Posted by GC on September 04, 2002 at 13:06:33:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: In Defense of HS Teachers posted by Rick Denney on September 04, 2002 at 12:09:40:
It's definitely difficult to decide where the line is drawn between "training" and "education". It's also true that European systems pigeonhole kids far too soon. However, where can you practically draw the line between one type of school and the other? If you allow flexibility and the ability to switch career goal(or tracks or types), students and parents will have to understand that changing has to carry a penalty: students will have to go to school longer to make up for missed classes or training, and the later they change, the longer the process.
It's true that our system is far more flexible than that of most of the rest of the world. Has it really been better? The debate has been raging for years, and it won't be laid to rest soon. I don't mean that we should wholeheartedly jump into a European-style system, but we should meet somewhere in the middle. There needs to be more job training in schools, and there needs to be more criteria for entrance into a college prep program than just desire, especially the way colleges are getting tougher to get into and to stay in.