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-High schools not offering many classes on the trades, driver's ed, or ANY skills on money management
-No classes on impulse control, self-discipline, conflict resolution, etc.
-University not offering job training or white-collar apprenticeships, forcing graduates into the catch-22 involving jobs and job experience (I'm sure you know exactly what I am talking about).
The people in those districts don't want that, I suppose.
The high school my kids graduated from still teaches drivers ed, shop, cooking, sewing, budgeting, etc.
-High schools not offering many classes on the trades, driver's ed, or ANY skills on money management
-No classes on impulse control, self-discipline, conflict resolution, etc.
-University not offering job training or white-collar apprenticeships, forcing graduates into the catch-22 involving jobs and job experience (I'm sure you know exactly what I am talking about).
Why?
Serious question.
The first two I understand. But the third, I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. What do you mean by "job training" and "white-collar apprenticeships? Do you mean co-op programs? I knew plenty who did those.
-High schools not offering many classes on the trades, driver's ed, or ANY skills on money management
Because starting in the late 70s/early 80s, more and more high schools began pushing "college for everyone" and dropping anything that wasn't somewhat college prep related. When I was in school, pretty much every high school had a Vo-Tech program and drivers ed. As well as some basic business classes on everything from basic money and banking to how to write business letters. That began shifting to central Vo-Tech high schools and then slowly out of the high school system.
-No classes on impulse control, self-discipline, conflict resolution, etc.
My kids did have some classes on these, though they weren't semester long courses with grades. They were short classes where the schools would take a day or two each semester and spend the whole day on these types of topics. In college they actually did have courses on these. In fact, our oldest's college had a mandatory class for all freshman first semester on getting along, conflict resolution, mature decision making, because so many kids were coming into school without those skills and getting into trouble their first semester.
University not offering job training or white-collar apprenticeships, forcing graduates into the catch-22 involving jobs and job experience
As I said, you'll have to define what you mean here because I'm not sure how a university can give you job training since there are thousands of possible jobs and companies to pick from.
How can this be a serious question when you're ignoring the obvious reason: money.
What "trades" did you have in mind? Are you aware of the existence of technical high schools which do offer classes in "trades"? Many technical high schools are regional, with multiple high schools feeding into them. Some high schools have standalone technical courses.
Social/emotional learning is generally embedded in everyday classroom activities. Parents should be their children's first teachers on those topics. That includes money management.
I can see universities matching students with internships, both on campus and off-campus. They have little power to "offer" internships off-campus, though.
-High schools not offering many classes on the trades, driver's ed, or ANY skills on money management
-No classes on impulse control, self-discipline, conflict resolution, etc.
-University not offering job training or white-collar apprenticeships, forcing graduates into the catch-22 involving jobs and job experience (I'm sure you know exactly what I am talking about).
Why?
Serious question.
1. Cost for the first two and availability of instructors for the first. For the third, most schools do and always have, the classes just aren't, or weren't, called that. Most were aimed at the lower tier of students. Kids who took Accounting or other business classes got it. The thought was that kids in College Prep and advanced classes were smart enough to figure it out without wasting a year in high school on Arithmetic. Even fifty years ago there were Vo-Tech standalone schools. Your suggestion of slamming everyone into them is as stupid as slamming everyone into College Prep.
2. Parents?
3. College isn't "job training". It used to be that college was for the "elite", you know, the ones who would become the managers, designers, planners, leaders, not the ones who would have to insert Tab A into Slot B. Colleges do have, and always have had, programs to place students in internships. Historically it was only for Education majors for Student Teaching.
At one time internships other than those were almost unheard of.
I was present one time when the plant's Comptroller was introducing some new recent Accounting graduates to their new job. He told them to forget everything they'd learned in college because they were going to be taught the "company's way" of doing things.
Good question, OP - I think it's because school boards are typically rigid and not interested in what would really benefit kids/teens/young adults.
As systems fail, the education system will eventually fail and maybe at that time will be reimagined, using Montessori or other well-respected models of "school."
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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One improvement would be for the schools to establish a relationship with local employers to do more high school internships. That could help students going on to college select their major based on actual experience with different kinds of work, and for those looking for trades to get some experience and see if they like it. My employer provides about 100 summertime high school internships, in addition to college and graduate interns every year. I worked with a couple of the high school kids a couple of years ago and was happy to see their enthusiasm for learning from us. One of our current senior electrical design engineers started as an intern right after graduating from college.
One improvement would be for the schools to establish a relationship with local employers to do more high school internships. That could help students going on to college select their major based on actual experience with different kinds of work, and for those looking for trades to get some experience and see if they like it. My employer provides about 100 summertime high school internships, in addition to college and graduate interns every year. I worked with a couple of the high school kids a couple of years ago and was happy to see their enthusiasm for learning from us. One of our current senior electrical design engineers started as an intern right after graduating from college.
You're assuming that parents want their kids to have a job. Hell many of them now won't let them get a driver's license let alone a job where they can't hover over them.
Yet another "suggestion" to increase programming in high school that will come with a cost.
-High schools not offering many classes on the trades, driver's ed, or ANY skills on money management
-No classes on impulse control, self-discipline, conflict resolution, etc.
-University not offering job training or white-collar apprenticeships, forcing graduates into the catch-22 involving jobs and job experience (I'm sure you know exactly what I am talking about).
Why?
Serious question.
The high school my kids attended offered wood shop, electronics, computer technology, driver's education (usually taught in the summer), money management, psychology (which included material on impulse control and conflict resolution).
You expect the public school system to teach money management to its students?
The public school system does not teach basic math proficiency to its students.
"The national average math proficiency is 38% (2024).
The state with highest math proficiency is Virgin Islands, with an 85% average math proficiency.
The state with lowest math proficiency is Maryland, with an 19% average math proficiency."
There was a precipitous drop due to the pandemic, but pre-pandemic results were still terrible.
Before we assign the schools with additional tasks, maybe basic reading, writing, and arithmetic should be conquered.
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