Wednesday, February 26, 2003 :::
Colby Cosh writes about a Tory member of the Albertan Legislative Assembly (I'd rather hoped Tories had been stamped out in Alberta), who wants to increase the amount of compulsory "education".
As it happens, in the real world you can train for a lot of jobs without finishing Grade 11--but perhaps McFarland doesn't think Alberta needs bakers, janitors, hairdressers, or garbagemen.
Cosh is, of course, exactly right. McFarland's suggestion is well-intentioned but wrong-headed -- and very similar to what Cambridge has done.
In recent memory, Cambridge public schools have pretty much always -- what's the euphemism I'm looking for? -- sucked. Twenty years or more back, though, there was one shining exception to this rule -- the Rindge Technical school. Naturally, the school committee decided that everyone should be prepared for college, and they gradually rolled back the technical programs. Kids who once would have been trained -- and trained well -- for well-paying, productive jobs as plumbers or mechanics are now given meaningless diplomas after serving four years at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, that they might begin careers in the rapidly-expanding windshield-squeegee industry.
They're gradually recognizing their mistake, and some kids are now shipped to technical classes in Lexington (at great expense) while Cambridge re-builds its own programs.
::: posted by Steven at 7:10 AM
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