# Is The American HS System Obsolete? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-hs-system-obsolete/609979 "2012-01-19T05:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-hs-system-obsolete/609979/41 "2012-01-20T18:33:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > My daughter is a high school sophomore and there are a very rich variety of options available to her in our county. Her school offers an [IB diploma](http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/ibprogram.shtml), [vocational training](http://www.fcps.edu/MarshallAcademy/AboutUs.html), and the option to attend another school with an AP program. There is also a magnet for science & math. My son in middle school is taking a class that we used to call Home Ec (can’t remember the newfangled name) and he is learning to sew and cook, as well as other things that aren’t as traditional homey ecky. This is an affluent county and probably doesn’t represent the average school system, but the OP should know the facts before painting with a broad brush. I’m In northern VA too and concur. My son had access to the IB program, AP classes, a few magnet schools (which he did not qualify for) as well as a whole bunch of other avenues. VoTech programs: Auto tech, vet assistant, some kind of engineer assistant that I know of, and carpentry I think. He best friend walked out of HS into an auto mechanic job. Not to mention the drama, music and sports programs. The high school kids I know have better educations than I did at that age, with a broader range of topics. While I wouldn’t call the US educational system ideal, I would be very skeptical of anyone trying replace it. I’ve heard the same arguments as the OPs a dozen times. Always from high schoolers who really meant that they would rather be skateboarding or watch TV. **Crafter\_Man** - I saw the exact same ignorance when I taught college math in the 1970s. I could have written that post in 1978. So many students had to learn fractions and percents, it was depressing. But I think that is not so much a failing of the high schools but a failing of the colleges. They accept anyone with the money and then act surprised that they don’t already have PhDs. If your college didn’t accept students who hadn’t completed basic math you wouldn’t see any. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-hs-system-obsolete/609979/42 "2012-01-20T18:54:43Z")
Of the requirements listed in **Dukette71’s** post, I’d keep the vocational and drop the fine arts into the electives and drop the number of elective credits to create a computer skills/science course and move the financial basics into the living skills. And I think that illustrates the big picture problem, there will be hundreds of ideas, each having merit, but which do you implement? I think that’s why we don’t create curriculum at the federal level as the states and the cities and the school districts know their students and their environment better than the feds can. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-hs-system-obsolete/609979/43 "2012-01-20T20:04:26Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I think that is not so much a failing of the high schools but a failing of the colleges. They accept anyone with the money and then act surprised that they don’t already have PhDs. If your college didn’t accept students who hadn’t completed basic math you wouldn’t see any. You have an excellent point, and I’m guessing it’s all about the Bottom Line. And by accepting just anyone - and (even worse) graduating them - it makes a mockery of the collegiate academic system. After a particularly frustrating day last semester I told my students, “I don’t think a student should be granted a college diploma if they don’t know how calculate percentages.” I was met with blank stares. If it were up to me, I’d kick out the duds and tell them to come back when they’re ready. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-hs-system-obsolete/609979/44 "2012-01-20T21:17:07Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > But I think that is not so much a failing of the high schools but a failing of the colleges. They accept anyone with the money and then act surprised that they don’t already have PhDs. If your college didn’t accept students who hadn’t completed basic math you wouldn’t see any. Some colleges are more selective than others. I’m pretty sure most require at least a high school diploma or GED. Which raises the question: what’s required for a high school diploma? What, if anything, can you assume that someone knows, by virtue of the fact that they graduated high school? (And if there isn’t _anything_ that we can expect a high school graduate to know, that strikes me as a major failing of the high schools.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-hs-system-obsolete/609979/45 "2012-01-21T03:34:50Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > When I see people fooled by confirmation bias, I just have to shake my head. Better not watch the Republican dabates. You might get brain damage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-hs-system-obsolete/609979.md?page=2)