William Marvel: Worker Bees

Early last summer, two different friends of mine commented on how many of Kennett High School's 2026 graduates indicated that they were going directly into the workforce. I think it was at the July SAU 9 meeting that Conway School Board member Randy Davison mentioned the same thing. All three regarded it as a tragedy, and a failure of the school system. Usually I concur with all three of them in matters educational, and especially regarding public education, but I'm ambivalent about whether this is unfortunate.

Only within the past two or three decades has college entrance been the anticipated result of high school graduation. Superintendents have come to measure their schools' success on the proportion of alumni who matriculate to some form of higher education, and remain there for at least two successive years. This implies a somewhat supercilious misconception that college is beneficial to everyone. I've also wondered whether the aggressive promotion of college attendance were not part of a grand design to expand overall employment opportunities for those adults whose careers lay in education.