS.
I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT PRIVATE
TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS ARE THEMSELVES
A GROWTH FIELD. I SAY THIS BECAUSE THE
NUMBER OF PERSONS WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM
OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING IN AMERICA IS
VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED
DESPITE THE NEGLECT OF
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, THERE ARE NEARLY AS
MANY STUDENTS ENROLLED IN PROPRIETARY AND
HOME STUDY COURSES AS THERE ARE ENROLLED
IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING -- SOME
6.5 MILLION VERSUS 7 MILLION.
WE ARE ALSO TOLD THAT IN THE
SEVENTIES 50 PER CENT OF ALL JOBS WILL
-7-
REQUIRE EDUCATION BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL BUT
LESS THAN A BACCALAUREATE DEGREE.
THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
PROJECTS THE LARGEST PROPORTIONAL
EMPLOYMENT INCREASE IN THE SEVENTIES AMONG
PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS. THAT
PROJECTION SHOWS AN INCREASE OF ALMOST
40 PER CENT FOR THIS GROUP OVER THE FIGURES
FOR THE 1960s. IN FACT, JOB OPENINGS FOR
TECHNICIANS ARE EXPECTED TO EXCEED
100,000 A YEAR IN THE NEXT DECADE.
CONSEQUENTLY, IT SEEMS QUITE
OBVIOUS THAT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SHOULD
BE ASSIGNED GREATER IMPORTANCE IN OUR
SCALE OF SPENDING PRIORITIES AT ALL LEVELS
OF GOVERNMENT.
IT ALSO APPEARS QUITE CLEAR THAT
THE ROLE OF THE PROPRIETARY TRADE AND
TECHNICAL SCHOOL IS VITAL TO THE SUCCESS
-8-
OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AS A WHOLE AND
TO THE SUCCESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN A
RAPIDLY CHANGING SOCIETY.
IT STRIKES ME AS EXCEEDINGLY
STRANGE, THEREFORE, THAT THE CAPABILITIES
OF THE PRIVATE VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR
MOTIVATING AND TRAINING INDIVIDUALS,
INCLUDING THE DISADVANTAGED, ARE TO SO
LARGE AN EXTENT NEGLECTED.
I PERSONALLY BELIEVE PRIVATE
TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS SHOULD BE
GIVEN A FAR GREATER ROLE IN GOVERNMENT
TRAINING PROGRAMS AND SHOULD BE USED
ACTIVELY BY THE STATES UNDER PROVISIONS
OF THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT.
EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE -- AT
THE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LEVELS -- TO
IMPROVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO
ATTEND PRIVATE VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS IF THEY
CHOOSE
-9-
ONE PLAN THAT COULD BE USED TO
AID STUDENTS ENROLLING IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS
WOULD BE THE COMBINATION LOAN AND GRANT,
AMOUNTING TO AT LEAST $2,000 ANNUALLY.
I FAVOR FEDERAL GRANTS EACH YEAR
TO A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF DISADVANTAGED
PERSONS ENROLLING IN PRIVATE VOCATIONAL
SCHOOLS.
SERIOUS CONSIDERATION SHOULD BE
GIVEN TO LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PROVIDE
FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY
GRANTS, OF AN AMOUNT AND DURATION
SUFFICIENT TO DO THE JOB.
IF EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITY IS NOT TO BE WRITTEN OFF AS
A MYTH, WE MUST EXPAND THE SCOPE OF
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND MAKE FULL USE
OF PRIVATE VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS AS A
RESOURCE FOR TRAINING THE DISADVANTAGED.
-10-
IN THAT CONNECTION, I AM
PLEASED TO REPORT TO YOU THAT THE
ADMINISTRATIONS HIGHER EDUCATION
OPPORTUNITY ACT IS BEING RESHAPED TO
ELIMINATE SOME OF THE DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST STUDENTS ATTENDING PROPRIETARY
VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS.
FOR INSTANCE, SUCH STUDENTS WILL
BE ELIGIBLE FOR INSURED SUBSIDIZED LOANS
UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION BILL. HEW OFFICIALS
HAVE CLARIFIED THIS MATTER BEFORE A HOUSE
EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE. WHERE IT
INITIALLY APPEARED THAT PRIVATE SCHOOL
STUDENTS WOULD BE EXCLUDED, WE ARE NOW
ASSURED THEY WILL BE COVERED.
HEW OFFICIALS ALSO SAY THEY ARE
SEEKING WAYS TO MAKE STUDENTS ATTENDING
PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS ELIGIBLE FOR WORK-STUDY
ORD
ASSISTANCE UNDER THE EXISTING ARRANGEMENT
LIBRARY
-11-
OF WORK DONE FOR AN AGENCY OTHER THAN THE
SCHOOL.
