>> Python itself won't get you a decently paying job. <<
No, but a lack of the current favorite program can prevent you from getting a job. Many jobs now list program requirements, but finding actual training in that is often hard.
>>Trade school is highly underrated.<<
They also tend to teach things which are difficult or impossible to outsource or automate. You can't outsource plumbing to India, and we're a long way from automated construction. EMTs are susceptible to neither, and some programs for that only take a few months.
>>Textbooks, however, will ALWAYS be expensive as long as they print them in job lots.<<
Textbook prices are frankly usurious. That's why some teachers eschew them and make their own, or use generally available books instead. It would make more sense for the schools to buy the damn books and furnish them free as part of taking a class. Pay $$$ only if you want to keep the damn thing.
Thoughts
No, but a lack of the current favorite program can prevent you from getting a job. Many jobs now list program requirements, but finding actual training in that is often hard.
>>Trade school is highly underrated.<<
They also tend to teach things which are difficult or impossible to outsource or automate. You can't outsource plumbing to India, and we're a long way from automated construction. EMTs are susceptible to neither, and some programs for that only take a few months.
>>Textbooks, however, will ALWAYS be expensive as long as they print them in job lots.<<
Textbook prices are frankly usurious. That's why some teachers eschew them and make their own, or use generally available books instead. It would make more sense for the schools to buy the damn books and furnish them free as part of taking a class. Pay $$$ only if you want to keep the damn thing.