Through the School-to-Work program, the federal government is heavily involved in charting career paths for children -- beginning in kindergarten. The plan involves training students -- primarily those not destined for college -- and steering them into certain jobs. The program borrows heavily from the German school system, critics point out.

• Between 1995 and 1997, School-to-Work received $989 million from the federal government, as well as state matching funds.

• Forty-three states now have School-to-Work programs in place and the program's web site says that every state will "provide this new way of learning for all of their students."

• The School-to-Work curriculum is structured around occupations and students are steered into a specific vocational area and trained for that, say those familiar with the program.

• Critics note that the main architects of the program are Robert Reich, Ira Magaziner and Marc Tucker -- all described as longtime advocates of central economic planning.

School officials in the West Tennessee system describe the need "to begin a structured career development system in kindergarten." At Milwaukee's Hamilton High School, students must choose their "career cluster" in eighth grade. Ohio students must also develop a "career plan" by eighth grade.

Many educators argue that such a timetable and the pressures involved are damaging to pupils and inappropriate.

Meanwhile, critics charge, as students are being steered into specialized careers, basic skills like reading, writing and math are getting short shrift. American companies lose "$25 billion to $30 billion a year as a result of their workers' weak reading and writing skills," according to education writer Charles Sykes.