Vocational Education: Cause or Cure for Youth Unemployment?

    FOREWORD 

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., has for four decades fought for 
equal opportunity in education and employment as a means of securing and advancing the 
rights and economic security of black Americans. We have litigated many hundreds of cases to 
overturn racial barriers to better jobs and schooling and pressed for stronger enforcement of 
federal laws and programs designed to help blacks become equal and productive members of the 
society. 

In the past 2 decades, vocational education in America's schools has grown to a 6 billion 
dollar enterprise enrolling some 17 million students while the unemployment rate of black youth 
has remained 3 times the rate for white youth. Our goal of enhancing educational and employ­
ment opportunities for blacks led to the creation of Project Alert, a national program designed 
to make vocational education more responsive to the job training needs of black men and 
women. 

The following is a report about the condition of vocational education in one urban, majority 
black school system-Oakland, California. It illuminates a central and all too common dilem­
ma. Vocational education can be both a cause of and a cure for black youth unemployment. 
Vocational education causes youth unemployment when it trains students for jobs that do not 
exist and when it inadequately prepares them for those that do exist. However, we believe that 
vocational education can help to reduce youth unemployment if it is closely related to the cur­
rent and emerging manpower needs of the economy and if it prepares students to secure both 
entry-level employment and advancement within an occupation . 

As jobs are becoming more technical and competition for them, even among college 
graduates, more acute, blacks in every community are looking to vocational-technical training 
as well as academic education as a means to secure full and equal participation in the economy. 
The vocational education system in Oakland, in the State of California and in the Nation must 
respond to this challenge. 

April , 1981 

J. LeVonne Chambers 
Pres£dent 
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 



Photo by Joffre Clarke 

NY LDF LC 2717 .N338 i9si 
NAACP Legal Defense and 
Educational Fund. Division of 
Legal Information and Conununity 

Vocational education 

NAACP Lf=r!·'\'~ ~'=FFP-~~~ F'.:~·~ 
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Table of 
Contents 
1. Introduction 2 

2. Vocational Education: The 
School System's Stepchild 6 

3. Transition from 
Classroom to Workplace: 
A Missing Link in Oakland 10 

4. From the 
Employers' Perspective 14 

S. Federal Funds: 
Some for Everybody, But No 
Concentration on the Needy 16 

6. Sex Equity in Vocational 
Education: Who Cares? 20 

7. Recommendations 24 

Publication designed by Amahra Hicks 

Produced by H&C Custom Publishing Co., Inc. 

Cover Photo by Joffre Clark 



1 
Youth unemployment is a serious national 
problem that has reached staggering propor­
tions, especially for minorities in our cities. 
We have reason to be alarmed about the 
long-range implications and the social and 
economic costs for America tomorrow of 
our failure to provide meaningful opportuni­
ties for this generation of young people to 
begin a productive life today. 

Californians are concerned. The State 
spends more than 2 billion dollars annually 
on vocational education and youth training 
programs. But youth unemployment has not 
abated. Recognizing the need to address this 
urgent problem in the State, the Legislature 
enacted Assembly Bill 576, creating a Task 
Group to explore how resources could more 
effectively be utilized to combat youth 
unemployment. 

In a letter accompanying the report of the 
AB 576 Task Group to the Legislature in 
December 1980, Governor Edmund Brown 
remarked: 

As we continue to shift to an infor­
mation-based economy in the 1980's, 
it is crucial that our vocational educa­
tion programs also change with the 
times. 

Vocational training has long been offered 
in America's high schools. The secondary 
school curriculum reflects a hierarchy of 
values, with vocational education assumed 
to equip students for jobs and academic 
courses designed for college entrance. These 
two curricula have frequently sorted students 
into two distinct classes: academic courses 
for the more a ffluent and brightest, and 
vocational classes for the poor and less 
talented. This dichotomy does not meet the 
reality of the 1980's. Many students plan to 
pursue higher education at some point in 
their lives but want to leave high school with 
some introduction to a skill that will allow 
them to earn a living. Most entry-level jobs 
require basic skills in reading and computa­
tion. Higher status, higher-paying jobs 
demand a solid academic background in 
mathematics and English. 

2 

Introduction 

One-third of America's black families are 
headed by women and 600Jo of these families 
are poor. Those concerned about the viabil­
ity of black families must assure the availa­
bility of education and training that will 
prepare young black women to be self­
sufficient. 

This report concerns the relation between 
high school vocational training and youth 
unemployment in Oakland. The city has the 
highest unemployment in the Bay Area. 
Youths 16 to 21 years old are the largest 
group among the unemployed. Blacks in this 
age category have three times the unemploy­
ment of whites. A higher proportion of 
blacks than whites drops out of school and 
does not graduate. Each year in Oakland, 
1,000 students terminate their formal educa­
tion at high school graduation. 

Although businesses and industries have 
moved out of Oakland to the suburbs in the 
last 10 years, the work force has expanded. 
However, the job market has changed. Skilled 
and experienced workers are in demand. 
Those with few or no skills face acute com­
petition for the declining number of jobs 
that require no training or experience. 

Whether the school system is adequately 
preparing young men and women for their 
adult working years is an issue of enormous 
concern to Oakland's citizens- to students 
facing an uncertain future and to their 
parents, to employers looking for an edu­
cated and disciplined work force, to com­
munity leaders and elected officials trying to 
cope with the city's problems on declining 
revenue, and to taxpayers revolting against 
increased public expenditures. 

In this report the relationship between 
vocational education and youth unemploy­
ment is examined from several aspects. We 
interviewed officials in the headquarters of 
the Oakland Public Schools, teachers and 
principals, former students, employers and a 
State official. From the educators, we wanted 
to learn about the goals of vocational educa­
tion, how it fits into the high school curricu­
lum, and what specific courses are offered. 

In the belief that work during school years 
significantly increases the probability of 
employment in the immediate post-school 
years, we wanted to know what work oppor­
tunity programs, especially for vocational 
students, are sponsored by or operated in 
conjunction with the Oakland Public Schools. 
We asked former students how they rated 
their various training experiences. What role 
does the school district play in helping 
students make the transition from the class­
room to the workplace? 

If vocational education is to succeed for 
students, it must be closely related to what 
the labor market needs. It is therefore impor­
tant to view vocational education from the 
employers' perspective. We interviewed 19 
Oakland companies and business establish­
ments, some of which cooperate with the 
school system in the Adopt-a-School Pro­
gram and various youth employment pro­
jects. 

Over 80% of Oakland's funds for voca­
tional education come from state revenue. 
The balance of the vocational education 
budget comes from the federal government 
through the Vocational Education Amend­
ments of 1976. That Act seeks to equalize 
vocational education opportunities for cer­
tain high-need students by concentrating 
resources in needy school districts such as 
Oakland. The legislation also requires recipi­
ents of these funds to overcome sex bias and 
stereotyping in vocational education which 
restricts the ability of young women to enter 
the higher-paying, male-dominated occupa­
tions. This report examines how Oakland 
has used its federal vocational education 
funds and what progress has been made 
toward sex equity in vocational education. 

• • • • 

One third of America's black 
families are headed by women. 

How will this teenage girl get the 
skills necessary to support the 

child she is carrying? 
Pho10 by Kathy Sloane ~ 





The central and inescapable conclusion of 
our research is that vocational education in 
Oakland's high schools does not contribute 
to solving the community's problem of youth 
unemployment. This conc.lusion should not 
be interpreted to mean that no training mat­
ters, that no individual students have bene­
fited from it, or that there are no good quality 
programs. But there is strong evidence that 
the current vocat.ional education curriculum 
is not related to labor force part.icipat.ion 
after high school. The NAACP Legal De­
fense and Educational Fund, Inc. offers its 
findings to the citizens of Oakland, public 
officials and private citizens alike, in the 
hope that they will mobilize all concerned 
with youth unemployment to take a fresh, 
new look at the role the public schools can 
and should play in preparing young people 
for the world of work in their adult life. 

• • • • 

No report of this kind could have been 
done without the full cooperation of Oak­
land school officials. It is to their credit that 
they were willing to open themselves and their 
files to a searching, outside examination by a 
private, civil rights organization. It is clear to 
us that there are people inside the school sys­
tem who recognize that the vocational edua­
tion program is not what it ought to be and 
that changes should be made. This report's 
findings will come as no particular surprise to 
them. Perhaps it will bolster their efforts to 
achieve change. 

Former Superintendent Ruth Love wel­
comed our investigation and secured the 
cooperation of her staff. William Fortman 
and his entire staff in the Office of Career, 
Vocational and Regional Occupational Cen­
ters Education gave unstintingly of their time 
and fulfilled all of our requests for documen­
tary information. Principals and teachers 
interrupted their busy schedules to talk to us. 

The information obtained from our inter­
views of personnel officials and department 
managers of business establishments and 
companies in Oakland has provided exceed­
ingly helpful insights for this report. 

School visits were conducted by the staff of 
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and James 
Morales of the National Youth Law Project 
in San Francisco. Telephone interviews with 
employers were done by Annette Lareau, a 
Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the Universi­
ty of California, Berkeley. 

