In U.S. News & World Report I take a look at a possible twofer for education policy: Expand access to high-quality pre-K education and finance it by getting rid of 12th-grade.
For a lot of young people spring weather is just another reminder that high school is basically over and it’s OK to check out. I attended a well-regarded suburban high school and still spent too much of my senior spring skipping school to ski, hike, hang out at a local waterfall and do some less wholesome things I’ll probably deny if my own kids ask about them. Meanwhile, at the other end of the educational chain a lot of parents are struggling; not with how to spend those first warm sunny days but how to afford high-quality preschool education for their 4-year-olds. So why not address both issues – the lameness of the senior year and the pre-K access issue – with one reform: Abolish the senior year and instead using that money to create universal access to pre-K education?
You don’t need to abolish anything to read the entire column here. Tell me all about your school skipping days or your gap year plans on Twitter.
Another dumb idea from the reformers. California had a system that worked until 1980: Free totally free junior college for everyone. As you suggest, not everyone is ready for college right out of high school. Having a place to go to remediate and then go to college worked well in Calif for 50 years. No, apparently, the right wing would rather spend the money in Iraq than on the education of US citizens.