Cooking up a better education reform plan

President Obama’s State of the Union address is scheduled for next week, but he has already unveiled a major section of the speech: education reform.  But while he is asking the right questions on education, his plan to provide free tuition for a community college is the wrong answer.

What does the head of a culinary arts school know about this policy issue?  More than you might think.

{mosads}After spending years as an entrepreneur, last year I traded my power tie for a chef’s apron and became president of The Culinary School of Fort Worth in Texas.  I did so because I love cooking and food.  Who doesn’t?  But I also did it because I love what culinary education represents — the future.

For too long, Americans have been told that the only way to achieve the American dream is to take out massive student loans and obtain a college degree.  Yet for too many Americans, this plan has become the American nightmare.  Many graduates spend years trying to pay off loans and end up working in careers that have little to do with their degree.

President Obama seems unaware of this part of the higher education problem.  With government funding and student aid readily available, colleges have responded by steadily hiking tuition.  And what does the President propose to do about this?  Involve the government even more by paying for anyone to go to a two-year college for free.  This would include countless Americans who can and should pay their own way. 

Yet the president does raise an important question: what if there was a better way?  What if people could attend a school, learn a specific trade and not emerge at the end facing a mountain of debt?  Actually, there is a way. And it’s not even a new idea.  It’s an idea that millions of Americans have taken advantage of for years on their way to prosperity.

The idea?  Trade, or vocational, schools.

Prior to the GI Bill and the second half of the 20th century, most Americans learned a trade.  Plumbers, mechanics and carpenters not only saved money going to trade school, they made money in lucrative fields of work. But as more and more diploma mill colleges began offering more and more degree plans, fewer and fewer Americans attended trade schools. That’s too bad because not everyone needs to go to college to get a useful education – a wonderful career can be launched at a trade school.

Take my school, for example.  The Culinary School of Fort Worth offers professional culinary programs to prepare people to become professional chefs.  Our program is designed to allow students to earn a chef certificate while keeping a full-time regular job.  This, combined with the fact that our school refuses to accept government aid, produces skilled graduates with no debt who are ready to make money the day after graduation.

And how much money are we talking about? A survey by StarChefs.com found that the average executive chef salary is nearly $85,000.  To put that into perspective, the median U.S. household income is around $51,000, according to the Census Bureau.

A renewed emphasis on trade education could help increase income for people all across America.  And that’s where the President’s State of the Union Address comes in.  The purpose of this speech is to set a tone for the national agenda for the next year.  What better way to start off than to talk about revitalizing education by renewing our nation’s historic commitment to trade education?

For years, Americans have been told that everyone should go to a four-year college.  President Clinton even talked about making college as universal as high school.  President Obama has now taken this notion even further.  In his video announcing the his new education initiative, Obama said his goal is to make the first two years of college “free for everyone who is willing to work for it.”  Again, right question, but wrong answer.  We do want to control costs but we don’t do it by having the government subsidize tuition and we don’t need everyone going to a community college or a college.

Here are three ways the president could improve his education proposal: 

First, he should call for stronger oversight of online education programs, many of which are good at taking money from unsuspecting students, but not nearly as good at delivering real education.

Second, he should recommend reform of the student aid system so that students can’t take out more than they need and don’t take out so much that they can’t ever repay it.

Third, he should encourage all high school students to consider vocational education.  It’s a simple, cost-effective way to earn an education, learn a marketable skill, make money upon graduation, and be debt-free. And it’s a lot more effective than paying for everyone’s first two years in college.

We’ll find out if the president is changing his recipe for education reform in his State of the Union address next week. Let’s hope trade education is on the menu.

Benefield is president of The Culinary School of Fort Worth and an advocate for trade education.