Information for this report was gathered 
by Allen Black, Western Regional Director of 
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The pro­
ject was conducted and the report written by 
Phyllis McClure, Director of the NAACP 
Legal Defense Fund's Project Alert in Wash­
ington, D.C. 

4 

Pho10 by Joffre Clarke Without relevant education and learn· 
ing, there is little hope for the future. 

Photo courtesy Oakland Public Schools > 





2 Vocational Education: 
The School System's Stepchild 

Findings: 
• Vocational education is the stepchild of Oakland's secondary 

schools. The emphasis of the high school curriculum is prepara­
tion for college entrance. 

• Student demand for programs and the availability of teachers more 
often dictate which vocational programs are offered rather than 
the needs of the labor market. 

• Obstacles to the acquisition of occupational skills are State­
mandated requirements for graduation, school scheduling and the 
lack of a structured vocational curriculum. 

• Attempts to reform vocational education in Oakland have been too 
modest to meet the training needs of the 1,500 vocational students 
who graduate each year. 

The organization and content of the voca­
tional education curriculum within the six 
comprehensive high schools communicate to 
students, parents, and educators that the 
world of work is less important than a college 
education. The major focus of the curricu­
lum is preparation for a two-year or four­
year college education. From the 7th to the 
12th grade, all students must complete 13 
credits in required academic subjects and 8 
credits in electives to fulfill the requirements 
for a high school diploma in the State of Cali­
fornia. The 8 elective credits may be chosen 
from other academic subjects, or from art, 
music and vocational education. In reality 
most students have only 1 or 2 elective 
courses from which to choose because other 
electives are spent on proficiency classes, 
repeating a required course or additional 
academic work to strengthen college prepara­
tion. 

The Facts Bulletin for Middle, Junior and 
Senior High Schools issued by the Oakland 
Public Schools (OPS) provides detailed 
information about entrance requirements for 
state colleges and universities. The official 
advice to students is: 

Regardless of your future occupational 
goals, you should consider the various 
post-high school educational pro­
grams. 

In contrast little is said about requirements 
for entering the labor force: 

6 

If you choose courses in one of the 
fields of Business Education, Home­
making, Fine Arts and Industrial 

Education, they may help prepare you 
to enter the labor force with a saleable 
skill. Many types of jobs are available 
that contribute to the economy and the 
progress of the nation. (Emphasis 
added). 
With the required courses for high school 

graduation taking up a majority of a 
student's time and with the school district 's 
recommendation that students prepare for 
postsecondary education regardless of their 
occupational goals, there is less time, atten­
tion and emphasis on training for immediate 
employment. The school system does a dis­
service to many students who do not elect col­
lege or are not ready for it. 

Who is enrolled 
in which vocational programs? 

Vocational education is provided in regular 
vocational education classes and through 
Regional Occupational Programs (ROP's). 
Approximately 450Jo of the enrollment is in 
the regular programs and 55% in the Re­
gional Occupational Programs. 

Determining accurately how many stu­
dents are enrolled in vocational education in 
each of Oakland's six comprehensive high 
schools is impossible. OPS's Department of 
Research and Evaluation publishes total 
enrollment figures for each school in the 
district, but it does not compile data on voca­
tional students. The district must report to 
the State regularly the aggregate enrollment 
in each occupation but not for individual 
schools. The Office for Civil Rights of the 

U.S. Department of Education conducted a 
nationwide survey of vocational schools in 
the fall of 1979 which reports enrollment by 
program, by grade level, and by school. Al­
though we used the more detailed federal sur­
vey of Oakland's high schools, we cannot ob­
tain reliable figures. McClymonds High 
School, for example, claimed almost twice as 
many pupils in vocational education as there 
are students in the school. Despite these 
problems, we show (see opposite page) the 
best data we could find for the total enroll­
ment of all students and of vocational 
students in the six comprehensive high 
scFiools in the fall of 1979. 

Prior to arriving at the senior high schools, 
students may have elected to take Career Ex­
ploration, Homemaking, Industrial Educa­
tion, Typing or Consumer Education. In the 
10th, 11th and 12th grades, there are more 
specialized classes organized by occupational 
areas. The highest number of vocational stu­
dents is in Office Occupations, followed by 
Trades and Industry. The third largest enroll­
ment is in Home Economics. Distributive 
Education, that is retail and wholesale occu­
pations, is the fourth largest area. Health Oc­
cupations has the fewest students. 

Regular vocational education 
Regular vocational education is financed 

by the OPS's General Fund and by some 
federal vocational education money. These 
classes are not subject to special state require­
ments. 

Regular classes are a single period in the 



School 
Total Enrollment 

Grades 10-12 
Vocational Enrollment 

Grades 10-12 
Skyline 
Oakland High 
Oakland Tech 
McClymonds 
Fremont 
Castlemont 

Totals 

school day and are considered to be pre­
vocational and exploratory. They provide 
students with exposure to an occupational 
area and serve as feeder programs to the 
ROP's. Teachers told us that their classes are 
not designed to equip students with market­
able skills. Their purpose is to prepare stu­
dents for ROP's or postsecondary training, 
even though the advanced course may repeat 
some of what they have already learned. 

Students also enroll in the regular pro­
grams for other reasons unrelated to work. 
Some students consider a vocational class as 
an easy way to complete high school gradua­
tion requirements. Others seek the acquisi­
tion of personal skills, such as typing, cook­
ing, sewing or auto repair. 

Regional Occupational 
Programs (ROP's) 

RO P's are intended to prepare students for 
the job market or for advanced occupational 
training at junior colleges and private techni­
cal schools. They are called regional because 
they are open to any senior high school stu­
dent in the Oakland, Emeryville, Piedmont 
and Alameda school districts. Unlike regular 
vocational classes, most ROP's require 2 
class periods and must be approved by the 
State Department of Education. 

Thirty-three Regional Occupational Pro­
grams are operated by the Oakland Public 
Schools : 13 in Office Occupations, 7 in 
Home Economics and 13 in Trades and In­
dustries. Twenty-nine of the ROP's are 
located at the 8 senior high schools, including 
Dewey and Grant Continuation Schools. The 
4 ROP's in Merchandising are offered at the 
downtown facility known as Baymart. 

State requirements govern the operation of 
ROP's. In order for a district to establish a 
ROP and receive supplemental state funds, 
the California Education Code requires that 
local school authorities demonstrate a job 
market for the program and show that the 
proposed ROP does not duplicate any other 
program already in existence. Formerly, a 
ROP had to enroll 20% of its students from 
schools other than the one at which it was 
located in order to ensure its regional charac-

2,006 
1,936 
1,493 
1, 111 
1,638 
2,063 
9,247 

1,318 
1,275 
1,000 
2,030 
1,292 
1,381 
8,296 

ter. But that requirement was withdrawn 
because districts found it difficult to comply 
with, and it was costing the State too much to 
monitor. 

California school districts receive more 
state dollars for each ROP student than they 
do for each regular vocational education 
pupil because the State recognizes the in­
creased costs incurred by ROP's in meeting 
state requirements. According to a state offi­
cial, there is an incentive for school systems 
to develop more ROP's in times of declining 
enrollment. Oakland has not done so. In 
fact, ROP enrollment in Oakland has declin­
ed by 500Jo since 1975. OPS calculates that 
this en~ollment decline has resulted in a 
revenue loss to the district of $988,274. 

What is the cause of the decline? 
ROP's are regional in name only. All ROP 

teachers whom we interviewed said that they 
rarely had students from other schools. 
Although free transportation is provided, it 
takes time out of the school day. ROP's are 
not well known to students. Teachers told us 
that they do not have time to recruit students 
beyond their own school. Many students 
learn about these programs too late to take 
the preparatory vocational classes. Meeting 
graduation requirements and proficiency 
standards also makes it difficult for students 
to find time for a 2-period ROP class. The 
instructor of a unique ROP at Skyline High 
School which trains students for jobs in 
automobile insurance firms told us that 
although job prospects for this occupation 
were good and his recruitment efforts stren­
uous, he had trouble finding the maximum 
number of enrollees for his program, even 
within the Skyline student body. 

Ba.ymart 
Located in downtown Oakland, Baymart 

offers 4 Regional Occupational Programs. 
Three are in the merchandise field: General 
Merchandising, General Office Clerk and 
Merchandise Handling. The fourth is a Bank 
Teller program. These 4 ROP's are the only 
ones in Oakland offered at a centralized loca­
tion, more accessible to public transportation 
and places of employment than are the high 
schools. 

Baymart's ROP classes are always full. 
Approximately 275 students attend. Students 
are drawn to the facility by the prospect of 
getting jobs and by the small classes and 
individual instruction. Basic skills and l\fOfi­
ciency requirements are taught along with 
occupational skills. Thirty percent of the 
students are working part-time, although this 
proportion increases during periods of peak 
retail sales such as the holidays. Non-working 
students spend 2 class periods at Baymart in 
occupational training and 4 periods at their 
home high school taking required courses. 
When they achieve a certain skill proficiency, 
students are ready for placement in part-time 
employment. A number of Baymart students 
have completed most of their required 
courses and are concerned about getting a 
job. 

Planning programs and 
measuring their success 

Does the Oakland school system plan its 
vocational education curriculum to meet the 
needs of the labor market? How does it 
measure whether Regional Occupational 
Programs are fulfilling their mandated pur­
pose? These are questions that must be an­
swered to determine if the educational system 
is supplying workers that the local economy 
demands. 

When asked how they decide what pro­
grams to offer, eliminate, expand, or reduce, 
Oakland School officials cite three factors: 
student demand, teacher availability and time 
in the schedule. When pressed about labor 
market conditions, they refer to the district­
wide and occupational advisory committees 
composed of educational officials and repre­
sentatives of employers and businesses. Their 
chief function is to suggest new equipment 
and modifications of curriculum. But advi­
sory committee recommendations have 
resulted in the termination of vocational pro­
grams such as Service Station, Small Appli­
ance Repair, and Aviation. 

Employers are rarely involved directly in 
the planning and design of vocational train­
ing for occupations in which there are prom­
ising job opportunities. There are, however, 
some notable exceptions. The insurance pro­
gram at Skyline, Invest, provides training for 
writing auto insurance policies and settling 
claims, positions for which the average start­
ing salary is $4.50 an hour. The insurance 
companies themselves initiated the program 
and have made investments in outfitting the 
classroom and providing supplies. All 
graduates who desire part- or full-time 
employment can usually get it because the in­
structor works closely with employers to 
place students. 

7 



The Respiratory Therapy Technician pro­
gram at Oakland High is another unique pro­
gram which prepares students for immediate 
employment in Bay Area hospitals and for 
the national test that certifies these health 
care professionals. It is affiliated with Peralta 
and Children's Hospitals which provide 
worksite training in the spring semester to 
complement the classroom training in the 
fall. While full-time jobs as respiratory 
technicians are limited, students can find 
part-time work in the field which enables 
them to earn money and gain experience as 
they continue their education or search for 
full-time employment. 

Other Regional Occupational Programs 
appear to have little labor market justifica­
tion. The Child Services program at Oakland 
High is described in OPS's literature as 
preparing students for entry-level positions as 
instructional aides and child attendants in 
schools, public health agencies and recreation 
departments. According to the instructor, 
persons qualify for these positions only after 
completing a junior college course and state 
certification requirements. Furthermore, 
there is a low demand for uncertified child 
care workers. The program essentially pro­
vides interested students with an opportunity 
for volunteer positions so that they can 
become familiar with the work. 

The Fashion Merchandising ROP at Sky­
line was initiated by its instructor and 
approved by the central office, although the 
goal is to provide a general introduction to 
the fashion industry. In fact, the instructor 
told us, completion of her course does not 
lead directly to jobs in fashion merchandis­
ing. Students can be employed as inventory 
or sales clerks, the same training Baymart 
provides. According to the teacher, most of 
the students were not interested in entry-level 
jobs but were looking for an easy and inter­
esting course to round out their last year of 
high school. 

The only measure of Oakland's vocational 
education programs is an annual post card 
survey. Students who complete regular and 
ROP classes are normally asked to return the 
card 4 months after graduation. Sixty-three 
percent of the 1,216 program completers in 
June 1978 returned their post cards. Fifty-one 
percent of the regular vocational education 
students and 540Jo of the ROP students said 
that they were employed full- or part-time in 
the field for which they were trained. More 
ROP students, 35% in comparison to 30% of 
the regular vocational program students, 
were attending college or trade school. 

By combining all vocational graduates, this 
survey masks individual program success and 
failure. Furthermore, the self-response 
survey does not define what "employment in 
the field" means so that students may be 

8 

Photo courtesy Oakland Public Schools 

Worksite training complements classroom instruction. 

reporting any job no matter how remotely it 
may be related to their training. The post 
card does not ask whether students found 
their job as a result of their vocational train­
ing. It is simply assumed that vocational 
education, not other factors, led to employ­
ment. Furthermore, the 450 students or 37% 
of the program completers who did not 
return their post cards are more than likely 
the very persons who are unemployed and do 
not wish to admit it. The school district's 
report fails to consider this. Instead it takes 
delusory comfort in survey results which 
show 30Jo of respondents unemployed while 
the total teenage unemployment rate was 
16.1 OJo and black teenage unemployment in 
the United States was 35.5% in February 
1979. 

Scheduling vocational education 
Planning a sequence of vocational classes 

that would equip students with marketable 
skills while meeting all graduation re­
quirements has numerous obstacles. In order 
for students to accomplish these two objec­
tives, they must commit themselves to an 
occupational goal early enough, normally in 
the 9th grade, so that they can use the 8 elec­
tive credits to take as many related courses as 
possible. A desired vocational class may be 
scheduled for the same period as a required 
subject. If too few students sign up for an ad­
vanced class, it simply is not offered. Such 
training is therefore postponed until students 
get to junior college. If it is difficult to fit in a 
regular vocational class that meets for only I 

period, it is even harder to find time for a 
2-period ROP. 

Knowing what courses to take and which 
skills are required for employment poses 
problems for students. What is lacking is a 
planned sequence of courses and knowledge­
able counselors to guide students through the 
selection process. Oakland's high schools do 
not have full-time, specialized vocational 
guidance counselors. The average counselor 
to student ratio is over 300 to I, and coun­
selors' major interest is that students com­
plete high school graduation requirements. 
With vocational education treated as the 
stepchild of the high school curriculum, 
counselors have less information about 
courses needed for the job market than they 
do for college entrance. Yet it is the coun­
selors whom students must rely on for plan­
ning their vocational curriculum. 

Attempts to reform 
vocational education 

The Oakland Public Schools administration 
has proposed two reforms to increase the 
enrollment in Regional Occupational Pro­
grams. One motivation for these changes is 
declining enrollment in ROP programs and 
the consequent loss of almost I million 
dollars in state revenue. The other is a recog­
nition that present practices are ineffective in 
providing students with the direction and 
instruction needed to develop entry-level 
employment skills. 

The Pre-Career Major Plan approved by 
the School Board and implemented last Sep-



tember is a first and modest step. The plan 
has two parts. Beginning in 1980-81, I guid­
ance counselor in each high school has been 
identified as the counselor who is expected to 
spend 20% of his or her time counseling Pre­
Career Major students. The goal is to have 
100 students enrolled as Pre-Career Majors 
by the end of the current school year. The 
expectation is that with 20% of one coun­
selor's time devoted to vocational gufifcince 
students will get better advice on career plan­
ning, the availability of ROP's in other 
schools, and the related classes that would 
develop their occupational skills. 

The second feature of the Pre-Career Plan 
is a very minor change in required graduation 
credits for Pre-Career Majors. For Pre­
Career Major students who enroll in at least 4 
identified and related vocational courses, 
one-half unit of a social science elective in the 
I Ith grade and one-half unit in the 12th grade 
may be waived. This means that these stu­
dents may take vocational classes instead of a 
social science course, but the vocational 
courses chosen must be "closely related to a 
regular social science elective," according to 

Photo courtesy Oakland Public Schools 

the Administration Bulletin 5012. The 
replaceable social science electives are various 
ethnic history and culture courses, Sociology, 
Economics, Psychology, Humanities and 
Introduction to Law. To find a vocational 
course that is "closely related" to one of 
these elective social science classes requires a 
liberal interpretation of School Board policy. 
One official cited Business Law as an example. 

The second reform which has been pro­
posed but not implemented is the centralization 
of Office Occupations programs in a Baymart­
like facility in the downtown area. According 
to an internal school system memorandum, 
the centralization of selected ROP business 
education programs was designed to meet 
"the regionalization requirement .. ., thus 
ensuring continued income." That "few sten­
ographers and few accounting majors will 
graduate out of 2,500 seniors this year in a 
city where 51.4% of the jobs are in the office 
area is a clear indication that something is 
wrong," the memorandum observes. 

The Oakland school system has not imple­
mented this plan because it has been unable 

to locate any downtown space. The Baymart 
facility has no room for expansion. Not even 
one classroom in the Division of Learning 
Building on 10th Street could be vacated so 
that data processing and key punch programs 
could be located next to the district's own 
computer center. One school official re­
marked that public opposition has deterred 
the school board from closing small, under­
utilized elementary or junior high schools, 
but that same official admitted that those 
facilities would not be suitable. 

The reasons behind the Pre-Career Major 
Plan and the centralization of Office Occupa­
tions were clearly motivated by school offi­
cials' desire to increase ROP enrollment and 
thus generate more income and to ensure that 
vocational graduates acquire the skills neces­
sary for employment. 

However, with 1,500 vocational students 
graduating every year (approximately 60% of 
all students) and a projected 100 Pre-Career 
Majors this year, the Oakland Public Schools 
has a long way to go in redesigning its voca­
tional curriculum. 

