I am an "apprentice" of 1.5 years and an artist of 5 years and I must say I am nervous about just what all this means for those of us who aren't licensed yet, and are in the middle of our apprencticeships. Will the time we put into getting our licenses not mean anything, all of the sudden? Will the amount of hours we put in, go towards a damn 'tattoo school'? Would we have to go to the school just to get a license or could we continue with our apprenticeships? I couldn't find these answers so I'm hoping this will get cleared up. And as for tattoo schools, I completely agree with all the other artists against them. It's a waste of time and students' money and should be learned through hard work. You CANNOT learn to tattoo from a book, nor someone who isn't a tattoo artist. And not even all tattoo artists know what they are doing. So that's even slimmer odds of finding a good tattooer to give up their job just to attempt to teach a bunch of kids this craft that takes years to get decent at. The only thing a tattoo school would mean is more money for the pockets of those in charge of everything.