Can't Complete High School? Go Right Along to College
It is a kind of Alice-in-Wonderland idea. If you do not finish high school, head straight for college.
But many colleges — public and private, two-year and four-year — will accept students who have not graduated from high school or earned equivalency degrees.
And in an era of stubbornly elevated high school dropout rates, the chance to enter college through the back door is attracting growing interest among students without high school diplomas.
That growth is fueling a debate over whether the students should be in college at all and whether state financial aid should pay their way. In New York, the issue flared in a budget battle this spring....
I find this story somewhat sad, as I did almost the same thing this article highlights... I skipped most of high school and started college at the age of 15. With the difference being, I did pass the high-school equivalency test for my state, and I personally paid for the bulk of my college expenses. I would like to still encourage high-school kids who can't stand being in that ungodly environment to start college early, but to do it the right way... get your GED or state equivalency exam, pick a local state college to keep your expenses low, and find a good part-time job to help your parents pay for your education. I worked a full-time job and went to night classes at a local junior college for my general-ed classes, and now that I'm pushing 40, I can say with some confidence that this is something only teenagers with stamina and youthful energy can accomplish!
I would largely agree, except the dumbing down is done with everyone's tacit consent. Those to whom education is more than a "meal ticket" are still free to take their children elsewhere & will not wait for more empty promises from school boards & Presidents.
John Robbins has a lecture here with an apt title: www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=12706112459
This shows the sad state of affairs in our nation at large, and in academia in particular. Long ago (especially in the inner cities) high school diplomas became worth less than the paper they were printed on. High School principals and school administrators knew that if they graded students by the standards used in the 1940's, 50's and 60's, then 70% of their students would be in the first grade. Students high on Ritalin (because of "Attention Deficiency Disorder) were given "special ed" status and promoted regardless of achievement and attendance. Now colleges and universities are so greedy for money that they will accept as candidates "students' who could not even get a diploma even with all the lack of accountability. The entire education system in this country is morally bankrupt, and President Bush's "No Child Left behind Act" is nothing but smoke and mirrors. I truly believe that part of the global conspiracy is the "dumbing down" of America in order to give the advantage over us to Middle Eastern, East Asian, and African students who arrive on our shores much better educated and able to perform academically than the American born who have been sold down the river academically just as their parents jobs have been sold down the river by NAFTA & GATT. Shame on the USA.
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john uk from wales: "
let me count the ways
...each has got their own idea how to..."
