PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Manno for National Affairs: Earn-and-Learn Education

  • September 30, 2024
  • Bruno Manno

By Bruno Manno

For at least the last 25 years, the primary goal of American K-12 schools could be summed up in three words: college for all. As a consequence, most K-12 schools today don’t see career education as central to what they offer. Emphasizing vocational training and experience is thought to undermine the lofty ideal of ensuring that every student attends college and completes a four-year degree.

Though it stems from noble intentions, our focus on preparing students for higher education does not serve them well. Rather, it fails to provide young people with the practical knowledge and skills that would benefit them once they graduate. It also produces an experience gap. Young people leave high school with little understanding of the world of work and the pathways to employment. This disconnect makes it more difficult for them to transition from school to a career.

Today, college for all has lost significant public support. Many no longer believe that a college degree is the default route to success. At the same time, older ways of preparing for a career are gaining popularity.

Keep reading in the National Affairs Fall 2024 Issue.

Related Work

Podcast  |  August 29, 2025

The Union Podcast Episode 9: Education Reform in New Orleans on Katrina’s 20th Anniversary

  • Curtis Valentine Rachel Canter
Op-Ed  |  August 27, 2025

Manno for Washington Monthly: Why AI Could Be a Boon for Workers

  • Bruno Manno
Press Release  |  August 27, 2025

New Orleans’ 20-Year Transformation Offers National Lessons on School Reform

  • Emily Langhorne Rachel Canter
Publication  |  August 27, 2025

20 Years of Reinvention: Education Reform in New Orleans

  • Emily Langhorne Rachel Canter
Podcast  |  August 22, 2025

The Union Podcast Episode 8

  • Curtis Valentine
Op-Ed  |  August 14, 2025

Manno for Forbes: Parents Reshape K-12 Public Education As Students Go Back To School

  • Bruno Manno
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2025 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings