I’ve seen a position put forward by people in the Obama administration and others attempting to anticipate the future of education in America that, just as 30 years ago it was important that all youth graduated from high school to find a reasonably good job, today it is equally important that all youth graduate from some sort of two or four year college program to achieve a similar work readiness in today’s world.

On the one hand, since more and more jobs seem to require computer and other technical skills, and society in general seems to be getting more complex, it seems pretty obvious there is truth to this position. Like it or not… everyone now needs fourteen to sixteen years of mandatory education. If you throw in kindergarten, which is pretty universally attended these days, we are talking about fifteen to seventeen years. And what about pre-school, and all the efforts around the country to make available (or even require) universal pre-school attendance for all kids prior to kindergarten? Let’s tack on another year to that requirement. Continue reading →