I AM DISAPPOINTED, HOWEVER, THAT
STUDENTS AT PROPRIETARY TRADE AND
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS WOULD NOT BE ELIGIBLE
FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS UNDER
THE ADMINISTRATION BILL.
I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT STUDENTS
PLANNING TO ATTEND SUCH SCHOOLS SHOULD BE
AFFORDED THE SAME BENEFITS AS THOSE INTENT
ON ENROLLING IN FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES.
THOSE WHO ARE SHAPING OUR
EDUCATIONAL POLICIES MUST REARRANGE THEIR
THINKING IF THEIR PHILOSOPHY IS SUCH THAT
STUDENTS CHOOSING TO ATTEND PROPRIETARY
SCHOOLS ARE BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.
THE INTEREST AND CONCERN OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE BROADENED
-12-
TO INCLUDE ALL EDUCATION. UNFORTUNATELY,
TODAY THAT INTEREST APPEARS TO EXCLUDE
PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS AS FAR AS THE U.S.
OFFICE OF EDUCATION IS CONCERNED.
PERHAPS THE ONLY WAY WE WILL
BRING ABOUT A PROPER CONCERN FOR
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND THE PROPRIETARY
SCHOOLS IN THE U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION
IS TO SPLIT OFF EDUCATION FROM THE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE
AND COMBINE IT WITH THE MANPOWER TRAINING
FUNCTIONS OF THE LABOR DEPARTMENT TO FORM
A NEW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND
MANPOWER.
THIS APPEARS TO BE A MOST
NATURAL MARRIAGE AND PERHAPS THE BEST
POSSIBLE WAY TO BRING EDUCATORS INTO THE
MANPOWER TRAINING FUNCTION.
OF COURSE THERE ARE MANY OTHER
-13-
REASONS WHY THE CREATION OF A NEW
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND MANPOWER
OULD SEEM BENEFICIAL TO THE NATION.
PERHAPS THE MOST COMPELLING
REASON IS THAT THE PRESENT DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE HAS BECOME
SO HUGE AND UNWIELDY AS TO BE VIRTUALLY
UNMANAGEABLE
THIS WOULD APPEAR TO BE A MOST
PROPITIOUS TIME FOR SUCH A CHANGE, A
TIME WHEN THE PRESIDENT HAS ALREADY PUT
SWEEPING EXECUTIVE BRANCH REORGANIZATIONAL
PLANS INTO MOTION WITH HIS CREATION OF THE
NEW AND POWERFUL OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT
AND BUDGET TO MONITOR EXISTING PROGRAMS
AND BRING EFFICIENCY TO THE OPERATIONS
OF THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY.
AS I VIEW A NEW DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION AND MANPOWER, THE COMBINING OF
-14-
THESE FUNCTIONS UNDER A SINGLE AGENCY
WOULD PRODUCE THE BROADEST POSSIBLE
APPROACH TO EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITY.
IN CREATING THE NEW DEPARTMENT,
WE WOULD INDICATE THAT WE ARE JUST AS
CONCERNED ABOUT THE TRAINING OF SKILLED
WORKERS AND SUBPROFESSIONAL TECHNIC INS AS
WE ARE ABOUT TURNING OUT SCIENTISTS,
ENGINEERS AND PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE.
A NEW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
AND MANPOWER WOULD BE SINGLE-MINDEDLY
CONCERNED WITH OUR TOTAL EDUCATIONAL AND
MANPOWER NEEDS AND WOULD THEREFORE BE
CONCERNED WITH ALL OF THE NATIONAL RESOURCES
REQUIRED TO MEET THOSE NEEDS -- INCLUDING
THE PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS.
THE PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS HAVE
NOT BEEN ASKING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR
-15-
ASSISTANCE FOR THEMSELVES BUT FOR EQUAL
TREATMENT OF THEIR STUDENTS. I AGREE
WITH THIS APPROACH.
I AM PLEASED THAT THE CONGRESS
HAS AMENDED THE STUDENT AID PROGRAMS
TO MAKE STUDENTS ATTENDING ACCREDITED
PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS ELIGIBLE FOR NATIONAL
DEFENSE EDUCATION ACT STUDENT LOANS,
INSURED STUDENT LOANS, AND WORK-STUDY
PROGRAMS.
AT THIS POINT, I THINK IT
APPROPRIATE TO LOOK AT THE COMPREHENSIVE
MANPOWER ACT CURRENTLY BEFORE THE CONGRESS.