Baymart's Merchandising Programs attract students because of 
job prospects, small classes and individualized attention. 

9 



3 
Findings 

Transition from Classroom to 
Workplace: A Missing Link in Oakland 

• The vital component of vocational education-linking classroom 
and worksite training-is missing in Oakland. 

• Vocational programs lack job placements for students and 
graduates. 

• Experience gained from two projects which link students and 
employers has not been integrated into Oakland's vocational pro­
grams. 

Effective vocational training must include 
on-the-job experience with equipment and 
procedures and inculcate disciplined work 
habits. Does the Oakland school system assist 
students in making the transition from the 
classroom to the workplace? 

Work experience programs 
Approximately 900 Oakland high school 

students work part-time during the school 
year. They receive a maximum of 4 units of 
academic credit if they register through their 
schools for either the Vocational Work Ex­
perience Program or the Other Work Exper­
ience Program (OWE). 

The Vocational Work Experience Program 
is chiefly for Baymart students enrolled in the 
Merchandising and Bank Teller programs 
who obtain jobs in retail stores and banks. 
For these 80 to 90 students, employment is 
related to their vocational classroom training. 
The school district assists many of these stu­
dents in locating jobs, but others find work 
on their own initiative. 

The Other Work Experience Program is 
open to any high school student who wants 
part-time employment. These jobs are typi­
cally in fast-food chains, restaurants, depart­
ment stores and other retail businesses. 
Public and private non-profit agencies, such 
as the school district, the Red Cross and the 
YMCA, also hire part-time students. These 
jobs are not related to vocational training. 
They do not equip students with skills that 
lead to higher-paying jobs or careers with up­
ward mobility. But part-time employment in 
high schools does provide students with a 
work record about which employers always 
inquire when considering job applicants. 

Cooperative education programs 
Unlike many school systems in California 

10 

and other states, Oakland does not have 
Cooperative Vocational Education, the voca­
tional program in which schools and employers 
jointly provide supervised classroom instruc­
tion and work. If there is a joint, written 
agreement between the employer and the 
school, federal vocational education funds 
may underwrite the employer's cost of pro­
viding on-the-job training as well as the 
school's cost of operating the program. 

The key to Cooperative Vocational Educa­
tion is the direct and mutually beneficial link 
between the classroom and the workplace. 
The advantage to the student is that he or she 
can often parlay a "Co-op" job into a per­
manent position. Employers have an oppor­
tunity to train "Co-op" students in their own 
methods and a period of time to judge them 
as prospective employees. There is no re­
quirement that the student be hired later, but 
employers who have made an investment in 
training are more likely to keep a tested 
worker than to take a chance on an unknown 
person. 

Job placemen~ 
Other than the Baymart programs, there is 

no formally structured and co0rdinated job 
placement program either for students enrolled 
in vocational classes and Regional Occupa­
tional Programs or graduates of those pro­
grams. There is no job placement staff at the 
high schools or central office to find part­
time employment directly related to vocational 
students' classroom instruction. Vocational 
teachers told us that they did not have time to 
locate jobs for their students which would 
provide practical application of the skills they 
are learning in school. 

Despite the absence of a formal job place­
ment program, some vocational students are 
working in the occupational area of their 

training. Students may find jobs on their own 
initiative. Counselors may refer them to 
employers, like Home Savings and Loan, for 
on-the-job training programs. Employers 
sometimes contact the head of a school's 
Business Education Department or an indi­
vidual instructor to seek students for after­
school work. 

Transition From School-To-Work: 
Summer 1980 

The Oakland Public Schools operated a 
pilot project in the summer of 1980 for 253 
"socio-economically deprived students" who 
were graduating seniors of vocational pro­
grams. This CET A-funded progam provided 
both classroom instruction in how to find a 
job and paid work experience in a setting ap­
proximating, as closely as possible, the 
students' vocational training. Sixty-three 
Oakland employers hired participating stu­
dents for a varying number of weeks. Jobs 
were located in convalescent and retirement 
homes, restaurants, retail stores, bus com­
panies, electronic and scientific laboratories, 
and two military bases. 

The program's goals were (I) to enhance 
the transition from school to work for 
CETA-eligible students and (2) to enable 
employers to locate prospective employees 
while contributing to the educational training 
of students. "If provided on an annual basis 
and expanded to assist other vocational edu­
cation graduates," other project evaluation 
states, "this transition from school to work 
project would provide a motivating influence 
designed to encourage more effective career 
planning of students in our public schools. 
Ultimately, this would result in a better 
prepared vocational education graduate and 
assist in the reduction of teenage unemploy­
ment." 



Evaluation of the project was based pri­
marily on a post card survey of 680Jo of the 
participants. The project was rated very suc­
cessful, chiefly on the grounds that 240Jo of 
the responding participants were working 
full-time and 720Jo were continuing their 
education. The evaluation does not say how 
many of the 63 participating employers re­
tained their summer students in full-time 
jobs, nor do we know whether similar results 
would have been achieved for vocational 
graduates without this summer experience. 

By the evaluation's own admission, the 
Transition From School-to-Work: Summer 
1980 project compensated for deficiencies in 
the vocational program. If the high schools 
incorporated in their vocational programs 
career planning and instruction in job appli­
cations and interviews, would there be any 
need for a summer program? If cooperative 
education programs closely coordinated with 
employers were an integral part of all regular 
and ROP classes, would such a summer pro­
gram be necessary? If the school district had a 
job placement program for graduating 
seniors, would not these students already 
have found jobs? 

New Oakland Committee: 
Employment/ Education Project 

The New Oakland Committee is a coalition 
of business, union and minority leaders in 
which the Oakland school district partici­
pates through its Superintendent. In March 
1980 the Committee launched the Employ­
ment/Education Project with state and 
private funding. 

This project recruits vocational students 
from high schools and community colleges, 
provides a 6-day orientation class, and sends 
them out for job interviews. At the same 
time, a job developer contacts employers to 
enlist their cooperation. Businesses and com­
panies are asked to utilize an existing vacancy 
or create a job at the pre-entry or trainee level 
for 6 months. The job must pay the minimum 
wage or the employer's starting salary, which­
ever is higher. Potential for upward mobility 
in the job must exist. Each position is filled 
by 2 students who work part-time and attend 
school the rest of the day. 

Each stage of the project is highly selective. 
Approximately 1 out of 4 recruited students is 
chosen for and completes the orientation. 
Project staff interview recruits to determine if 
they have the occupational skills, career goals 
and "C" average to qualify as suitable candi­
dates for the kinds of jobs which employers 
have provided. Because most of the jobs are 

Neither the transition from 
School·to·Work: Summer 1980 nor 

the Employment/Education 
Projects reach young people 

already failed by the schools! 

Photo by Joffre Clarke 

·- I - I • • • 

6s2-0343 WAYNE S s47-9Gos 

B 
0 
D 
v 
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3001 

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Photo by. Joffre Clarke 

.. _,.._ _____ ~~ 

II 



12 

The Supervisory Committee and staff of the New Oakland Commit· 
tee's Employment/Education Project discuss job placements such 
as those shown below: working as a secretary at Kaiser Aluminum 
and Chemical Corp. and junior clerk at Kaiser Engineers, Inc. 

Photos courtesy New Oakland Committee 

clerical in nature, office training and career 
goals are sought in potential candidates. As a 
result, the majority. of the participants are 
young women. Most are black. Those stu­
dents who are not selected for the project at 
this point are referred back to their high 
school or college counselor, usually with 
comments about their lack of career goals, 
work history or job attitudes. 

Even those who are selected for the orien­
tation are ''woefully unprepared'' for the job 
market, according to the Project Director. 
The students do not know how to prepare a 
resume, fill out a job application, or conduct 
themselves in an interview. Orientation is 
devoted to coaching students in these job 
search skills. There is no time for instruction 
in basic skills or in test-taking. However, a 
spelling test was added to the orientation 

after applicants for a position at the Oakland 
Tribune had difficulty passing a spelling test. 

From among those who complete the orien­
tation, 4 students are sent to interview for I 
job. Companies do their own interviewing 
and select 2 students for each position. They 
may require any application procedure or 
pre-employment test that is normally re­
quired of an applicant. For the 6-month 
period of part-time employment, employers 
are expected to provide training and super­
vision. The Project staff, the employer and 
the student worker decide on which relevant 
vocational class the student should take. 

Few of the companies participating in the 
Employment/ Education Project guarantee 
full-time jobs at the conclusion of the 
6-month period. Most employers say they 
will hire students if a position is available. 
However, there may be 2 candidates to fill I 
vacancy. Other students may not be able to 
work full-time because they are going to 
school. As of March 10, 1981, 398 students 
had applied for the Project but only 123 were 
accepted for orientation. Of the 123, 88, or 
7 l.50Jo, had been placed in part-time jobs, 24 
had been terminated and the remaining stu­
dents were still in orientation. Of the 88 stu­
dents working part-time, slightly over half 
(45) had made the transition to full-time 
employment, 27 were still in part-time jobs, 
and 16 had been terminated. Overall 22.30Jo 
of those student who had originally applied 
secured part-time work and 11 OJo had found 
full-time employment. 

