[quote=AN][quote=joec]Maybe we should consider high school as not being mandatory anymore. That should save a lot of money. In addition to that, you can offer a very small payment for kids who keep out of trouble, not arrested, etc….like welfare, but starting at 13. Make sure to get the kids consent though since some families may want to get kids for just the money…will be a mess and impossible to administer, but all these ‘solutions’ for failing kids who don’t care are a waste of resources/money. Would really like to see kids who just don’t care to leave the system…no other place for them though.
Just seems cheaper to just pay them off to go away.[/quote]You’re thinking way outside of the box on that one /s. Seriously, why spend so much money on kids who don’t want to learn? Maybe instead of HS that prep them for college that they won’t go to, why not have trades school that prep them for work or military school. Maybe they can use some serious discipline.[/quote]
Not outside of the box at all. Many European countries do this. My mother and all of our European relatives were schooled this way, and all of them seemed to like it. The problem, once again, is that a disproportionate majority of the university track students would be white/Asian (and wealthier, in general), and the vocational track would be black/Hispanic (and poorer, in general) if they tried to replicate this system in the US. How do you respond to accusations of racism? Many would argue that you are trying to perpetuate an uneven playing field if you make it even more difficult for these poorer students to work their way out of their situations.
To be honest, I like the idea of tracking students this way, and have always favored it because it just makes more sense on so many levels. But I would never advocate for it unless we had a third way that would enable these students and “late bloomers” to move to the university/college track. We would have to really strengthen the community college system (one of the greatest components of our educational system, IMO) so that kids and young adults could shift over if/when they want to do so.
