Charter School Pioneer Pivots to Vocational Training, Challenges Industry Metrics
Feinberg’s key insight: vocational programs are measuring the wrong outcomes.
“You go to community colleges and trade schools and ask them if they’re successful, and they say ‘97.8% of our students earn a certificate,'” Feinberg says. “But how many got jobs? They don’t know. How many are still in those jobs a year later? They don’t know.”
This critique reflects Feinberg’s evolution from college-for-all advocate to vocational education innovator. At KIPP, he celebrated when alumni college completion rates reached 50%, but quickly asked, “What about the other half?”
That question led to WorkTexas, which he launched in 2020 with furniture retailer Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale and juvenile justice advocate Vanessa Ramirez.
The program distinguishes itself by focusing on employer needs—particularly soft skills like punctuality and teamwork, which Feinberg says constitute 70% of what employers want.
WorkTexas builds curriculum through direct employer consultation. “We start with the employer,” explains Yazmin Guerra, workforce development leader for WorkTexas and the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department.
This approach has yielded strong results: approximately 70% of graduates secure employment, with average starting wages of $19.10 hourly. The program tracks graduates for five years, providing ongoing support.
For education policy watchers, Feinberg’s pivot represents a broader rethinking of post-secondary pathways. “We collectively realized that maybe it was a mistake to stop doing vocational ed in our high schools,” he says. “We need to bring it back better.”
This model offers potential lessons for education systems nationwide seeking to bridge the gap between academic training and workplace success.