THE ACT IS INTENDED TO ATTACK BASIC
PROBLEMS THAT HAMPER ALL FEDERAL JOB
TRAINING AND JOB PLACEMENT PROGRAMS -- THE
FACT THAT VARIOUS COMBINATIONS OF FEDERAL,
STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES OFTEN COMPETE WITH
EACH OTHER TO SERVE THE SAME PEOPLE, THE
GERA
-16-
FACT THAT PROGRAMS AND FACILITIES ARE
OFTEN DUPLICATED AND NOT FULLY UTILIZED,
THE FACT THAT ADMINISTRATION OF PARTICULAR
PROGRAMS IS CONFUSED DUE TO OVERLAPPING,
AND THE FACT THAT THE LESS ADEPT
GRANT-SEEKERS FAIL TO GET THEIR FAIR
SHARE OF AVAILABLE FEDERAL SUPPORT.
THE COMPREHENSIVE MANPOWER ACT
IS DESIGNED TO DEVELOP A SYSTEMATIC
NATIONAL MANPOWER POLICY AND TO
EFFECTIVELY DELIVER JOB TRAINING SERVICES
TO THE PEOPLE WHO NEED THEM.
BETTER EMPLOYMENT IS A POSSIBLE
SOLUTION TO THE ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF
ABOUT 11 MILLION AMERICANS. ABOUT 7 MILLION
OF THESE NEED MORE EDUCATION AND SPECIAL
TRAINING TO GIVE THEM THE SKILLS REQUIRED
IN TODAY'S LABOR MARKET.
BY CONTRAST, ABOUT ONE MILLION
-17-
PEOPLE HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN ENROLLED IN
MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING ACT
PROGRAMS SINCE 1962. CURRENTLY 454,826
PERSONS ARE SO ENROLLED.
AN IMMENSE EFFORT TO DEVELOP
THE SKILLS AND ABILITIES OF THE AMERICAN
WORK FORCE IS NEEDED IN THE SEVENTIES.
THE COMPREHENSIVE MANPOWER ACT SEEKS TO
SET UP THE MACHINERY REQUIRED FOR THAT
EFFORT.
IN FISCAL 1970 THE FEDERAL OUTLAY
FOR THE ENTIRE ARRAY OF PROGRAMS
ADMINISTERED UNDER THE MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT
AND TRAINING ACT WAS $1.5 BILLION. Whenver 2 Th
about EXPEND
THESE PROGRAMS HAVE HAD SOME
,TURES
IRS
SUCCESS IN FINDING JOBS FOR THE UNEMPLOYED
AND PROVIDING THEM WITH JOB TRAINING BUT
THEY HAVE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE
OVERALL NUMBERS OF OUR UNEMPLOYED.
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
-18-
THE REASON THE ANNUAL
EXPENDITURE OF $1.5 BILLION HAS NOT REDUCED
THE POOL OF UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE IS SIMPLE.
THE NUMBER LIFTED OUT OF UNEMPLOYMENT IS
ALMOST EXACTLY MATCHED BY THE NUMBER
ENTERING THE JOB MARKET WITHOUT THE SKILLS
AND PREPARATION NEEDED TO QUALIFY THEM FOR
EMPLOYMENT.
FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE ABOUT
700,000 DROPOUTS FROM HIGH SCHOOL EACH YEAR,
AND 17.4 PER CENT OF THESE JOIN THE RANKS
OF THE UNEMPLOYED. THE CUMULATIVE
DROPOUTS BETWEEN 16 AND 21 YEARS OF AGE
ARE LISTED AT 2,734,000, AND THEIR
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS PLACED AT 17 PER CENT.
IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT WE WILL NEVER
REDUCE THE OVERALL POOL OF UNEMPLOYED
UNTIL WE FOCUS FAR MORE ATTENTION ON
UNEMPLOYMENT PREVENTION -- ON ADEQUATE
-18-
THE REASON THE ANNUAL
EXPENDITURE OF $1.5 BILLION HAS NOT REDUCED
THE POOL OF UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE IS SIMPLE.
THE NUMBER LIFTED OUT OF UNEMPLOYMENT IS
ALMOST EXACTLY MATCHED BY THE NUMBER
ENTERING THE JOB MARKET WITHOUT THE SKILLS
AND PREPARATION NEEDED TO QUALIFY THEM FOR
EMPLOYMENT.
FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE ABOUT
700,000 DROPOUTS FROM HIGH SCHOOL EACH YEAR
AND 17.4 PER CENT OF THESE JOIN THE RANKS
OF THE UNEMPLOYED. THE CUMULATIVE
DROPOUTS BETWEEN 16 AND 21 YEARS OF AGE
ARE LISTED AT 2,734,000, AND THEIR
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS PLACED AT 17 PER CENT.
IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT WE WILL NEVER
REDUCE THE OVERALL POOL OF UNEMPLOYED
UNTIL WE FOCUS FAR MORE ATTENTION ON
UNEMPLOYMENT PREVENTION -- ON ADEQUATE
-19-
PREPARATION OF THOSE WHO WILL BE ENTERING
THE JOB MARKET.
