Make public education more relevant to the working world - St...

The real problem is that the 160-year-old public school model is obsolete, and it's time we reinvent it.

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Yet only about 20 percent of the students who enter ninth grade will get a four-year degree. Only about 20 percent of them will work in the field they get their degree in.

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For the 80 percent of students who won't get a four-year degree, what has high school prepared them for?

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The vast majority have no practical business experience. They don't know the psychology of sales. They don't know bookkeeping, manufacturing, nursing, mechanics, management, advertising, computer repairs, financial planning or just about any other field where someone can make a living. High school has prepared them to either go to college or go fish.

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We still need to turn out ethical citizens who can read, write and do the math they need to be successful. We need to prepare the next generation for life.

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More than 90 percent of the people in this country will never use math beyond basic algebra. Half of those who do are engineers and scientists, who seem to innately seek out that information. The rest may have failed math in high school, but learn it on the job in weeks as tile layers, carpenters and builders. Why are they able to learn this knowledge on the job but not in class? Because "on the job" is applied education.

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To reinvent education, we need to rethink our goals. In economic times like these, we need to make sure this generation is ready to work.

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