This opinion piece by Public School Superintendent Sandra Thorstenson illustrates flawed reasoning associated with the drastic decline of vocational-technology education offerings over the past three decades. Her devaluation of vocational-technical education as “non-core academic instruction” reflects an inaccurate bias that has been costly to students and society. Vocational-technical education provides courses of study that prepare students for gainful employment, which public schools are mandated to provide by CA Education Code, including Sections 51220(i), 5122.5 and 51228(b). Thus, claims that vocational-technical education is a costly "enrichment" is an erroneous assessment. Such claims are often associated with a myopic focus upon short term test results instead of long term student outcomes. The specialized skills developed in vocational-technical education courses--such as, creative problem solving, team work and responsibility--benefit students but are not measured by standardized tests. These distorted biases are costly because they are denying California's students benefits associated with practical and rigorous vocational-technical courses. More university graduates are enrolled in community colleges than transfer from the community colleges to its four year universities http://cpr.ca.gov/CPR_Report/Issues_and_Recommendations/Chapter_3_Education_Training_and_Volunteerism/ETV19.html2=. NIKEs (No Income Kids with Education) return home after graduation burdened with hefty college loans yet lacking job skills to support themselves http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010302143.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/your-money/student-loans/18student.html. Foreign workers are being recruited during a major recession to fill high-paid high-skilled jobs for which employers claim US workers are unqualified http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/business/24jobs.html and "The Global Talent Crisis." Gordon, Edward. Futurist, September 1, 2009, 43, 34-40. Drop - outs who find school irrelevant and unengaging discover too late that they are unable to compete for even the lowest paying jobshttp://www.lhc.ca.gov/studies/189/report189.html. It's time to end the penny-wise and pound-foolishness of balancing school districts' budgets by cutting programs that economically benefit students and our economy. It is recommended that school administrators take the time to attend California Industrial Technology Education Association Foundation's (CITEAF) Conference in Riverside March 12-14 to learn ways today's vocational education benefits all students by empowering them to compete for tomorrow's jobs.