Bill Sohl wrote:

Assessment, review, whatever. I personally think the
current 3 level license structure does not reflect a
good starting path for new hams because Techs are
(a) only allowed VHF, yet they have (b) power
privileges for full 1500 watts. My personal view is
to have a beginners license with a variety of HF
and VHF access and modes but with a limited power output
(say 200 watts or less).

The current 3 licenses and privileges are the
result of piecepart change over time and the result has
some less than logical consequences regarding
privileges and entrance level testing when compared
to the Novice tests which we had for almost 50
years. YMMV.

Cheers,
Bill K2UNK

Needs a top-down review, starting with "basis and purpose." Don't
build in merit badge-like license classes to make certain segments of
society feel good. Three license classes would probably be one more
than needed.