In our modern economy, technology is advancing at lightning speed, and highly technical careers are in high demand. Traditional high school education cannot keep up with the pace of the demands of society.

Technical and vocational style high schools offer a broader and more concentrated education that can assist graduates in entering the job market. This advantage over traditional schooling makes the choice of attending a vocational high school a better option. Our future depends on a highly-skilled workforce that our technical school education can help establish.

At the conception of American vocational education, the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, the goal of this new style of education was very different from today. Emily Hanford, in her article “Rethinking vocational high school as a path to college” in Marketplace, says this law “explicitly described vocational education as preparation for careers not requiring a bachelor’s degree.”

This concept of vocational education lasted through the twentieth century. However, starting in the 1970s, the jobs that only required a high school education began “to disappear”. As Hanford put it, “Technology and globalization were increasing the skill levels required for most occupations, and making the labor market more volatile".

This loss of good-paying, low-skilled jobs was not the only blow to the vocational education system in America. By the end of the 1990s around the turn of the century, an image crisis struct vocational education. Hanford described the state of vocational schools as a “dumping ground”. They became the place for the students who couldn't succeed in traditional educational environments; they usually had behavior or learning issues.

And to put the cherry on top, this was a time in which the country saw massive educational reform, i.e. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which increased the standards for education in the United States.

These struggles of the vocational education system in the United States forced bettering of traditional academic curriculums at vocational schools. It is with this pairing of good academic education and concentrated career and technical education that allows for a better understanding after high school. Hanford introduces us a personal story which supports the idea that modern vocational education as a certain advantage than the more traditional route.

Sean and Brandon Datar were/are both students at Minuteman High School, a vocational/technical school. The reason their father, Nijan, decided to send them to obtain a vocational education was because as he saw it the private traditional schools, the only goal was to get students into the “"best, and most expensive, colleges."

He was concerned that no one was talking about life after college and how his sons would do after earning a degree. Vocational education allows students to discover what makes them tick, what they could do for the remainder of their lives without amassing a large amount of debt for an education in something they later decide not to pursue.

Some of the issues others may have with vocational training in education are that it is too concentrated. They are afraid it may limit a student's range and not allow them to branch out in the future. However, with technical training already under their belt, students can have the ability to have income stability during a time in which they may choose to change paths.

In her USNews article “Vocational High Schools: Career Path or Kiss of Death?” Allie Bidwell addresses the concerns that some educationalists have with vocational education. A concern is that of education after high school. However, most students who graduate from technical high schools do end up attending colleges. But the skills they learn in the school can allow them to earn an income while they attend college.