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Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held an event at Des Moines Area Community College to release and promote Investing in America's Future: A Blueprint for Transforming Career and Technical Education.  This Blueprint outlines the Obama Administration's proposal for reauthorizing the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.  The plan focuses on increased collaboration between secondary and post-secondary schools and institutions; better alignment with industry to ensure training meets occupational demand; the establishment of common performance measures; and competitive funding opportunities to reward success and innovation. Don't have time to read the entire document? Grab the  Blueprint Summary instead!

The following video includes an interview with American University Economics Professor and Urban Institute Fellow Bob Lerman on CNN's 'Education Overtime." In the accompanying article (below the video) Lerman highlights the advantages of Registered Apprenticeship and promotes its expansion as a viable education and training option.

Below is the transcript of the article and accompanying interview which American University Economics Professor and Urban Institue Fellow Bob Lerman gave on CNN's "Education Overtime" - a seven week series that focuses on the conversations surrounding education issues that affect students, teachers, parents and the community.

If not college, then what?

(CNN) -- At dinner tables throughout the United States, there are tough conversations about the exploding cost of college, the rough job market, the pain of debt.

For parents and students, it adds up to the same question: Is college worth it?

But American University economics Professor Robert Lerman is asking something different: If college isn't worth it, what else is out there?

Lerman, an Urban Institute fellow, has studied youth unemployment for decades, and thinks the United States ought to try an updated version of an old technique for education and employment: apprenticeships.