Changing the Face of Education

Every year, we Americans have to look at grim statistics concerning how poorly educated our students are. We see polls showing their lack of basic geography...we see studies showing how much more advanced the Asian countries are. There's no end of criticism of the system, the students, the parents, the government, No Child Left Behind...and on and on. Colleges are filled with remedial writing and math courses that students have to take during the freshman year so they are able to take "real" college courses later. And it's not just athletes who are taking these classes. Dropout rates for college students are astronomical, but there always seems to be a new crop waiting to enter the ivy halls, if only for a semester or so until Mom and Dad run out of tuition money. Now, it would seem that some folks want to eliminate the last year or two of high school.
Senator Chris Butters of one of our westernmost states has proposed that the 12th grade should be eliminated, partly due to a $700 million dollar shortfall in revenue and partly because "seniors just fritter away that last year anyway." His theory would mandate that formal education end after 11th grade, at which time students either get serious and use their brains in college or get a job and stimulate the economy (I guess). Following a public outcry, of sorts, Butters maintained that he merely meant that the last year could be "optional." Well, it already is in most places. Students can choose to graduate early and get on with their lives though most don't. While it is true that a percentage (possibly a large percentage) spend that final year resting up for the remainder of their lives, I'm not quite sure what to make of the whole idea. The old, "You can lead a horse to water" axiom certainly applies here. But there's another option beginning in 2011.
Eight states are supporting a plan that would allow students to attend community college after 10th grade! Following a rigorous set of "boards," students who qualify could move right into community college and begin taking college level courses. This system proposal has come from a study of foreign education plans from such countries as Denmark, England, Finland, France and Singapore...all of whom, no doubt, leave our system looking like kindergarten. It is said that a student who has to pass a battery of tests before moving on is highly motivated to work hard...or not in school. Hmmmm...motivated students...a rare concept. New Mexico is currently the only state promoting this idea west of the Mississippi; others are Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Or maybe the idea is to get more students paying higher tuition...