This paper describes ethnographic research in a community college banking and finance program in the context of the opposing positions of the need for basic skills and preparation for jobs and the need for critical skills and preparation for citizenship in a democracy. After these positions are reviewed, research is described on students in the program, presenting the perspectives of the teacher, employer, and students. The paper argues that, as far as the students in this study are concerned (poor people of color in desperate need of jobs), proponents of basic skills miss the mark, given that such capabilities did not have much to do with whether workers were able to attain, perform, or keep their jobs. Findings are presented that seem to discredit the skills argument. The paper goes on to explain what the real problem might be. It accounts for how and why African-American women from the program were encouraged and helped to take low-level jobs that most of them would quickly lose, by investigating how students, teachers, and employers in this particular context together constructed a career path and work identity for students. The paper illustrates the ongoing struggle between democratizing and reproductive forces and shows reproductive forces winning out. Having suggested that the problem is not basic skills, the paper reexamines arguments for the centrality of critical skills in vocational education. Suggestions are made for reorganization and reform in both the community college vocational program and the workplace. (80 references) (YLB)