Not Everyone Should Go to College

E.D. Kain at Forbes magazine basically sums up an argument I've been making in personal conversations for years.

Four year college is not necessarily for everyone and there's far too much emphasis in the United States on everyone (or at least more people every year) getting four year degrees. To put it crudely, society needs people who clean floors and flip burgers. And I don't mean that in an elitist sense, but as a simple statement of fact. And those people don't really need to go to college. Hell, they don't even really need a high school diploma.

Kain argues there should be more quality vocational training at the high school level. I agree.

This Way Lies Trouble

As I consider my possible future career as a high school English teacher in the United States, I have to say t gives me pause when I remember how much focus is placed on test results.

I am well aware of the stronger and stronger push toward standardized testing to evaluate students' progress. And now No Child Left Behind ties federal money given to public schools into performance on standardized tests.

Now more and more teacher job performance is being tied into test results. And not just teachers, but administrators as well. I can't imagine the frustration of wanting to actually teach kids something and find that you spend at least half the year simply teaching them how to take a test. It's hardly surprising, then, to read this article about teachers and administrators cheating and helping students cheat to achieve higher scores.