IT SEEMS CLEAR TO ME THAT
EVERY COMMUNITY IN THE COUNTRY SHOULD BE
DEVELOPING THE MEANS TO REDUCE THE FLOW
OF UNTRAINED YOUTH INTO THE RANKS OF
THE UNEMPLOYED AS WELL AS THE MEANS TO
HELP THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY UNEMPLOYED
FIND JOBS.
THIS IS WHERE WE NEED A CROSS-
FERTILIZATION BETWEEN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
AND THOSE WHOSE JOB IT IS TO RUN MANPOWER
TRAINING PROGRAMS. IT IS ALL TOO CLEAR
AT PRESENT THAT PUBLIC EDUCATORS ARE
FAILING TO MEET THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR
PREPARING THE DISADVANTAGED FOR THE WORLD
OF WORK.
COMMON SENSE DICTATES THAT
EDUCATION AND MANPOWER PROGRAMS BE
LIBRARY
-20-
COMPLEMENTARY, NOT COMPETITIVE AS IS NOW
SO OFTEN THE CASE. SCHOOL AND WORK MUST
BE LINKED. THAT IS WHY A DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION AND MANPOWER MAKES GREAT
GOOD SENSE
but
Required
THE OUTLOOK IS NOT BRIGHT FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION AND MANPOWER LEGISLATION
IN THIS CONGRESS. FOR A HIGHER EDUCATION
ACT THE PROGNOSIS IS "DOUBTFUL." FOR THE
COMPREHENSIVE MANPOWER ACT THE CHANCES
ARE ABOUT 50--50.
BUT IF THE MANPOWER ACT DOES EMERGE
FROM THE HOUSE EDUCATION AND LABOR
COMMITTEE, I THINK IT WILL PROVIDE FOR
CONTRACTS WITH PRIVATE TRADE AND TECHNICAL
SCHOOLS. THAT IS MY INFORMATION AT THE
PRESENT TIME.
WHATEVER THE OUTCOME OF CURRENT
EFFORTS TO SHAPE SUCH LEGISLATION, WE MUST
-21-
DO A BETTER JOB OF ADVANCING TOWARD
EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY. AND
IN THAT CAUSE THE PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS CAN
BE HELPFUL.
PEOPLE ARE THIS COUNTRY'S
GREATEST RESOURCE. WHATEVER WE DO TO
DEVELOP OUR PEOPLE TO THEIR FULLEST
POTENTIAL BENEFITS THE ENTIRE NATION.
EVERY TIME WE SAVE AN INDIVIDUAL FROM
THE HUMAN SCRAP HEAP THE LIVES OF ALL OF
US ARE ENRICHED.
IT IS SAID THAT EDUCATION IS
WHAT YOU HAVE LEFT OVER AFTER YOU HAVE
FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING YOU HAVE LEARNED.
FOR THOUSANDS OF DISADVANTAGED
AMERICANS, EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO A NEW
LIFE AND MANY OF THEM HAVE FOUND THAT
KEY IN THE NATION'S PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS.
SO TONIGHT I SALUTE THE ACCREDITED
LIBRARY
-22-
TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS. I SALUTE
THEM FOR SEEING A JOB THAT NEEDED DOING
FOR DOING THAT JOB AND DOING IT WELL.
I SALUTE THEM FOR PERSEVERING IN THE
FACE OF ADVERSITY FOR FROM SUCH
PERSEVERANCE COMES GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT.
Lt are Conclule
-- END --
character
Charlell
Full Distribution
Q office Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS
AT MIAMI, FLORIDA
FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 19, 1970
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
Henry Adams once wrote: "Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount
of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts."
Whatever prompted Adams' remark, he could not have been talking about trade
and technical schools because the tools of that business are lively facts, facts
that can be put to good use.
I have long been a critic of our nation's public schools because I have never
felt that they were achieving even a reasonable degree of their potential.
One reason for this failure is lack of competition. Another is a philosophy
of education which insists upon treating every student as though he were college
material and tends to hold the blue collar worker in contempt.
I am happy to see the growing emergence of high quality private trade and
technical schools in this country. This is a response to a definite need. Such
schools are filling a void left by the public schools. Private trade and technical
schools are a natural development in a private enterprise economy which is demanding
the personnel needed to fill certain jobs in growth fields and is insisting upon
excellence.
It was former Health-Education-and-Welfare Secretary John W. Gardner who said:
"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble
activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity
will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its
theories will hold water."
I think one theory that will hold water is that private trade and technical
schools are helping us approach excellence in education and make progress toward
our national goal of equality of educational opportunity.
It is an inert fact of the kind Henry Adams spoke of--and yet a most startling
one--that 75 per cent of America's young people do not graduate from a four-year
college or university.
From that inert fact we must proceed to the inevitable conclusion that far
more emphasis should be placed upon vocational education than is now the case.
