As some of you know I have written many articles dealing with apprentiship programs and comparing European education models to the US. I am in full support of developing effective apprenticeship programs.

Extracted from this morning's WSJ: (partial)

By Eric Morath
Nov. 28, 2019 8:00 am ET

President Trump’s plan to expand apprenticeships into more vocations risks creating a rift with construction workers he is courting for support in next year’s election.

The administration wants to ease a shortage of skilled workers by allowing employers and business groups to set standards for apprenticeships, which combine on-the-job training with classroom instruction. Currently, standards are set by the Department of Labor, and most apprenticeships are run by trade unions under federal supervision.

The Trump administration initially won the support of powerful construction unions by promising to exclude the industry from the plan, effectively allowing the unions to maintain control of apprenticeships for carpenters, plumbers and electricians. Instead, the administration said it would focus on sectors such as health care and technology, where apprenticeships are rare.

But the pledge to exclude construction has been a subject of debate within the administration, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. Now, construction unions and Democrats in Congress are concerned the administration will renege on its promise—a concern heightened by the July departure of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who favored the exclusion.

The unions, including North America’s Building Trades Unions and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, see apprenticeships as potent recruiting tools and worry that business-run programs will reduce wages and weaken the quality of training.
My concern is, that this decision will come down to votes and not the foresight of implementing such a program.