The Alabama Course of Study for Career/Technical Education and its Affect on Students with Limited Options after High School

The Alabama Course of Study(ACS) is what guides us teachers in our classrooms. There is a specific Course of Study for each area of specialization ie. math or english. The course of study for Career/Technical Education is what guides Agricultural Educators. As an Agricultural educator i will be bound to teach this course of study. As we all know our school systems are in pro-ration EVERY year, most likely the cause of mishandled funds at the state and federal level. with pro-rations tight budget come the choice's of school officials to cut unnecessary programs. These programs usually include band, agriscience and even in some cases football. When Ag is chosen to be cut from a system it is usually because of the increasing cost of materials that are needed to conduct the program and the lack of teachers. Such materials include lumber, greenhouse supplies, aquaculture, animal science forestry supplies as well as supplies for the plethora of other categories that are in the ACS. As you can see from the above listed materials, the Ag classroom is a costly investment for the schools. In most systems there are willing company's and citizens close by that donate time and materials to these programs and in many cases the products that come from the work of students can be sold for fund raisers, such as flowers from the greenhouse or wooden toy cars built by the woodworking class. Although it is costly to run an Ag program the ACS that governs the program calls for a wide variety of career and technical trades to be taught. These Ag classes open the doors for many students who do not have other opportunities especially in low socio-economic areas where training after high school may not be an option for students. Simply put, the skills learned and attained in the Ag classroom prepare student to enter the work force after high school if college is not an option.

Post your comments, thoughts or ideas.

The purpose of the Agriculture Classroom

The purpose of Ag in our schools has often been questioned for several reasons. Agriculture is the largest classification of business in the not only the U.S. but the world. despite the over whelming majority in the business side of only 2% of Americans consider themselves to be knowledgeable about any of the fields under the agriculture classification. That's a heavy burden for so few farmers. Despite the need for men and women in the workforce with a basic knowledge of agriculture, Agriscience programs in high schools are closing. one reason is the increasing difficulty in finding qualified teacher in the Ag profession. For ex. I am 1 of only 30 students at Auburn University that are in the Ag Ed program even though Ag teacher are among the highest paid teacher in education. Some parent have mentioned that Ag as a class is just an easy A+ and that the students are not being challenged enough wich is simply not true. Most Ag programs today are self-supporting, especially whenthe students participate in programs that include the greenhouse, fisheries, woodworking, and vegitable production that also allow students to sell their products for profit to support the F.F.A. or the Agri-science program as a whole. The state of Alabama needs more Ag teachers and needs to re-open any Ag programs that have been shut down.

LIVE POOR, DIE RICH

When the price of something as important as fuel, seed or feed goes up the first line of americans that feel it are those in the production side of the market. The largest community of Americans that are in production are those in Agriculture. It seems that farmers, whether they be in livestock or row cropping, are hit the hardest. It take a rare man ,or women, to become a farmer. The work ethic a man needs to become a farmer is to risk everything with the gain of little or the loss of it all. He must work all day and sometimes all night with no overtime pay. he might not even get more than one paycheck per year. It seems that farming has changed little over its history. the only things that have changed are the number of farmers and the technology used today. There is an old saying about the way a farmer or rancher lives. "LIVE POOR and DIE RICH"

please comment on your ideas or thoughts