The value of on-the-job training 
Making the transition from school to work 

requires more than classroom training in oc­
cupational skills. Putting learning to practice 
in actual work settings, plus knowing how 
and where to find jobs, are also necessary. 

As a part of our Project, LDF interviewed 
25 former Oakland high school students, all 
but 3 of whom were working at the time we 
talked to them. Ten had been participants in 
the New Oakland Committee's Employment/ 
Education Project. All were currently enrolled 
in junior college. We asked how these young 
people rated their three sources of training: 
high school, junior college, and on-the-job 
training. Virtually all of those interviewed 
ranked on-the-job training as the most valu­
able followed by junior college classes. High 
school vocational training was ranked last. 
Few felt that high school education prepared 
them for their present employment, although 
some thought that their vocational education 
might be useful in the future. 

Compared to the school system's efforts to 
prepare students for higher learning, very lit­
tle attention indeed is paid to helping students 
make the transition from school to work. 
Both are important. 



Photo by Joffre Clarke Oakland faces an enormous problem because existing training and work 
programs make only a small dent in black youth unemployment. 

13 



4 From the Employers' Perspective 
Findings: 

• Oakland employers seeking basic skills and work discipline in job 
applicants find recent high school graduates lacking in both. 

• Employers report little contact with or knowledge of high school 
vocational programs. 

• Vocational training in high school is currently not enhancing young 
persons ' employment prospects. 

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund inter­
viewed personnel officials and managers of 
19 Oakland companies. Although this is a 
limited sample, we reached many of the city's 
major businesses. The emergence of common 
themes in employers' responses gives us con­
fidence in the validity of our findings. 

A striking number of Oakland employers 
knew little or nothing about vocational edu­
cation in the high schools, including the spe­
cialized ROP's. Moreover, vocational train­
ing appeared to impact insignificantly upon a 
young person's employment prospects. Em­
ployers support the concept of vocational 
education, but what they look for in appli­
cants for entry-level jobs is previous history 
of actual work experience, maturity, and skill 
training above the high school level. With the 
number of applicants exceeding by more than 
10 times the number of entry-level job open­
ings, employers are free to choose the most 
experienced persons. Recent high school 
graduates with minimum skills and little or 
no work history face very tough competition 
indeed in gaining a toehold in the labor 
market. 

The labor market for 
entry-level jobs 

Employment opportunities are unevenly 
distributed among Oakland companies. 
Many of the largest have few entry-level 
openings, that is, jobs for recent high school 
graduates. Kaiser Aluminum, for example, 
has over 1,200 employees, but only 12 entry­
level openings each year. Clorox, with more 

than 700 employees, has only 4 openings an­
nually in this category. The chart above 
reports the estimated number of entry-level 
jobs of Oakland 's major employers. 

14 

ESTIMATED ENTRY LEVEL 
VACANCIES AVAILABLE ANNUALLY 

AMONG MAJOR OAKLAND 
EMPLOYERS 

Capwell's 300 
City of Oakland 35-50 
Clorox 4 
Kaiser Aluminum 12 
Kaiser Engineers, Inc. 12 
Montgomery ward 60 
Alameda Naval Air Station 100 
Pacific Gas & Electric 36 
Pacific Telephone & Telegraph 1200 
Payless Drug Stores 100 
Sears Auto Shop 5 

The employers we interviewed had a wide 
variety of positions, including stock and in­
ventory clerk, sales clerk, auto helper, mail 
sorter, messenger, receptionist, file clerk and 
typist. 

Major retail establishments make the most 
of high school aged labor. Capwell's Depart­
ment Store has approximately 300 entry-level 
positions and Payless Drug Stores hires an 
estimated 100 entry-level employees each 
year. The federal government is an important 
employer in the Bay Area. The Alameda 
Naval Air Station reports hiring a large 
number of Oakland youth for its annual 100 
entry-level jobs. 

Depending upon the job category, some 
companies require a test as part of the appli­
cation process to measure skill proficiencies 
and to reduce the large pool of applicants to a 
manageable number for careful screening. 
PT&T, with basic skills tests for 3 different 
job categories, reported a failure rate of be­
tween 50o/o and 80%. PG&E also tests for 
basic and occupational skills, with a 50% 
failure rate. Applicants for typing positions 
are always tested ; the standard is usually 35 
to 55 words per minute. Even people apply-

ing for janitorial jobs with the City of Oak­
land are tested. 

What do employers look for? 
Our interviews asked employers what char­

acteristics they sought in new employees. 
They listed a variety of skills and qualities. 
Despite the different types of jobs for which 
they sought workers, they all agreed on 4 
qualities : 

Punctuality and good attendance 
Eagerness and willingness to work 
Sense of responsibility 
Prior work experience 

Frequently, but not universally, they men­
tioned in no order of importance: 

Maturity 
Good grammar, spelling and math 
Ability to follow directions and 

complete a task 
Ability to think on their own and 

solve problems 
Getting along with others 
Ability to speak clearly 
Appropriate appearance 
Test-taking ability 

Most noteworthy about this list is the ab­
sence of any mention of occupational skills. 
Employers are interested in applicants with 
occupational skills and will hire them if they 
can find them. But by their very nature, many 
entry-level jobs for which high school.gradu­
ates are typically eligible, do not require oc­
cupational skills. Employers are far more in­
terested in good basic skills and previous 
work experience. Many companies provide 
their own training. 

Employers' view of 
vocational education students 

Most employers whom we interviewed 
knew little or nothing about OPS's voca­
tional programs, but those who did had con-



., 

tact with Baymart, although some confused it 
with the East Bay Skills Center (a junior col­
lege level program). The only other programs 
that employers knew about were special pro­
jects such as the New Oakland Committee's 
Employment/Education Project and the 
Transition from School-to-Work: Summer 
1980 program. 

These employers found vocational stu­
dents and graduates lacking in some or all of 
the skills they seek as desirable in entry-level 
employees. A few complained that Baymart 
had represented its students as trained office 
workers, but they could not type, file, or take 
phone messages. Capwell's told us that it was 
a "hit and miss proposition" as to whether 
Baymart graduates would be skilled, produc­
tive workers. Frequently, they are compar­
able in skills to other applicants, but the 
personnel department expressed disappoint­
ment with the skills and job readiness of Bay­
mart students. Usually they know the termin­
ology and how to operate a cash register, but 
they are deficient in initiative, reliability, and 
basic skills. 

Other employers who had participated in 
special programs for high school youth felt 
that students were under-skilled. Conse­
quently, they created different and lower 
standards by which to evaluate them. And in 
some instances, high school students were 
unable to meet even these standards. Kaiser 
Aluminum placed 15 high school students in 
clerical positions in the spring of 1980. In the 
normal application process, Kaiser Alumi­
num requires 55 words per minute on a typing 
test. The high school students were simply 
asked to type a non-timed statement. Their 
skills were so inadequate that the company 
rejected half of the applicants. 

Employers were most critical of the skill 
levels of students in summer programs. In 
many instances, these individuals were not 
screened. As one personnel director stated: 
"We take whomever they send us." Employ­
ers rarely hire students in permanent part- or 
full-time jobs at the end of the summer. Sum­
mer student workers are not considered 
"real" employees. That companies partici­
pate in these summer jobs programs is more a 
manifestation of their corporate good will 
than of their confidence in this source of 
employees. 

It is entirely possible that students referred 
to businesses through these summer pro­
grams are not a representative sample of the 
product of Oakland's vocational education 
programs. These programs are usually 
CET A-funded and are aimed at providing 
jobs and exposure to the work environment 
for economically disadvantaged youngsters. 
CET A-eligible students are likely to have had 
less success in school than their more advan­
taged peers. In any case, students who find 

summer jobs on their own are not the ones 
for whom CET A programs are designed and 
do not come into contact with employers 
through these programs. 

Does vocational education 
improve the job prospects of 
high school graduates? 

What is the effect of high school voca­
tional training in Oakland? Can high school 
graduates find employment in the areas for 
which they have been trained? To answer 
these questions, we examined more closely 
the entry-level opportunities for auto me­
chanics, clerical workers and draftsmen -
those occupations in which the school district 
offers ROP's and in which vocational pro­
grams have relatively high enrollments. We 
found a gap between the skills learned in the 
ROP's and the minimum requirements in the 
workplace. 

Our interviews revealed that individuals 
applying for auto mechanics positions in 
Oakland must have junior college training, 
full-time work experience and a license. Auto 
shops do hire high school graduates as in­
stallers, positions which can lead to higher­
paying jobs. 

In the clerical field, entry-level positions 
have varying requirements. Major com­
panies, Clorox, Kaiser Engineers, Kaiser 
Aluminum, and the City of Oakland, for ex­
ample, all require I or 2 years full-time work 
experience. Other employers' requirements 
were less stringent. Applicants demonstrating 
strong clerical skills are often hired even if 
they have no full-time work experience. But 
high school graduates of a business education 
program are more likely to be hired in lower­
paying receptionist and file clerk jobs. On the 
whole, vocational training does not prepare 
individuals for secretarial positions. 

