Posted on 02/02/2018 8:37:44 AM PST by SeekAndFind
New Mexico lawmakers have introduced a bill that would force high-school juniors to apply for college or prove that they have other approved post-graduate plans, and it’s honestly one of the most idiotic ideas I’ve heard in a long time.
The bill is sponsored by Republican representative Nate Gentry and Democratic senator Daniel Ivey-Soto. It makes exceptions for those who could prove they would instead be enlisting in the military, attending a vocational program, or getting a job, apprenticeship, or internship.
According to an article in USA Today, the bill is an attempt to reverse declining college enrollment in the state, which was down by nearly 14 percent in 2016 from 2010 levels. My take? It should be none of the state’s business what students decide to do after high school, especially since most of them are literally actual adults by the time they graduate.
Honestly, there are a lot of reasons why this is stupid. For one thing, we now live in a society where you can be a very dumb YouTube star and earn lots of money and fame, despite being painfully uneducated. Who’s to say that one of these kids ain’t going to be the next one of those?
All joking aside, requiring students to make a choice about their post-graduate plans so early could lead some of them to make the wrong decisions. The truth is, not every kid knows exactly what they want to do when they grow up when they’re a high-school junior, and that’s perfectly okay. Maybe some of them know that they don’t know, and they’d like to spend a year or so trying to figure it out before saddling themselves with life-altering amounts of debt.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Deja Vu Obama oppression.
Let them apply. Doesn’t mean colleges are going to accept them. I applied to 20 different colleges but was only accepted to 11 of them. It’s like a job application: just because you applied doesn’t mean you have a right to be accepted let alone get an interview.
Chicago is doing this as well effective 2020.
What conceivable penalty could they try to impose that wouldn’t be blatantly unconstitutional.
Re-education is that important.
This is probably being pushed by the colleges as a money making deal.
They want to extend public school indoctrination.
It appears that young people still have tendencies towards their own opinions and un-approved thought, which has been difficult to stamp out.
I hope smarter heads destroy this bill quickly. It is so Soviet Unionesque.
It would also fit the mindset of the proponents of the bill.
Who is pushing this?
The money lenders?
Stop government guarantees of student loans and watch this goofy stuff go away fast.
College is not for everybody. I say that as someone who enjoyed all my college years so very much. Some folks have a different life plan. Some have had enough structured schooling by the 12th grade and had it ‘up to here’ with the whole idea.
These people should be encouraged to join the military for the minimum of two years, but it should be their choice.
The military will provide structure and it will get them out of the family home. Once out of the family home, one does not have to keep playing the role of son, daughter or dependent.
What a moron! How about trades schools? Or, what if a young lady just wants to get married and have a family? Or if a young man wants to work at a store or gas station? Why don’t they leave the kids alone, dammit!
College just simply isn’t for everyone. And should they be accepted, are they forced to take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt for an education they don’t want? May never use? A BA in a degree that’s useless?
I don’t live in New Mexico and don’t know if the colleges are behind this idea, but if it passed and resulted in an upsurge in college enrollments, for sure the college administrations would want to keep that additional money...which would mean pressuring the faculty to give passing grades to students who are not capable of college-level work. Or maybe I should say, pressuring the faculty to give passing grades even more than now.
We need less young people getting indoctrinated in college, not more.
> This is probably being pushed by the colleges as a money making deal. <
Bragging rights are also involved. “In our state, most of our kids go to college!” it doesn’t matter that college is a bad fit for at least half of them.
I see this on the local level as well. Our school district is pushing EVERY high school student into advanced algebra. “100% of our students take advanced algebra!”
No surprise that this is a disaster. Unprepared kids are miserable, andstart misbehaving in class. Teachers water down the course to keep half the class from flunking.
But 100% of our students take advanced algebra!
Application fees?
Considering that Frosh and Sophomore years are remedial to catch the kids up and Junior and Senior years essentially complete what used to be a normal high school education, this probably makes sense. The “college grads” will be functionally equivalent to high school grads a couple generations ago.
Chicago will force students to have post-high school plans
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