IN my opinion, the single largest mistake made in the last 50 years of high school education was phasing out the Industrial Arts courses or 'shop classes' such as auto shop, wood shop, home economics, graphic arts (printing), etc. from high school campuses.
From Wikipedia:  Industrial arts was an umbrella term used in the late 20th century to describe an educational program which featured the creation of objects in wood and/or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. Industrial arts also covers topics such as cooking, small engine repair and automobile maintenance.  These programs exposed children to the basics of home repair, manual craftsmanship, and machine safety. Most industrial arts programs were established in comprehensive rather than dedicated vocational schools and focused on a broad range of skills rather than on a specific vocational activity.

The last 30 years have brought such a decline in hands-on learning opportunities in schools and I am not sure why this was done but boy are we paying the price for it now.  I think it was done with the ridiculous intent of only offering college prep courses as if all high school students were heading off to college.  Sending kids to college should not be the main intent of high school, it should be producing trainable and productive members of society.  It was from those shop classes that we got our contractors, plumbers, printers, cooks and other professionals who perhaps did not attend college.

Once you acknowledge that not all students are college bound you can start to see what eliminating these classes did.  The first thing taking away shop classes did was take away the one or two classes a day that most of these kids looked forward to.  This made all those non-college bound kids begin to hate school.  We then forced these kids into taking classes that had absolutely no bearing on their future and did not interest them.  What did we replace the trade courses with? Technology courses are replacing traditional industrial arts in public schools.  The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that the global economy will be short 15 million technical workers by 2020.  While this prediction seems dire and possibly exaggerated to me it still does not mean that we should be pushing high school students who are not interested in or skilled in technology into that field.

Some argue that industrial arts were removed for safety reasons.
I do not accept this argument.  Far more students are injured playing high school athletics than in trade classes.

The second thing that taking away trade courses did was flood the general education or other elective courses with uninterested kids who take up the bulk of the teachers time in class.  This is incredibly unfair to those students who are college bound.  I am not suggesting that we separate college bound students from non-college bound students but when it becomes a distraction to both teachers and students you have a real problem on your hands.

I'll be the first to say it:  Wood shop is more relevant to most American students today than World Geography or pre-calculus.  Typing on a keyboard and moving a mouse is not my idea of 'hands-on activities'.

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Boy does Seattle have it right!

This is from an article that was in the Seattle Times:
Seattle Public Schools vocational program that's trying to hold on as the district tightens its focus -- and classroom resources -- on improving WASL scores in core subjects.

Thanks to a new clause in big-money Seattle Public Schools construction contracts. It requires contractors to hire one Seattle graduate who has been through a "preapprenticeship" program for every $5 million in brick-and-mortar spending.
High school juniors and seniors in one of the programs -- the Apprenticeship and Construction Experience, or ACE -- explore a different trade every two weeks, while earning related math, language arts and elective credits.
In one unit, students might learn about carpentry and practice their skills by building toolboxes or planter boxes. Over the next two weeks, they may tour a training site with electricians and learn how to install an electrical outlet.
The program is open to students districtwide, though those from Franklin or Sealth high schools get first priority for open seats. They meet for a few hours each day at the Duwamish Training Center, a branch of South Seattle Community College.
A similar program at Rainier Beach High School -- Career and Workplace Exploration in the Skilled Trades -- draws students from around the district. The aim is to give students a feel for entry-level construction jobs, instructor Richard Ely said.

Students in Seattle learn basic work-readiness and safety skills and are paired with a mentor from public agencies, including the Port of Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation and City Light, for a paid two-days-a-week internship. Through one-on-one sessions with their mentor, they learn what they'll need to know to be successful in the skilled trades, Ely said.
The two programs, which each enrolled 18 students this semester, help reinforce the importance of punctuality, conflict resolution, problem solving -- skills necessary to be a good employee.
Signing up young women can be tough, but non-traditional career counselor Cathi Rodgveller pitches it as a way for them to become more self-sufficient, make money and challenge themselves.
"Girls just haven't thought about it a lot," she said. "When given the opportunity, they get really excited."
Ely hopes the message of inclusiveness resonates with his students, too.
"We want the kids to leave with the knowledge that there are adults on the job site that welcome them, that don't care if they're young, or black, or female ... and that they can succeed," he said.
Students who graduate from the programs and enter apprenticeships "basically get a college education for free," said Nan Johnson, who teaches ACE classes.
They end up with an associate of arts degree, and have been making money the whole time -- a stark contrast from students who attend a four-year college, often racking up debt every year.

The district's programs don't track how many students earn actual apprenticeships, but anecdotal evidence suggests most wind up with careers in the construction industry or related fields.
Several students, including Kadushin, have worked on construction projects for Seattle Public Schools, including renovations at Roosevelt and Nathan Hale high schools.

In recent years, the district has struggled to keep the programs running at the same levels in the face of ongoing budget crunches. Siegel conservatively estimates career and technical education programs in Seattle have been cut districtwide about 17 percent during the past four years.
The programs' enrollment has dropped, too, and compared with other King County districts, Seattle has one of the lowest percentages of its student population enrolled in career and technical courses.
That's partly because it can be challenging to find time in students' increasingly packed daily schedules for a three-hour class. But a bigger issue is getting people to realize there are other options for graduates besides enrolling in a four-year university, Siegel said.
Landing an apprenticeship in the building industry "is post-secondary education," he said.
Ely and other career and technical education instructors worry that the No Child Left Behind law and the pressure to raise WASL scores have led some people to view the programs as "extras" that can easily be scaled back or eliminated.
"There's nothing in (the WASL) that says, 'Student will be able to use table saw' ... or 'construct a frame strong enough to support 200 pounds,' " Ely said. "The perception is that only the things that are on the WASL are important to know."
Right now, if high school principals were given extra money in their budgets, "they'd probably add remedial academic programs and WASL-prep classes," rather than expand career and technical education offerings, Siegel said.
But advocates of the construction-minded training programs point out how much participating students learn.
"Some of the kids would never have understood math if they hadn't taken these classes," said Rodgveller, the career counselor. "Their math scores have gone up as a result."
Sallamy Abdulmalik is an example.
"Half the stuff you learn, you don't use in real life," the 17-year-old Franklin High School senior said.
But in Johnson's ACE class, it's easier for him to make the connection between math concepts and how they relate to the projects the students are working on, whether it's reading blueprints, measuring exact angles on pieces of wood or calculating the costs of heat loss from a building.
It's much more relevant, he said. "You can use this at home."