(more)
-2-
Instead of an almost exclusive concentration on college preparatory programs
in high schools, the goal should be to meet every student's needs. That goal sould
translate itself into just one objective excellence whether the individual
involved is destined to become a doctor of medicine or a plumber.
There is another conclusion that follows from the inert fact that 75 per cent
of our young people do not graduate from a four-year college. This conclusion is
that the private trade and technical schools are themselves a growth field.
The private trade and technical schools are ignored by some educators and
fought by others.
I personally see the private trade and technical schools as a great resource
for training millions of Americans, both the disadvantaged and others.
I believe that those educators and public officials who ignore the private
trade and technical schools simply are not aware of the high quality of schooling
offered by accredited proprietary schools and the unique ability they have to meet
special educational needs.
As for those who are fighting the proprietary schools, I think they are
afraid of the competition.
In my view, competition is an ingredient that leads to excellence. It is
essential to success, both among organizations and individuals.
I mentioned earlier that private trade and technical schools are themselves
a growth field. I say this because the number of persons who could benefit from
occupational training in America is virtually unlimited.
Despite the neglect of vocational education, there are nearly as many students
enrolled in proprietary and home study courses as there are enrolled in institutions
of higher learning--some 6.5 million versus 7 million.
We are also told that in the Seventies 50 per cent of all jobs will require
education beyond high school but less than a baccalaureate degree.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the largest proportional employment
increase in the Seventies among professional and technical workers. That projection
shows an increase of almost 40 per cent for this group over the figures for the
1960s. In fact, job openings for technicians are expected to exceed 100,000 a year
in the next decade.
Consequently, it seems quite obvious that vocational education should be
assigned greater importance in our scale of spending priorities at all levels of
government.
(more)
--3-
It also appears quite clear that the role of the proprietary trade and
technical school is vital to the success of vocational education as a whole and to
the success of the individual in a rapidly changing society.
It strikes me as exceedingly strange, therefore, that the capabilities of the
private vocational school for motivating and training individuals, including the
disadvantaged, are to so large an extent neglected.
I personally believe private trade and technical schools should be given a
far greater role in government training programs and should be used actively by
the states under provisions of the Vocational Education Act.
Every effort should be made--at the Federal, state and local levels--to
improve opportunities for students to attend private vocational schools if they
choose.
One plan that could be used to aid students enrolling in private schools
would be the combination loan and grant, amounting to at least $2,000 annually.
I favor Federal grants each year to a substantial number of disadvantaged
persons enrolling in private vocational schools.
Serious consideration should be given to legislation that would provide for
vocational education opportunity grants, of an amount and duration sufficient to do
the job.
If equality of educational opportunity is not to be written off as a myth,
we must expand the scope of vocational education and make full use of private
vocational schools as a resource for training the disadvantaged.
In that connection, I am pleased to report to you that the Administration's
Higher Education Opportunity Act is being reshaped to eliminate some of the
discrimination against students attending proprietary vocational and technical
schools.
For instance, such students will be eligible for insured subsidized loans
under the Administration bill. HEW officials have clarified this matter before a
House Education Subcommittee. Where it initially appeared that private school
students would be excluded, we are now assured they will be covered.
HEW officials also say they are seeking ways to make students attending
proprietary schools eligible for work-study assistance under the existing arrange-
ment of work done for an agency other than the school.
I am disappointed, however, that students at proprietary trade and technical
schools would not be eligible for educational opportunity grants under the
Administration bill.
(more)
-4-
I firmly believe that students planning to attend such schools should be
afforded the same benefits as those intent on enrolling in four-year colleges and
universities.
Those who are shaping our educational policies must rearrange their thinking
if their philosophy is such that students choosing to attend proprietary schools
are being discriminated against.
The interest and concern of the Federal Government should be broadened to
include all education. Unfortunately, today that interest appears to exclude
proprietary schools as far as the U.S. Office of Education is concerned.
Perhaps the only way we will bring about a proper concern for vocational
education and the proprietary schools in the U.S. Office of Education is to split
off education from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and combine it
with the manpower training functions of the Labor Department to form a new
Department of Education and Manpower.
This appears to be a most natural marriage and perhaps the best possible way
to bring educators into the manpower training function.
Of course there are many other reasons why the creation of a new Department
of Education and Manpower would seem beneficial to the Nation.
Perhaps the most compelling reason is that the present Department of Health,
Education and Welfare has become so huge and unwieldy as to be virtually
unmanageable.
This would appear to be a most propitious time for such a change, a time when
the President has already put sweeping Executive Branch reorganizational plans into
motion with his creation of the new and powerful Office of Management and Budget
to monitor existing programs and bring efficiency to the operations of the Federal
bureaucracy.
As I view a new Department of Education and Manpower, the combining of
these functions under a single agency would produce the broadest possible approach
to equality of educational opportunity.
In creating the new department, we would indicate that we are just as
concerned about the training of skilled workers and subprofessional technicans as
we are about turning out scientists, engineers and professional people.
