A study focusing on vocational education in the Atlanta schools reveals that while vocational education in the Atlanta public schools has a long history, full-fledged job training was quite late in coming to Atlanta's high schools. With the onset of desegregation in the mid-1960s, several new projects were initiated to enhance vocational education on the elementary and secondary levels. However, statistics affirm that even today vocational education should be a stronger alternative for Atlanta's students than it is. Among the reasons for this state of affairs are the following: lack of uniform and adequate procedures for hiring and training teachers; lack of federal, state, and local agreement over the immediate purpose of vocational education in high schools, and segregation of vocational programs in inner-city areas. In addition, female and black enrollment statistics and local administrator and teacher attitudes reinforce skepticism of the the state's commitment to sex and race equity. On-site visits to several Atlanta schools and interviews with school teachers and administrators support the notion that while vocational education programs get a fair share of Atlanta's educational budget, they do not get full support in terms of recognition and leadership. (MN)