College prep should not be only focus

Schools need to provide other paths for successful life decisions

Almost everyone holding a teaching, administrative or policymaking positions in New Mexico public education has a college degree. Many have graduate degrees. Most probably expect their children to obtain such degrees, if they have not already done so.

Even those outside the public school system who comment publicly on public education fit the same general profile. This includes the parents of students, members of business and community organizations and newspaper columnists.

However, only a minority of the students who start high school in New Mexico will obtain four-year college degrees, perhaps 20 percent to 25 percent. About the same number will drop out of high school. Others will not attend college or will not complete college. Some will pursue two-year degrees.

In this situation, there is a risk that the educational system will over-emphasize school as preparation for four-year college, when most students need something different. The Albuquerque Public Schools website states “Establishing a collegegoing culture is the primary task of an elementary school counselor.” There is a substantial risk that academically weaker students urged to attend college will be unable to succeed there.

There are two groups of students who may be underserved if college preparation is overemphasized. First, students who are interested in and who would benefit from technical or career education should be encouraged to consider it a real and valid alternative to college from the early high school years or before. Many more students will eventually obtain jobs for which college degrees are not required than jobs which require such degrees.

Technical or career education produces plumbers, carpenters, electricians, retail employees, and office workers. Also, such education could produce workers in many healthcare jobs and computer technicians. It seems very likely that an aging population will require many health and personal care workers. Computer-related jobs seem likely to increase also.

For students whose interests lie in this direction, and for students unsuited for academics, technical and career education should be offered as a desirable option, not as a consolation prize. Close coordination of these students with community colleges and employers may be more valuable to them than strictly academic instruction.

The second group of students who may be underserved by our educational system, if college preparation is overemphasized, are the students who will drop out of high school. Early in their education, probably in middle school, students should be given basic practical information that could obviate unwise life decisions. There are things that all young people should know, even if they drop out of school.

Becoming pregnant while a teenager will likely lead to a life of poverty for the mother and child. Even a minor criminal record, or abuse of alcohol or drugs, can make one unemployable and impoverished. Attending a job every day, all day, is essential. Quitting a job without knowing what one will do next is unwise. It is almost never a good idea to obtain a highinterest loan.

These and similar facts can be presented objectively without moralizing. Ideally, families, churches or other role models should convey this information, but for many students, schools may be the only likely source of this knowledge.