A new Department of Education and Manpower would be single-mindedly concerned
with our total educational and manpower needs and would therefore be concerned
with all of the national resources required to meet those needs--including the
proprietary schools.
(more)
-5-
The proprietary schools have not been asking the Federal Government for
assistance for themselves but for equal treatment of their students. I agree with
this approach.
I am pleased that the Congress has amended the student aid programs to make
students attending accredited proprietary schools eligible for National Defense
Education Act student loans, insured student loans, and work-study programs.
At this point, I think it appropriate to look at the Comprehensive Manpower
Act currently before the Congress.
The Act is intended to attack basic rpoblems that hamper all Federal job
training and job placement programs--the fact that various combinations of Federal,
state and local agencies often compete with each other to serve the same people,
the fact that programs and facilities are often duplicated and not fully utilized,
the fact that administration of particular programs is confused due to overlapping,
and the fact that the less adept grant-seekers fail to get their fair share of
available federal support.
The Comprehensive Manpower Act is designed to develop a systematic national
manpower policy and to effectively deliver job training services to the people who
need them.
Better employment is a possible solution to the economic problems of about
11 million Americans. About seven million of these need more education and special
training to give them the skills required in today's labor market.
By contrast, about one million people have actually been enrolled in
Manpower Development and Training Act programs since 1962. Currently 454,826
persons are SO enrolled.
An immense effort to develop the skills and abilities of the American work
force is needed in the Seventies. The Comprehensive Manpower Act seeks to set up
the machinery required for that effort.
In fiscal 1970 the Federal outlay for the entire array of programs
administered under the Manpower Development and Training Act was $1.5 billion.
These programs have had some success in finding jobs for the unemployed
and providing them with job training but they have not significantly reduced the
overall numbers of our unemployed.
The reason the annual expenditure of $1.5 billion has not reduced the pool
of unemployed people is simple: The number lifted out of unemployment is almost
exactly matched by the number entering the job market without the skills and
preparation needed to qualify them for employment.
(more)
-6-
For instance, we have about 700,000 dropouts from high school each year,
and 17.4 per cent of these join the ranks of the unemployed. The cumulative drop-
outs between 16 and 21 years of age are listed at 2,734,000, and their unemployment
rate is placed at 17 per cent.
It seems clear that we will never reduce the overall pool of unemployed
until we focus far more attention on unemployment prevention--on adequate
preparation of those who will be entering the job market.
It seems clear to me that every community in the country should be developing
the means to reduce the flow of untrained youth into the ranks of the unemployed as
well as the means to help those who are already unemployed find jobs.
This is where we need a cross-fertilization between school administrators
and those whose job it is to run manpower training programs. It is all too clear
at present that public school educators are failing to meet their responsibility for
preparing the disadvantaged for the world of work.
Common sense dictates that education and manpower programs be complementary,
not competitive as is now so often the case. School and work must be linked. That
is why a Department of Education and Manpower makes great good sense.
The outlook is not bright for higher education and manpower legislation in
this Congress. For a Higher Education Act the prognosis is "doubtful." For the
Comprehensive Manpower Act the chances are about 50-50.
But if the Manpower Act does emerge from the House Education and Labor
Committee, I think it will provide for contracts with private trade and technical
schools. That is my information at the present time.
Whatever the outcome of current efforts to shape such legislation, we must
do a better job of advancing toward equality of educational opportunity. And in
that cause the proprietary schools can be helpful.
People are this country's greatest resource. Whatever we do to develop our
people to their fullest potential benefits the entire Nation. Every time we save
an individual from the human scrap heap the lives of all of us are enriched.
It is said that education is what you have left over after you have forgotten
everything you have learned.
For thousands of disadvantaged Americans, education is the key to a new life.
And many of them have found that key in the Nation's proprietary schools.
So tonight I salute the accredited trade and technical schools. I salute them
for seeing a job that needed doing, for doing that job and doing it well. I salute
them for persevering in the face of adversity, for from such perseverance comes great
accomplishment.
###
Distribution Full
Galleries 12:30 p.m. 6/18/70
maffice Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BEFORE THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TRADE AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS
AT MIAMI, FLORIDA
FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 19, 1970
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY
Henry Adams once wrote: "Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount
of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts."
Whatever prompted Adams' remark, he could not have been talking about trade
and technical schools because the tools of that business are lively facts, facts
that can be put to good use.
I have long been a critic of our nation's public schools because I have never
felt that they were achieving even a reasonable degree of their potential.
One reason for this failure is lack of competition. Another is a philosophy
of education which insists upon treating every student as though he were college
material and tends to hold the blue collar worker in contempt.
I am happy to see the growing emergence of high quality private trade and
technical schools in this country. This is a response to a definite need. Such
schools are filling a void left by the public schools. Private trade and technical
schools are a natural development in a private enterprise economy which is demanding
the personnel needed to fill certain jobs in growth fields and is insisting upon
excellence.
