The State of Texas High School Graduation Plans

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/02/05/0205diploma_edit.html

The editorial I chose comes from the Austin American Statesman and deals with changing Texas high school graduation plans. According the the writer, Texas graduation plans cater to students pursing a university education and white-collar jobs. Graduation plans don't properly prepare Texas youth who don't plan on attending college and don't equip them with skills for practical jobs such as electricians or plumbers.
The writer begins the piece with former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff commenting on the state of public schools: "Which is harder to find a doctor or an electrician?" The comment also serves as a lead-in to a bit of background about Texas high school graduation plans followed by the case for the legislature to change the plans to include special training in technical fields for students who hope to pursue more hands-on jobs. The writer concludes with a statement specifically to the Legislature stating that they can and should amend the current state of Texas graduation plans.
I don't believe the writer contained enough sourcing for this story and although contained some logical reasoning, and a somewhat thought out plan, I'm not buying it.
The writer's argument here is that by offering courses and graduation plans that prepare students for post-graduation plans other than college, will keep more kids in school and eventually save tax dollars. This is bogus. Keeping kids in school involves strengthening their support systems outside the classroom and helping them understand the value of education, something you won't learn in any amount of technical skills classes. Secondly, allowing students to follow a one-track plan to no where, or even straight into a university, only sets them up for failure. The average college student changes his or her major three times before graduation. Without a diverse academic background as a foundation, high school students who completed a fine arts track and find themselves wanting to pursue engineering will have to play math and science catch-up to be on a level playing field as their classmates. A lack of academic diversity doesn't just spell ruin for those pursuing college, but those not. If upper-level math courses, history and science classes are ditched for plumbing and electrician classes, the student will leave with a practical skill but no knowledge and no framework for higher reasoning. After all, isn't that what education is supposed to be all about in the first place?