The ROP Drafting program at Skyline and 
Oakland Technical High Schools purports to 
prepare students for entry-level positions as 
junior drafters or tracers, but none of the 
companies we interviewed considers high 
school preparation as adequate for their 
entry-level positions. Kaiser Aluminum, 
Kaiser Engineers, and Brown and Root (a 
San Francisco firm) all require potential 
employees to have postsecondary training 
and/or work experience. Kaiser Aluminum 
and Kaiser Engineers told us that when they 
do hire high school graduates, it is for jobs in 
the mailroom "that don't open up that 
often." 

It did not seem to matter to employers 
whether applicants had taken vocational 
courses, for this information was not asked 
for on the application form or during the in­
terview. The manager of the Sears Auto Shop 
had never heard of the Automotive Trades 

ROP at Skyline and Oakland Technical High 
Schools, but he knew about the community 
college program and thought highly of it. The 
personnel department of Payless Drug Stores 
did not know about the Checker /Cashier 
ROP at McClymonds High School. 

Bay Area Rapid Press was totally unaware 
that Castlemont and Oakland High Schools 
both have a Printing ROP which the district's 
Regional Occupational Centers Program 
Offerings says prepares students to become 
offset pressmen apprentices and print shop 
helpers. The school system's literature also 
describes printing as "one of the)argest 
career fields in the Bay Area." The owner I 
operator of Bay Area Rapid Press told us that 
he has 4 entry-level openings each year in 
graphics, bindery or printing. He has hired 
high school students in the past as part-time 
workers but found them not as productive as 
full-time workers. He could not comment on 
the quality of training in the ROP printing 
program because he knew nothing about it. 
The owner of this printing establishment did 
not weigh vocational training as particularly 
significant. Experienced applicants are pre­
ferred . 

Home Savings and Loan Associations has 
a bank teller trainee program that involves 60 
high schools and 3,600 high school students 
throughout California (including Oakland). 
In 2 sections a year, 30 students attend train­
ing sessions for 2 hours a day for 15 weeks. 
Guided by the bank's requirements, high 
school counselors refer students to the pro­
gram. At the end of the school year, Home 
Savings and Loan offers summer employ­
ment to the top 10% of the student group. 
Students who have performed successfully 
are offered permanent employment with the 
bank. The Home Savings and Loan official 
who told us about this Career Awareness 
Program had never heard ofBaymart's Bank 
Teller ROP and was unable to assess whether 
students entering this program with voca­
tional training fared better than students 
without vocational training. 

Despite ignorance about the Oakland Pub­
lic Schools' vocational education programs 
and the negative comments about high school 
students' and graduates' skills and abilities, 
some employers did express positive views 
about high school level vocational training. It 
indicates an interest in the occupation and it 
is a sign of promotability. A few employers 
thought that, all other qualities being equal, 
vocational education students had a "slight 
edge" over other applicants. They had better 
skills, and at least they had ''seen the inside of 
an office" and they were "job ready." But 
that was distinctly the minority view. There is 
obviously an enormous gap between employ­
ers' needs and expectations and the products 
of the school system's vocational educaton 
programs. 

15 



5 
Findings: 

Federal Funds: Some for Everybody 
But No Concentration on the Needy 

• Forty-four percent of federal funds which could have been spent on 
Oakland's disadvantaged students was not used. 

• Oakland returned 18% of the total federal vocational education 
a/location to the State. 

• Oakland could make more effective use of federal funds by con­
centrating resources on high-need students. 

The Oakland Public Schools' total budget 
for vocational education is $2.4 million of 
which 83.50Jo is supplied by the State of Cali­
fornia, drawing on standard state tax sources 
and the yield of a I OJo state-wide property tax. 
After the passage of Proposition 13, school 
districts effectively lost the right to set a local 
school tax, and the level of spending per stu­
dent is determined strictly by state authori­
ties. 

The balance of the budget, about 16.5 0Jo, 
comes from the federal government through 
the Vocational Education Amendments of 
1976 (VEA). While this is a small amount, 
one of the major goals of the VEA is to equal­
ize vocational training opportunities by dis­
tributing money to school systems with large 
concentrations of high-need students and the 
most need for financial assistance. The law 
defines high-need students as those who are 
educationally disadvantaged, who come 
from poor families, who have limited­
English-speaking ability, and who are handi­
capped. 

The State Department of Education allo­
cated $479,118 in VEA funds to Oakland in 
the 1979-80 school year. Eighteen percent of 
the grant ($84,017) was not used. Forty-four 
percent of the federal funds ($43,595) which 
could have been targeted on disadvantaged, 
high-need students was not spent. 

Categories and dollars spent 
The VEA has several different categories, 

and under broad federal and state guidelines, 
money may be spent as local officials see fit as 
long as the purpose of each part is met. 

16 

The federal government provides 
vocational education funds 

specifically for disadvantaged, 
high-need youth, but 44% of this 
money was unspent in Oakland. 

Photo by Joffre Clarke 

Category Allocated Expended Unspent 

A $250,531 $229,010 $21 ,521 (8.6%) 
B 78,223 49,829 28,394 (36.3%) 
c 42,892 34,421 8,471 (19.8%) 
D 38,846 34,168 4,678 (12.0%) 
E 21 ,060 5,859 15,201 (72.2%) 
F 47,566 41 ,814 5,752 (12.0%) 

TOTALS $479, 118 $395,101 $84,017 (18.0%) 

A. Basic Grant - The largest and most unrestricted category used for program im-
provement. 

8. Setasides for handicapped students. 
c. Setasides for economically and academically disadvantaged students. 
D. Guidance and counseling; teacher training. 
E. Special programs for disadvantaged students in areas o f high school dropouts 

and unemployment. 
F. Consumer and homemaking education. 

The highest percentage of unspent money 
was in categories B and E, specifically desig­
nated for disadvantaged, high-need students. 
The total amount approved in those 2 cate­
gories was $99,283 of which $43,595, or440Jo, 
was not spent. 

Basic grant 
The largest category of VEA funds pro­

vided small amounts of general support for 
classes throughout the district. One-third was 
spent in the Office of Career, Vocational and 
Regional Occupational Centers Education 

I -Ao DrD NOT f~\L 



for salaries, administration and instructional 
materials. The other two-thirds were allo­
cated to vocational classes in junior and 
senior high schools for equipment, books and 
instructional supplies. Because high school 
classes which receive federal money are the 
regular vocational programs, not the ROP's, 
these programs are called VEA classes. 

In Trades and Industry, for example, the 
beginning auto shops at Castlemont, Fre­
mont, McClymonds, Oakland High, Oak­
land Tech and Skyline each received $1,000. 
Beginning Electronics, Drafting, and Print­
ing shops received $800 each. Money for 
books, supplies and equipment in senior high 
Office Occupations was allocated on the 
basis of $392 per class section. In junior high 
schools $240 was spent on typing classes, and 
sums ranging from $400 to $800 were distrib­
uted to wood and metal shops and drafting 
classes. 

A memorandum informs secondary school 
principals that VEA money is to be used for 
"program improvement," not "program 
maintenance." Expenditures for "program 
improvement" must be for equipment, audio­
visual materials, textbooks, workbooks, sup­
plementary texts, references and supplies and 
paper for special class projects. Money may 
not be spent for large quantities of paper, 
typewriter ribbons, shop rags or any other 
standard supply item. Whether the purchase 
of basic equipment and textbooks is improv­
ing a program or just maintaining it is a 
phony distinction. In practice, the teachers in 
an occupational area at each school decide 
collectively on their priority needs and submit 
vouchers to the principal and central office 
for approval. 

Setasides for disadvantaged 
and handicapped students 

The amounts set aside for disadvantaged 
and handicapped students are allocated to 
individual classes, not as flat grants, but on 
the basis of individual students whom the 
teacher identifies as lacking communication 
or computational skills or as deficient in 
"attitudinal or socio-economic skills ." 
Teachers may request money for instruc­
tional aides and student instructors, as well as 
for books, supplies and equipment. At the 
end of the semester or year, teachers are asked 
to evaluate the instructional improvement of 
each student whom they had identified as dis­
advantaged or handicapped. 

When teachers do not request these special 
funds, they may be reallocated to other 
classes. In fact , 36% of the money in this cat­
egory is not spent at all. 

Federal law requires that money under the 
setasides for disadvantaged and handicapped 
be spent on half the "excess cost" of provid­
ing vocational education for these students. 

If it costs-a school district $1,000 to provide 
vocational training for a non-handicapped or 
non-disadvantaged student but $1,500 for 
one who is disadvantaged or handicapped, 
then federal funds may pay $250 per student, 
or half the difference between $1,000 and 
$1,500. In other words, this federal money is 
intended to help schools pay the extra costs of 
educating these high-need students. 

