Three of seven recent college graduates interviewed by Time magazine had student loans totaling $100,000, $120,000 and $169,934 respectively. To prevent over borrowing, both the lender and student must determine what amount is reasonable. This amount must be based on the job market and the starting salary being offered recent college graduates from a major field of study.
There have also been recent newspaper articles about the number of remedial courses required by some students entering college. Both the problem of over borrowing and being academically unprepared is the fault of our education system. We need to update our high school curriculum to better prepare our students for life after high school.
The purpose of high school is three-fold — to teach all students how to become responsible, self-supporting adults who want to contribute to society more than they take; to prepare college bound students for college; and to prepare non-college bound students for entry into the job market as it exists at the time of graduation. Any course not contributing directly to one of these critical areas must be eliminated, and new courses must be added as needed.
To provide our students with the best education possible, enabling them to succeed in all areas of their lives, we must eliminate teacher tenure, cut back on and eliminate sports activities and teach 12 months each year. We need to do all of this and at the same time control costs. We cannot expect taxpayers to pay more and more to educate our children.
Paul Sohm
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Rochester
