re: #39 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. I have a kid with a disability. He went through public K-12 and while his early education was excellent, his middle and high school education did little if anything of merit. If I knew then what I know now I would have homeschooled from grade 6 on.

In our district there is a huge push for 4 yrs or more of college. That’s all the school counselors in high school do here, help those with the grades get into college.There is little if any mention of job training programs or trade schools. Those are for the “trouble makers and delinquents” and that’s about it. Four years of school isn’t for everyone, and any intellectual pursuits are awesome, but it’s also a sign of privilege. So much of our culture, society, whatever this is we’ve created for ourselves, is dependent on jobs that get your hands dirty. And those jobs are also undervalued and disrespected. I couldn’t find a single educator or administrator that would help us find a tech/trade school that might be able to work with my son to encourage and mentor him in a program where he could now be making a decent living. Meanwhile, his confidence in his ability to learn enough to be proficient in any skilled trade went into full scale crash and burn. He’s almost 27 now, and school makes him have anxiety attacks-just talking about it. He’s making 12 bucks an hour via a temp agency at a warehouse filling orders for used books, CDs, dvds, etc. Compared to most of his adult autistic peers he’s doing very well, but this is another issue we face. Formal education has been narrowly defined for good reasons. A degree in literature or even business is a whole different critter than becoming a plumber or HVAC tech. Both have value and both need those who can share knowledge and teach as well as mentor students.

As someone who missed the window of cheap college or some higher education, not because of when I was born , but homelessness and life being shitty, it’s my biggest regret. I am 60 now, a degree won’t get me a job, so the cost of school is prohibitive unless I can find free classes and class materials, or audit classes. If I’m going to do the work, I want the degree/diploma, auditing seems like a waste unless it’s for a particular class or two that interests you.

I guess my point is that we’ve lost the point of much of what we’re doing. There’s also a little problem of the highest paying state employee in many states is a university football coach. Sports and education are too closely codependent. I know a couple of former college athletes who will tell you they would have been a lot better served had they been allowed to go to trade school or something less traditional. One of those guys went on to be a plumber, quite a successful one, after a full ride scholarship via football. We just don’t seem to be able to figure out how to best match people to what will work for them via education and work. And payment for that work that allows you to be an independent adult human.