Whether money is spent in Oakland's 
schools as intended by the law or whether 
individually identified students get anything 
extra is impossible to determine from official 
records or from classroom visits. There is no 
record of the costs per pupil for regular stu­
dents as compared with handicapped and dis­
advantaged students. The special classes in 
which these identified students are enrolled 
are designated as " Vocational Education 
Oriented" and are designed to provide em­
ployability skills. The definition of "employ­
ability skills" or any measure of improve­
ment is extremely vague. How does one 
measure improvement in "socio-economic 
skills?" It is also difficult to know whether 
the services and equipment purchased with 
these funds benefit only the disadvantaged 
and handicapped. 

Given all these unknowns, it seems reason­
able to conclude that the setaside money is 
treated like the other Basic Grant funds­
general all-purpose money. 

Special programs 
for the disadvantaged 

Another separate category of money for 
disadvantaged students must be spent on the 
full cost of special programs in areas of high 
youth unemployment and school dropouts so 
that students may receive extra help in order 
to succeed in vocational education. Not only 
was this money not used as required by the 
VEA, almost three-quarters of it was not 
spent. 

Instead of funding the full cost of special 
programs in I or 2 areas of Oakland with the 
highest unemployment and school dropout 
rates, the money was allocated on a per capita 
basis to all 8 high schools, as the chart 
demonstrates. 

When we inquired why this special money 
to hire instructional aides for disadvantaged 
students was allocated to all schools rather 
than to I or 2 with the most need, an OPS of­
ficial replied: "We get so little, we just give 
some to everybody." When we asked why so 
much of the money went unspent, we were 
told that aides were not hired because of bur­
eaucratic delays . 

Consumer and homemaking 
education 

The Vocational Education Act provides 
federal money for instructional programs 
and ancillary services for the occupation of 
homemaking, including consumer education, 
food and nutrition, family living, parenthood 
education, child development, housing and 
home management, and clothing and textiles. 

Unlike the Basic Grant and Handicapped 
and Disadvantaged setasides, federal law is 
very explicit that funds are available only to 
support programs which: 

I. encourage the participation of 
males and females to prepare for 
combined roles of homemaker and 
wage-earner; 

2. encourage the elimination of sex 

Photo by Joffre Clarke 

During the school hours, waiting for 
the day to pass. 

PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE OF SPECIAL DISADVANTAGED FUNDS 

% Students No. Dlsadv. No. Dlsadv. Amount Per capita 
from Famllles Students In Students To Special Expend. 

School Recelvlni! AFDC Voe. Ed. Be Served Funds Col. 5+ 4 
Castlemont 59.7% 460 45 $3,510 $78 
Fremont 47.0 310 40 3,120 78 
McClymonds 68.3 201 40 3.120 78 
Oakland High 24.4 244 40 3,120 78 
Oakland Tech 48.6 300 40 3,120 78 
Skyline 1.1 150 25 1,950 78 
Dewey n.a. 110 20 1,560 78 
Grant n.a. 90 20 1,560 78 

17 



stereotyping by promoting sex-fair 
curriculum materials; 

3. give greater consideration to eco­
nomic, social, and cultural condi­
tions and needs, especially in 
economically depressed areas, and 
where appropriate, bilingual in­
struction; 

4. encourage outreach programs in 
communities for youth and adults; 

5. prepare males and females who 
have entered or who will be entering 
the work of the home; and 

6. emphasize consumer and parent­
hood education, management of 
resources, promotion of nutritional 
knowledge and the use of foods. 

Oakland was granted $47 ,566 for Con­
sumer and Homemaking programs in the 
1979-80 school year. According to a central 
office official, all Home Economics teachers 
in Oakland get together and decide how to 
divide up the money. More than half (570Jo) 
of the grant was allocated for salaries for 
teachers to attend meetings, to pay substi­
tutes for their classes, and to fund other 

teachers to develop curriculum materials. 
Thirty percent of the grant, or $14,141, was 

parceled out in paltry amounts to 35 teachers 
in 19 schools for instructional supplies and 
equipment. Thirty teachers of regular Home 
Economics classes received $355 each. Five 
ROP teachers received $100 each. Eighteen 
schools got a $100 bonus. Four hundred 
forty-one dollars was reserved for unexpected 
expenditures. 

The 180Jo remaining in the home economics 
budget consisted of miscellaneous expendi­
tures, such as supplies, conference travel, 
field trips and the consumer education fai r. 

Federal law requires that one-third of the 
consumer and homemaking dollars be spent 
in economically depressed areas. The docu­
ments Oakland submits to the State claim 
that 420Jo of the money in this category was 
spent in poor communities. But internal 
school system records reveal that some of the 
expenditures charged to the 420Jo of the 
budget go to schools throughout the city. For 
example, the $150 given to 35 teachers for 
equipment and $7,767 out of $8,891 for sup­
plies in 18 schools are both counted into the 

amount supposedly spent in economically 
depressed areas. 

Weaknesses in the federal law and Califor­
nia's negligence in supervising expenditure of 
VEA funds give local officials almost total 
freedom to spend money in any manner they 
choose. Although the VEA requires that pri­
ority in distributing federal funds be given to 
financially needy districts with high numbers 
of poor and unemployed persons and high­
need students, the law does not require that 
money be spent on the most needy schools or 
students within districts. Even where the 
VEA requires that specific categories of 
funds be spent on extra costs or providing vo­
cational education for handicapped and dis­
advantaged students, or in economically 
depressed, high unemployment or high 
school dropout areas, the California Depart­
ment of Education makes no attempt to in­
sure compliance with these mandates. Conse­
quently, local authorities decide on their own 
priorities. In Oakland, it is the needs of the 
vocational teachers, not disadvantaged stu­
dents, which determine the expenditure of 
funds. 

During class, a game is in progress on the steps 
of Oakland High School. 

Society's failure to provide meaningful opportunities for this 
generation of young people has long-range implications for ~ 

America tomorrow. Photos by Joffre Clarke 

18 





6 Sex Equity in Vocational 
Education: Who Cares? 

Findings: 

Vocational education has historically trained 
women only for traditionally female work 
which pays less than typically male jobs. It 
will take time and commitment to uproot the 
sex bias and stereotyping in training and 
employment which are deeply imbedded in 
our schools and labor market. The Voca­
tional Education Amendments of 1976 re­
quired that state and local school officials 
promote sex equity so that all students will 
have full and equal access to programs which 
are non-traditional for their sex. 

Economic reasons are the motivating fac­
tor for sex equity in vocational training. As 
the chart documents, traditionally male jobs 
pay better. 

Young girls could improve their wage­
earning potential by enrolling in those 
programs which could prepare them for 
male-dominated occupations. 

A number of state and federal laws outlaw 
sex discrimination. What makes the VEA dif­
ferent is that it requires affirmative steps to 
undo sex stereotyping and bias in vocational 
education by recipients. 

The California Five-Year State Plan for 
Vocational Education states that every school 
district receiving money under the State Plan 
shall 

develop, implement and annually eval­
uate a plan for providing ready and 
equal access to occupational prepara­
tion . .. without regard to race, sex, 
ethnic background, national origin, or 
physical handicap. 

Vocaticmal enrollments by sex 
Vocational curriculum and classes in Oak­

land's comprehensive high schools are sex 
stereotyped, a condition common to school 
districts throughout America. A total of 
$207, 111 of federal funds, or 65. 3 OJo of the 
total grant, supports these sex stereotyped 
classes . 

20 

• Federal requirements to reduce sex bias and stereotyping in voca­
tional education are given little attention by Oakland school offi­
cials. 

• Less than 1 % of federal funds for vocational education is spent on 
promoting sex equity and equal access compared with 65.3% 
which is spent on sex stereotyped vocational classes. 

WEEKLY ENTRY-LEVEL SALARIES IN THE 
SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND METROPOLITAN AREA, 1980 

Male Intensive 
Body & Fender Repair 
Auto Apprentice 
Carpenter Helper 
Machinist 
Electronic Assembler 

$368 
264 
167 
464 
200 

Female Intensive 
Typist 
File Clerk 
Retail Clerk 
Child Care Attendant 
Bank Teller 

FEMALE ENROLLMENT BY OCCUPATIONAL AREA: FALL 1979 

$201 
167 
161 
124 
203 

Occupational Area All Girls Black Girls White Girls 
Distributive Education 5.8% 6.4% 2.2% 
Health 3.1 3.3 0.4 
Home Economics 21.7 23.0 18.7 
Otfice Occupations 53.1 51.7 57.9 
Trades & Industry 16.4 15.7 20.9 

100.1% 100.1% 100.1% 

MALE ENROLLMENT BY OCCUPATIONAL AREA: FALL 1979 

Occupational Area All Boys Black Boys White Boys 
Distributive Education 3.9% 4.8% 0.3% 
Health 0.6 0.6 1.0 
Home Economics 8.4 10.3 1.5 
Office Occupations 30.3 30.7 30.3 
Trades & Industry 56.8 54.4 66.9 

100.0% 100.8% 100.0% 

TOTAL AND FEMALE ENROLLMENT IN TRADES AND INDUSTRY 

Program 
Auto Mechanics 
Body & Fender Repair 
Carpentry 
Diesel 
Drafting 
Electrical 
Electronics 
Machine Shop 
Welding 
Plastics 
Refrigeration 

Total 
Enrollment 

261 
32 

274 
20 

331 
126 

23 
44 
19 
12 
32 

Female 
Students 

13 
0 

20 
0 

31 
6 
1 
1 
0 
1 
0 



A major goal of the Vocational Education Amendments is to eliminate 
sex stereotyping so that women can prepare for higher-paying, tradi· 
tionally male jobs. 