It was former Health-Education-and-Welfare Secretary John W. Gardner who said:
"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble
activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity
will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its
theories will hold water."
I think one theory that will hold water is that private trade and technical
schools are helping us approach excellence in education and make progress toward
our national goal of equality of educational opportunity.
It is an inert fact of the kind Henry Adams spoke of--and yet a most startling
one-that 75 per cent of America's young people do not graduate from a four-year
college or university.
From that inert fact we must proceed to the inevitable conclusion that far
more emphasis should be placed upon vocational education than is now the case.
(more)
-2-
Instead of an almost exclusive concentration on college preparatory programs
in high schools, the goal should be to meet every student's needs. That goal sould
translate itself into just one objective--excellence--whether the individual
involved is destined to become a doctor of medicine or a plumber.
There is another conclusion that follows from the inert fact that 75 per cent
of our young people do not graduate from a four-year college. This conclusion is
that the private trade and technical schools are themselves a growth field.
The private trade and technical schools are ignored by some educators and
fought by others.
I personally see the private trade and technical schools as a great resource
for training millions of Americans, both the disadvantaged and others.
I believe that those educators and public officials who ignore the private
trade and technical schools simply are not aware of the high quality of schooling
offered by accredited proprietary schools and the unique ability they have to meet
special educational needs.
As for those who are fighting the proprietary schools, I think they are
afraid of the competition.
In my view, competition is an ingredient that leads to excellence. It is
essential to success, both among organizations and individuals.
I mentioned earlier that private trade and technical schools are themselves
a growth field. I say this because the number of persons who could benefit from
occupational training in America is virtually unlimited.
Despite the neglect of vocational education, there are nearly as many students
enrolled in proprietary and home study courses as there are enrolled in institutions
of higher learning--some 6.5 million versus 7 million.
We are also told that in the Seventies 50 per cent of all jobs will require
education beyond high school but less than a baccalaureate degree.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the largest proportional employment
increase in the Seventies among professional and technical workers. That projection
shows an increase of almost 40 per cent for this group over the figures for the
1960s. In fact, job openings for technicians are expected to exceed 100,000 a year
in the next decade.
Consequently, it seems quite obvious that vocational education should be
assigned greater importance in our scale of spending priorities at all levels of
government.
(more)
--3-
It also appears quite clear that the role of the proprietary trade and
technical school is vital to the success of vocational education as a whole and to
the success of the individual in a rapidly changing society.
It strikes me as exceedingly strange, therefore, that the capabilities of the
private vocational school for motivating and training individuals, including the
disadvantaged, are to so large an extent neglected.
I personally believe private trade and technical schools should be given a
far greater role in government training programs and should be used actively by
the states under provisions of the Vocational Education Act.
Every effort should be made--at the Federal, state and local levels--to
improve opportunities for students to attend private vocational schools if they
choose.
One plan that could be used to aid students enrolling in private schools
would be the combination loan and grant, amounting to at least $2,000 annually.
I favor Federal grants each year to a substantial number of disadvantaged
persons enrolling in private vocational schools.
Serious consideration should be given to legislation that would provide for
vocational education opportunity grants, of an amount and duration sufficient to do
the job.
If equality of educational opportunity is not to be written off as a myth,
we must expand the scope of vocational education and make full use of private
vocational schools as a resource for training the disadvantaged.
In that connection, I am pleased to report to you that the Administration's
Higher Education Opportunity Act is being reshaped to eliminate some of the
discrimination against students attending proprietary vocational and technical
schools.
For instance, such students will be eligible for insured subsidized loans
under the Administration bill. HEW officials have clarified this matter before a
House Education Subcommittee. Where it initially appeared that private school
students would be excluded, we are now assured they will be covered.
HEW officials also say they are seeking ways to make students attending
proprietary schools eligible for work-study assistance under the existing arrange-
ment of work done for an agency other than the school.
I am disappointed, however, that students at proprietary trade and technical
schools would not be eligible for educational opportunity grants under the
Administration bill.
(more)
-4-
I firmly believe that students planning to attend such schools should be
afforded the same benefits as those intent on enrolling in four-year colleges and
universities.
Those who are shaping our educational policies must rearrange their thinking
if their philosophy is such that students choosing to attend proprietary schools
are being discriminated against.
The interest and concern of the Federal Government should be broadened to
include all education. Unfortunately, today that interest appears to exclude
proprietary schools as far as the U.S. Office of Education is concerned.
Perhaps the only way we will bring about a proper concern for vocational
education and the proprietary schools in the U.S. Office of Education is to split
off education from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and combine it
with the manpower training functions of the Labor Department to form a new
Department of Education and Manpower.
