http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2012/07/23/40894-parents-resist-career-tech-requirements
I like seeing students take classes in career and technical education (CTE), but too often these courses get saddled with "shop/home ec" baggage of the past. One of the difficulties of "college and career ready" is that many parents see it as "college prep for my kid, but career prep for somebody else's kids." San Diego wished to make 2-4 CTE courses required for graduation, but parents where overwhelmingly opposed to the mandate. Quoted in this article is Kenneth Gray, emeritus professor of education at Penn State: "I'm convinced that for a whole lot of people, they would much rather have their kid go to Yale and turn out to be a bum than go into career and technical education and be successful."