Photo by Kathy Sloane 

21 



Photos this page courtesy Oakland Public Schools 

Boys and girls are almost evenly divided in 
the total 10th through 12th grade vocational 
enrollment -girls 490Jo, boys 51 OJo, but they 
are concentrated in different occupational 
areas. As the chart reveals, over half of all 
girls are in Office Occupations and more than 
half of the boys are in Trades and Industry. 

Some occupational areas, Home Econom­
ics and Office Occupations for example, 
reveal more equal participation by sex, but 
individual programs within the clusters are 
more heavily segregated. Home Economics is 

i. 400Jo male in the I Ith and 12th grades, but 
boys are concentrated in Food Management 
at Fremont, Oakland Tech, McClymonds, 
Castlemont and Oakland High while girls are 
concentrated in Clothing at the same schools. 
In the traditionally female area of Office Oc­
cupations, young men are more than a third 
(37%) of the students, but they are taking 
Accounting, one of the largest programs. 
Skyline has a high enrollment of boys in 
Other Office Occupations, but this catch-all 
category includes Business Law, Business 
Math, Career English, and a class entitled 
Job Skills which are not traditionally sex 
stereotyped. 

The most sex-segregated occupational area 
is Trades and Industry in which the tradition­
ally male programs are clustered. Girls are a 
majority in only 2 programs-Graphic Arts 
and Cosmetology. In all other programs, they 
are either a distinct minority or totally absent. 

Whose problem is sex bias? 
Progress in achieving sex equity in voca­

tional education is measured in large part by 
how school authorities define the problem. In 
California, each local district's application 

22 

Photo opposite page by Kathy Sloane 

for VEA funds must identify deficiencies in 
providing equal access and describe measures 
that will be taken to overcome them. Oak­
land educators say the attitudes of parents, 
students and teachers are the chief problem. 

Traditional attitudes about the "proper" 
occupational endeavors of men and women 
are an important deterrent to equal access, 
but they exist in the highest administrative 
ranks, not just in schools and families. One 
indication of the problem emerged during an 
interview of a high school principal. We 
asked what the school was doing to en­
courage girls to enroll in traditionally male 
programs and were told: "We haven't gotten 
around to that yet." To pursue the subject 
further, we wanted to know if the school's 
counselors had attended any workshops 0 :1 

sex equity in vocational education. The prin· 
cipal responded: "Yes. Some of our counse· 
!ors attended a workshop on prenatal cart 
last year." 

If attitudes are the main problem, then the 
reason for so little action by the Oakland 
school system is that officials do not think sex 
equity important. OPS has taken steps to 
correct sex-based inequities in physical edu­
cation and sex stereotyping in curriculum 
materials, but there has been no systematic 
effort to promote sex equity in the vocational 
program. Never implemented was a recom­
mendation to establish model programs in 
each senior high and to institute intensive 
recruiting in order that one-third of the 
enrollment would be female. 

Oakland was one of 38 California school 
systems which received a special grant of 
VEA funds to reduce sex bias and stereotyp­
ing in vocational education. This award of 
$4,000 generated Oakland's most visible 

effort-a pamphlet entitled "Of Course You 
Can." The publication consists of a series of 
pictures of people who work in non-traditional 
jobs-a woman carpenter, a male typist, and 
the female Superintendent of Schools. Each 
photograph is accompanied by a personal 
statement about the duties and rewards of the 
job. 

The pamphlet's audience is students, and 
the message conveyed is that they will find 
non-traditional employment rewarding, if 
they would only make the effort. The school 
environment that students face each day does 
not convey the same message. School offi­
cials display little awareness of the sex equity 
provisions in the VEA. They think that the 
elimination of formal barriers to the enroll­
ment of girls in industrial arts or of boys in 
home economics has resolved the issue. No 
incentives are employed to encourage stu­
dents to enroll in classes non-traditional for 
their sex. No effort has been made to reor­
ganize the curriculum so that it is no longer 
sex stereotyped. To the extent that a problem 
is even recognized, it is passed off on the atti­
tudes of parents and students. 

Oakland school authorities are not alone 
responsible for inaction on implementing the 
sex equity provisions of the VEA. The man­
date is left to the states to enforce. The Cali­
fornia Department of Education has never 
required local school systems to develop the 
equal access plans which were promised in the 
State Plan for Vocational Education, and 
local funding applications are approved every 
year regardless of what school systems have 
promised or accomplished. Once again, im­
plementing the promise of the Vocational 
Education Amendments is left to local offi­
cials, and if they do not care, who does? 



I · 



24 

7 Recommendations 

None of the problems discussed in this report is unique to Oakland. Every American 
community is challenged to combat teenage unemployment and to help young men and 
women make the transition between school and the world of work. The Oakland school 
system by itself cannot solve these problems. An effective partnership is required of 
educators, employers, parents and community leaders, if young people are to be equipped 
for the job opportunities of the 1980's. 

Leadership from the Governor, the Legislature and State agencies is also required to 
assure a framework of laws, and their imaginative implementation and sufficient re­
sources to enable the Oakland Public Schools to become more responsive to its youth. 
Many of the recommendations of the AB 576 Task Group Report to the California Leg­
islature point the way to revamping vocational education throughout the State. Among 
these are recommendations to: · 

• Develop a diversity of classroom and worksite training; 
• Involve employers directly in the design, implementation and eval­

uation of vocational programs; 
• Remove legal and financial obstacles to flexible program schedul­

ing, staffing patterns, worksite training, and cross-enrollments be­
tween high schools, community colleges and other training pro­
grams; 

• Assist students to enter the labor market by using accurate and 
current information about job opportunities in career counseling; 

• Link basic skill instruction to occupational training for in-school 
and out-of-school youth. 

To the Oakland school system 
Recognizing the need for linkage between schools and the world of work , the 

School Board should adopt policies to be implemented in actions and programs by the 
central office and the schools that will : 

1. Communicate the message that preparation for the world of work 
and for postsecondary education is equally valued. 

2. Translate that message into.curriculum offerings and the schedul­
ing of classes so that students will take seriously the availability 
of opportunities for learning in both the academic and vocational 
areas. 

3. Provide an adequate number of trained vocational counselors. 
4. Eliminate sex bias and stereotyping in vocational education and 

actively recruit boys and girls for courses that are non-traditional 
for their sex. 

5. Target funds to the disadvantaged. 
6. Reach out to employers and seek new ways of involving them in 

joint efforts to improve the quality and relevance of the curriculum 
and to expose young people to workplaces. 

7. Explore the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of centrally located 
vocational programs and of other innovative ways of offering a 
range of quality programs district-wide. 



To employers in the greater Oakland metropolitan area 
Recognizing their vested interest in a skilled workforce, and also their responsibility 

to contribute to its development as a long-range investment , employers should expand 
existing models of school-corporate partnership and could: 

1. Assign their employees on a full-time or rotating basis to work as 
career counselors, job placement specialists, and instructional 
advisors in junior and senior high schools. 

2. Adopt a vocational program, loan or donate equipment, provide 
cooperative vocational education to students, or make downtown 
space available for both classroom and worksite training. 

3. Establish new Regional Occupational Programs to meet employ­
ers' needs. Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, for example, has 
established RO P's with the Richmond and San Ramon school dis­
tricts to train long distance operators. 

4. Create employee exchange programs with the Oakland Public 
Schools in which employers provide training for youth while in­
structors whose skills are outdated are retrained. 

To parents and community leaders 
Oakland parents and community leaders can make a difference by translating their 

concern about unprepared and unemployed young people into informed action. They 
can: 

1. Communicate to the School Board and administrators that equal 
priority must be given to preparing young people for employment. 

2. Urge the Legislature and State agencies to make more effective 
use of education and youth training funds by enforcing re­
quirements for Regional Occupational Programs and targeting 
resources on students most in need. 

3. Investigate vocational programs to determine their purpose, 
worksite training opportunities, and job placement record. 

4. Counsel students that the pursuit of academic learning and the 
acquisition of occupational skills are mutually supportive goals 
and encourage young p~ople in their efforts to make the most of 
the school years. 

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 
Division of Legal Information 

and Communitv Service 
Western Regional Office 
12 Geary Street 
San Francisco, CA 94108 National Office 

10 Columbus Circle 
Suite 2030 

New York, NY 10019 

Washington Office 
806 15th St. N. W. #940 
Washington, D.C. 20005