This appears to be a most natural marriage and perhaps the best possible way
to bring educators into the manpower training function.
Of course there are many other reasons why the creation of a new Department
of Education and Manpower would seem beneficial to the Nation.
Perhaps the most compelling reason is that the present Department of Health,
Education and Welfare has become SO huge and unwieldy as to be virtually
unmanageable.
This would appear to be a most propitious time for such a change, a time when
the President has already put sweeping Executive Branch reorganizational plans into
motion with his creation of the new and powerful Office of Management and Budget
to monitor existing programs and bring efficiency to the operations of the Federal
bureaucracy.
As I view a new Department of Education and Manpower, the combining of
these functions under a single agency would produce the broadest possible approach
to equality of educational opportunity.
In creating the new department, we would indicate that we are just as
concerned about the training of skilled workers and subprofessional technicans as
we are about turning out scientists, engineers and professional people.
A new Department of Education and Manpower would be single-mindedly concerned
with our total educational and manpower needs and would therefore be concerned
with all of the national resources required to meet those needs--including the
proprietary schools.
(more)
-5-
The proprietary schools have not been asking the Federal Government for
assistance for themselves but for equal treatment of their students. I agree with
this approach.
I am pleased that the Congress has amended the student aid programs to make
students attending accredited proprietary schools eligible for National Defense
Education Act student loans, insured student loans, and work-study programs.
At this point, I think it appropriate to look at the Comprehensive Manpower
Act currently before the Congress.
The Act is intended to attack basic rpoblems that hamper all Federal job
training and job placement programs--the fact that various combinations of Federal,
state and local agencies often compete with each other to serve the same people,
the fact that programs and facilities are often duplicated and not fully utilized,
the fact that administration of particular programs is confused due to overlapping,
and the fact that the less adept grant-seekers fail to get their fair share of
available federal support.
The Comprehensive Manpower Act is designed to develop a systematic national
manpower policy and to effectively deliver job training services to the people who
need them.
Better employment is a possible solution to the economic problems of about
11 million Americans. About seven million of these need more education and special
training to give them the skills required in today's labor market.
By contrast, about one million people have actually been enrolled in
Manpower Development and Training Act programs since 1962. Currently 454,826
persons are so enrolled.
An immense effort to develop the skills and abilities of the American work
force is needed in the Seventies. The Comprehensive Manpower Act seeks to set up
the machinery required for that effort.
In fiscal 1970 the Federal outlay for the entire array of programs
administered under the Manpower Development and Training Act was $1.5 billion.
These programs have had some success in finding jobs for the unemployed
and providing them with job training but they have not significantly reduced the
overall numbers of our unemployed.
The reason the annual expenditure of $1.5 billion has not reduced the pool
of unemployed people is simple: The number lifted out of unemployment is almost
exactly matched by the number entering the job market without the skills and
preparation needed to qualify them for employment.
(more)
-6-
For instance, we have about 700,000 dropouts from high school each year,
and 17.4 per cent of these join the ranks of the unemployed. The cumulative drop-
outs between 16 and 21 years of age are listed at 2,734,000, and their unemployment
rate is placed at 17 per cent.
It seems clear that we will never reduce the overall pool of unemployed
until we focus far more attention on unemployment prevention--on adequate
preparation of those who will be entering the job market.
It seems clear to me that every community in the country should be developing
the means to reduce the flow of untrained youth into the ranks of the unemployed as
well as the means to help those who are already unemployed find jobs.
This is where we need a cross-fertilization between school administrators
and those whose job it is to run manpower training programs. It is all too clear
at present that public school educators are failing to meet their responsibility for
preparing the disadvantaged for the world of work.
Common sense dictates that education and manpower programs be complementary,
not competitive as is now so often the case. School and work must be linked. That
is why a Department of Education and Manpower makes great good sense.
The outlook is not bright for higher education and manpower legislation in
this Congress. For a Higher Education Act the prognosis is "doubtful." For the
Comprehensive Manpower Act the chances are about 50-50.
But if the Manpower Act does emerge from the House Education and Labor
Committee, I think it will provide for contracts with private trade and technical
schools. That is my information at the present time.
Whatever the outcome of current efforts to shape such legislation, we must
do a better job of advancing toward equality of educational opportunity. And in
that cause the proprietary schools can be helpful.
People are this country's greatest resource. Whatever we do to develop our
people to their fullest potential benefits the entire Nation. Every time we save
an individual from the human scrap heap the lives of all of us are enriched.
It is said that education is what you have left over after you have forgotten
everything you have learned.
For thousands of disadvantaged Americans, education is the key to a new life.
And many of them have found that key in the Nation's proprietary schools.
So tonight I salute the accredited trade and technical schools. I salute them
for seeing a job that needed doing, for doing that job and doing it well. I salute
them for persevering in the face of adversity, for from such perseverance comes great
accomplishment.
# # #